JOHOR BARU: A mad shopping frenzy at Aeon Tebrau City last night – which saw each shopper grabbing up to RM3,000 worth of goods – led to bare shelves, aisles filled with abandoned shopping carts laden with perishable goods, and much of the supermarket left in a general mess.
As a result, the store's management made the decision to remain closed this morning.
A notice was posted at the entrance to the supermarket today informing shoppers of the closure until further notice, and apologising for the inconvenience caused.
The shopping spree last night followed a surprise visit by the Johor Crown Prince, Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim and his wife Che Puan Khaleeda Bustamam.
While there, Tunku Ismail used a megaphone to announce that he was treating all shoppers to RM3,000 worth of groceries – triggering a mad rush for anything and everything by hundreds of consumers present.
However, the mass hoarding caused a bottleneck at cashier counters – and as the supermarket’s operations ended at 10pm, many shoppers were unable to take their windfalls home and were forced to abandon their loaded trolleys in the long checkout lanes and aisles.
It is understood that the supermarket this morning is littered with carts filled with melted ice cream, dairy products going bad and other food products that are no longer saleable.
One of the reasons for the long lines was the tactic of some families who had each member stock trolleys up with goods before queuing at different checkout lines.
This morning, an Aeon Tebrau City staff member said the supermarket’s management is in the process of restocking merchandise, removing spoiled products and cleaning the general mess left behind.
"This morning, the notice that the supermarket is closed until further notice was posted on the supermarket’s shutter.
“The supermarket might reopen by this evening, if clean-up and restocking works are completed in time,” she added.