Rush on eclipse glasses at Johns Creek store
JOHNS CREEK, Ga - You would have thought there was a celebrity sighting at the Ace Hardware store in Johns Creek, as hundreds of people rushed to the store. There was no celebrity, but the highly coveted eclipse glasses.
The store had just got a brand new shipment. Some might have called the scene an organized mad house with a line wrapped throughout the store. But the owner of the location knew it would not take long until this recent batch was gone too.
The phones rang off at the hook at the Johns Creek Ace Hardware Store after word got out that a new shipment of eclipse glasses had just arrived.
"I was getting my hair cut. I just got my hair cut and somebody came running into the hair salon saying they've got them at Ace Hardware, hurry up you've got to get there. So, as soon as I got my hair cut, I just sped around here," said Cheryl Moulton.
And she wasn't the only one rushing to the store.
Owner Richard Lukowiak knew it wouldn't be long before he was out.
"I don't think anybody has seen anything like this. This is, people are lined all the way through our store all the way out into the parking lot," said Lukowiak. "Wish I had four more shipments."
The glasses were $15 a piece, but that didn't bother people wanting to see the eclipse. Nor did waiting in line for more than an hour with many saying it's all worth it for Monday's viewing
"I won’t see it in my lifetime again, so it's an opportunity you can't pass up," one customer said.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I don't think, at least I won't be here in 94 years. I want something we can look at and do as a family and hopefully the kids will remember this," another customer said.
"It's a once in a lifetime. It's worth it, and I’m getting older so I will never see this again," said one customer.
Lukowiak said at the start of all of this, before all the hype, he only ordered fifty glasses and was nervous about that. He said for past three days they've ordered 4,000 at a time and he can't keep up with demand.