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Bozeman shoppers stock up before Montana stay-at-home order begins

"You probably got enough toilet paper. You'll be okay."
Posted at 7:41 PM, Mar 27, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-27 21:41:31-04

BOZEMAN — With hours left until Governor Bullock’s order to stay at home, people throughout the today took the stores, stocking up on home goods.

Many "essential" stores are planning to staying open, offering ways to still get goods.

The order to stay at home is driving many different people from all walks of life to come out to the stores, buying what they can.

"People are stressed," says Robert McWilliams, who manages Granny's Donuts near a Town & Country grocery store. "People are afraid and they should be stressed and they should be afraid.”

The lines didn’t stop at Costco.

In Town & Country, within their limited hours of business, lines formed at each checkout.

"We can't get through this with people being mean and selfish and unhappy," McWilliams says. "We gotta get through this by being kind to each other."

McWilliams makes donuts near the store and now his own displays sit bare.

"This is something that we've never encountered before," McWilliams says. "This is new to me. This is new to everybody. Everyone is kind of fumbling around, trying to figure out what to do."

MTN's Cody Boyer went in with his own shopping cart.

While toilet paper continued to go fast, he noticed people starting to focus on food, water, other toiletries and meat.

And it didn’t stop there.

Many people are also stocking up for their pets at local pet stores.

But importantly, pet stores, grocery stores and many other locations will still offer ways for people to order what they need, as long as it is essential.

"Maybe this is the great reset button so we can just start being nice to each other again," McWilliams says.

McWilliams points to a keyword during these times.

Not panic.

Not coronavirus.

Kindness.

"We can't get through this with people being mean and selfish and unhappy," McWilliams says. "We gotta get through this by being kind to each other."

A trait that, he says, is the key to working together.

“You can't control what's happening to you but you can control what you can do about it," McWilliams says. "What you can do about it is just be kind to other people. Be kind to yourself. Don't worry about it. You probably got enough toilet paper. You'll be okay."

Essential businesses like healthcare, food and agriculture, transportation, public works and more as well as others are excluded from the directive’s measures.

Officials in Montana are keeping a list of confirmed cases in the Treasure State on an updated map and website - click here to visit the site.

Governor Bullock's order directs Montanans to stay home and temporarily closes all nonessential businesses and operations as efforts to curtail the spread of COVID-19. The order goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 28, and will be in effect through Friday, April 10. Click here for complete details. The directive also prohibits all public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a household or place of residence.

The order does not prohibit restaurants from continuing to offer take-out, curb-side, and delivery service.

Employees who are not sure if they are considered essential should talk with their manager/business owner. Business owners with questions can call at 1-800-755-6672 and leave messages 24-hours a day and will receive a prompt response, according to Bullock.