Content of the article
CHATHAM — A quick errand at Walmart turned into an overnight adventure for dozens of shoppers in southern Ontario when whiteout conditions prevented them from leaving the store, and employees inflated mattresses inflatables and set up a buffet with cold cuts for unexpected guests.
Advertisement 2
Content of the article
“The cars were in ditches. Some of them had broken down in the middle of the road. No one could pass,” Heather Nickoli said of conditions in Chatham-Kent, Ont., Friday afternoon.
Content of the article
Nickoli and her boyfriend were en route from Ohio to Peterborough, Ont., to spend Christmas with her boyfriend’s family when deteriorating weather forced the closure of the 401 freeway.
The couple booked a room in Chatham-Kent and decided to stop by Walmart on the way, but they didn’t get far after shopping.
The police turned them away, telling them they wouldn’t even make it to their hotel and would have to spend the night at Walmart.
We walked into Walmart and there were probably 100 people with nowhere to go. They were locals who couldn’t go home,” Nickoli said.
Advertisement 3
Content of the article
Randy Morton and his wife, meanwhile, lived just a mile away and ventured to Walmart because they were out of cat food. Boxes in hand, they too left the store to be turned away.
I told the officer that I just needed to go to the next corner and I was home. He said, ‘It doesn’t matter. Turn around and go back to Walmart.
Walmart said in a statement that about 50 customers spent the night in the store, including small children. The store’s deli team, meanwhile, served a hot dinner and games were removed from the shelves to keep customers and their children calm and entertained.
The statement said there was even an impromptu birthday party for an employee at midnight, complete with cake and candles.
Advertisement 4
Content of the article
“Our clients were fabulous athletes who sang Christmas carols to keep their spirits up! the statement said.
Another Walmart in Fort Erie, Ont., also took in a family that got stranded on Friday night, the statement said.
Everyone was allowed to leave on Saturday morning. Nickoli and her boyfriend ditched their trip to Peterborough and headed back to Ohio, while Morton and his wife returned home.
“I think when we got there everyone was in shock and they were a little upset. But they just said, ‘It is what it is,'” Nickoli said of the experience.
“My faith in humanity has been restored by the associates who work at Chatham Walmart,” Morton noted.
0 Comments