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DeKalb Farmers Market lets customers take food, pay later after systems go down

Management told them to come back and pay when they could. While the problem persisted, they were forced to close for a few hours.

The DeKalb Farmers Market is a metro Atlanta landmark known for its international staff and fresh food from around the world.

But on the Fourth of July, customers were stunned when the fresh-food-shopping icon had to close unexpectedly for hours. What management did to accommodate them, however, was also shocking - but in a good way.

The market is generally only closed two days a year -- Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, when customers arrived Thursday morning and saw the doors closed, many waited around to see if that would change.

“They said the computer’s down," said Heide Grieb. "They don’t know how long it’ll be.”

Lynn Ezell and her husband drove from Lilburn hoping to get crab legs. 

“If we could only get in to get them," she said.   

Staff told 11Alive the market installed a new computer system overnight and soon after they opened at 9 a.m., it crashed. 

Customers were already in line trying to check out, but couldn't. So the management team told them to take their items and come back and pay when they could.

As the system repairs continued, customers kept coming - waiting outside - not knowing how long they’d have to wait. 

After about three hours, the doors reopened and other customers were allowed to come in and shop.

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