WORCESTER - Most shoppers were well-behaved, but there were some fisticuffs and a couple of arguments about saving places in the long line of people waiting to get inside Sam's Club to take advantage of the 25 percent discount Sunday.
The store, on Tobias Boland Way, is slated to close this month, according to a spokesman for Walmart, which operates Sam's Club stores.
"We come here for everything," said Diane Lanther of Sterling as she and her husband waited about 20 minutes to get inside. "I don't know what we're going to do. Maybe we'll try BJ's."
The couple use supplies from Sam's at their business, Lanther's Market in Sterling. They came in two vehicles, a truck and a van, with plans to stock up.
"I heard stuff was on sale," Helen Hatzopoulos said as she loaded her purchases into her sport utility vehicle. "(I don't buy) this much usually but I thought we'd stock up. I got 25 percent off my total order."
Ms. Hatzopoulos said the items she buys are used by her family and at their pizza shop, too.
Two police officers and private security officers ushered people into the store a few at a time. A Worcester officer was counting how many shopping carts were available and a second was allowing just that many people into the store.
At 4 p.m., the doors were closed and shoppers were turned away after being told the store, which had been slated to stay open for the day until 6 p.m., was over capacity. They were advised that they could come back at 10 a.m. Monday.