Derrick Simpson, manager of Greenwood Market Place, says he’s never seen anything quite like the number of customers in the store over the past several weeks — especially on Thursday and Friday.
“We were expecting a surge in business,” he said. But, “we have quadrupled our business.”
Customers line up around 8 a.m. Friday at CB&S Bank.
Kelvin Banks uses an ATM Friday outside Trustmark National Bank on Howard Street. He said he visits the ATM every Friday after work.
Around Greenwood, people were out and about most of the day on Friday before the statewide shelter-in-place order went into effect at 5 p.m. Customers in vehicles lined up as early as 8 a.m. Friday at drive-through windows at banks downtown and along West Park Avenue. Bankers observed that there’s always heavy customer traffic on the first and third days of the month because many people receive paychecks and government subsidies then.
A sign outside Trustmark National Bank on Howard Street suggested that customers would receive faster service by using the ATM. Kelvin Eubanks of Lexington was among several Viking Range employees gathered on the sidewalk beside the ATM. He said he stopped there as he does every Friday.
Along Howard late Friday afternoon, shops prepared to close their doors until the shelter-in-place order ends April 20. Cindy Tyler, owner of Mississippi Gift Co., said she would be filling online orders inside the store. Shelby Gorman, Turnrow Book Co.’s manager, said she would be doing the same.
Barbara Grantham, owner of Delta Boutique on Howard Street, says she will be glad to reopen in a couple of weeks but in the meantime, she’ll be putting down flooring at home.
Down the street, Barbara Grantham, owner of Delta Boutique, said she plans to enjoy a couple of weeks at home. She and her husband, Skipper, have at least one big project there. “We have been wanting to put flooring down in our house, so we are going to take advantage of that. We are going to get it done.”
Business at the store was brisk Friday but not particularly unusual, she said: “I had a girl come in and say, ‘I just want to shop for my last time,’ and I said OK!”
Grantham said she supports the provisions of shelter-in-place, which basically limit trips outside the home to going to or from the workplace or traveling for provisions such as groceries. Liquor stores are remaining open as are some businesses and service providers that are considered “essential.”
“In two weeks, we’ll be back,” she explained. “We just need to stay safe, that’s all. If everybody will abide, we are going to make it. ... I want to stay alive. I want to live. And I want to come back to my job.”
Georgia Tate and her daughter, Khalilah Tate, both of Greenwood, finish a trip to Greenwood Market Place. Georgia Tate wears a mask and gloves to protect herself from infection.
Across town in the Market Place parking lot, Georgia Tate of Greenwood was wearing a face mask and protective gloves as she and her daughter Khalilah Tate, also of Greenwood, were loading groceries into their car. Georgia, who is retired, said she is in her 70s and has diabetes and high blood pressure. She doesn’t want to take chances, so she dons the gear. “I have been wearing them everywhere since this started.”
Khalilah, who is the principal of Marshall Elementary School in North Carrollton, said she and her mother were trying to pick up what they might need for a while. “It’s really not a normal trip because of the pandemic. We wanted to purchase everything at one time.”
Inside the store, Simpson offered an assurance. “We are urging our customers to shop as needed. There is no reason to flood stores.” He said he was talking not only about Market Place but all stores.
Shopper Hubert Williams Jr. of Greenwood, a retired independent trucker, was wearing a bandana across his face for protection. “The only way you are going to fight the virus is like that. ... And have faith in the Good Lord,” he said.
He had a short shopping list — Clorox and a pen. Simpson directed to him to a shelf with pens, but alas, there was no Clorox.
Williams mentioned that he had been to the bank. He was asked if he was allowed in the lobby, and the answer was yes. “I walked in just like this,” he said. But all the same, “they have rules.”
Simpson said the store would be closing earlier, at 8 nightly, in keeping with the city’s 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew announced Friday.
He also explained that customers are being asked to refrain from shopping in twos, threes or fours. “We are urging customers to shop one person at a time,” which he said is a federal Centers for Disease Control recommendation.
He’d like to see shopping carts used by one person, not several. “We want to encourage our customers to shop as often as they want but to observe the one-person rule.”
Simpson said the store will be resupplied as soon as possible, and new items are arriving daily. People are willing to lend a hand. In fact, he said, “We had customers in here helping us restock today.”
•Contact Susan Montgomery at 581-7241 or smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com.
