The day before Thanksgiving can be a crazy time to grocery shop, especially if you shop at the Stapleton King Soopers. Hundreds of shoppers seem to converge at the store around the same time looking for the exact same items last minute. Jennifer Beatty was one of those shoppers. “It was absolutely crazy,” said Beatty. “People speeding through the aisles, grabbing for items that weren’t even there, fighting over every last condiment. It was scary. Really, really scary,” said a tearful Beatty. The Stapleton King Soopers can always be a little frightening, but last minute holiday shopping there can be downright dangerous. “I saw a man, he must have been somewhere in his mid-60’s, fall down while reaching for a box of stuffing,” said Beatty. “It was the last box, so instead of helping him up, someone just grabbed it and ran off. It was just horrible.”
According to several eye-witnesses, there were tug of wars over carts and baskets, people shoving to get in front of people during self-checkout, and verbal altercations over who got to what first. “At times, the crowd got so intense, people were collapsing simply from the stress and the pressure,” said shopper Lisa Konsgshaug. “It was pretty terrifying.” Many of the injuries were scrapes and bruises from falling or getting hit by carts. For others, the injuries were mostly emotional. “All those frantic people,” whimpered Kongshaug. “Just helpless. Scared. Lost. Injured. I will never forget those faces. I can’t help but think that if the Eastbridge Soopers had been open, so many of these injuries wouldn’t have happened,” said Konsgshaug. Hopefully, the Eastbridge Soopers will be open by next year and can alleviate some of the stress on the current Soopers and put an end to the needless pre-Thanksgiving injuries.