LUMBERTON — One of the early casualties of Hurricane Florence is commerce.
Various local retail businesses announced Wednesday they will be closed at least Thursday and Friday. Among them is Biggs Park Mall, which houses about 30 stores and is anchored by Belk and J.C. Penney.
The mall closed at 6 p.m. Wednesday, three hours early,. and will be closed all day Thursday. Mall Manager Chelsea Biggs said that more than likely the mall will be closed on Friday, but a final decision had not been made Wednesday.
“The storm keeps turning different ways,” Biggs said. “We’re just kind’ve playing it by ear.”
Belk and J.C. Penney are boarding up doors, and Footlocker has sent the stores sandbags, Biggs said. The mall also has increased security to protect the facility in case of power outages.
Rust Enterprises, the owner/operator of 10 McDonald’s restaurants in three counties, including Robeson, will be closing for at least two days because of the storm. Kenneth Rust, company co-owner, stressed the safety of his employees as the most important factor in being open.
“We’ll be closed on Thursday and Friday to let the staff be with their families,” Rust said. “The plan is to assess the situation on Friday, make sure there’s power and that employees can safely get to work. We’ll try to open on Saturday.”
The McDonald’s restaurant in St. Pauls was to close at 7 p.m. on Wednesday because of the curfew imposed by the town. The curfew was to go into effect at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Banks also are closing their doors for Florence.
Lumbee Guarantee Bank on Fayetteville Road in Lumberton will close at noon Thursday and remain closed on Friday. Bank Teller Plor Yang said the bank just filled up its ATM machine to prepare for the people who will be looking to take out cash.
“The ATMs will not work if the power goes out,” Yang said.
First Bank will be closed Thursday and possibly Friday, depending on the hurricane’s effect.
Wells Fargo also will be closed Thursday and Friday.
First Bank on Elm Street in Lumberton was using the storm as an opportunity to inform their customers about money safety.
“We want our customers to go to their nearest branch and let us know if they are out of town,” said Rosa Hunt, a bank teller.
Hunt said account representatives may see it as suspicious activity if customers travel to Georgia and try to make a transaction.
Stores that won’t be losing revenue are hardware and grocery.
Grocery stores have done a booming business in water, snack foods, bread and potted meats.
Lisa Locklear, manager of the Food Lion on North Roberts Avenue, said anything that could be eaten out of a can without heating was a big seller. The store will close earlier than usual Thursday because of the county curfew.
“We plan to close early on Thursday, probably at 7 p.m.,” Locklear said. “But this is not definite. We have a conference call today at 5 to make a decision about closing earlier than 7. It could be a 4 or 5 p.m. close Thursday. We want to make sure our associates can get home safely and take care of things.”
Fresh Foods IGA has been restocking all week to keep up with the demand of customers looking for bread, milk and water, but they will be meeting Thursday to discuss logistics and decide on whether or not the store will be open Thursday and Friday.
“If we come in Thursday and it looks bad, we won’t open,” store Manager James Hodge said.
Pembroke Hardware on N.C. 711 has been seeing nonstop traffic, according to a store manager who asked not to be named.
“We’re selling out of everything as soon as it comes in, generators, gas cans, water, propane tanks, batteries, everything,” she said.
The store has been able to to keep the shelves stocked although items are moving fast.
“We’re a True Value hardware so we get a lot of support from them as far as deliveries and emergency deliveries,” she said.
After Thursday, the store is expected to start running low on items, but the store may still be open throughout the storm.
“We’re open a lot in emergency situations even when no one else is,” the manager said. “Even if the managers have to leave their homes, they’ll usually get out here and help people.”
Lumberton Chevy took precautions by moving all its new car inventory the safer locations. The parking lot was mostly vacant. A note on a door told customers that the dealership would reopen on Monday.
