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UPDATED: 8:36 p.m.
It was business as usual at Philadelphia Mills until midday Wednesday, when City Managing Director Brian Abernathy called out mall management in the middle of his coronavirus public briefing.
"I am disappointed by their inability and their irresponsibility. And as such, we have sent the police department and L&I to shut down that business. If you can't be responsible, we will be responsible for them,” he said.
Within minutes of Abernathy's threat, mall security began hustling shoppers out the doors.
"They just started closing cause I walked out of the store and tried to go back in. They locked the doors and I'm like, ‘what's going on it's only 1:50,' and they like, 'yeah they're closing it,' "said customer Kiki MacNeil.
The owner of Philadelphia Mills, Simon Property Group, voluntarily closed King of Prussia Mall a few days ago in compliance with a call from Gov. Wolf.
Wednesday evening, the group announced that they will close all their properties in the U.S. until March 29.