Some Pikesville Businesses, Customers Shut Out by Power Outage

At 11:45 a.m. today at Gourmet Again, the staff cheered as ceiling lights blinked and lit, refrigeration units hummed, and the electronic front door that had been stuck partially open, slowly and cautiously began to close.

It was the end of a three- to four-hour Pikesville power outage that this morning darkened traffic lights; forced banks to close; made it necessary for some businesses to turn away customers, and for employees at other businesses to carry on work in semi-darkness.

Roughly 1,700 customers in the Pikesville area were without power this morning, said Linda Foy, Baltimore Gas and Electric spokeswoman.

Patch checked out the area, and the outage appeared to have occured from just north of  the Baltimore Beltway, to just south of the intersection of Reisterstown Road and McHenry Avenue. 

The outage, Foy said this afternoon, was caused by "cable failure." Service to all customers was restored by 1 p.m., she said.

During the outage this morning at in Centre Court shopping center, 3755 Old Court Road, sunshine illuminated the front lobby where Assistant Manager Tracy Curtiss, stafffer Brandi Owens, and three massage therapists waited for the power to come back on.

"Our computers are completely down, our phones are completely down, and our massage rooms are completely black, so there's no way we can do it," Curtiss said, referring to being able to do business as usual.

The power went out at about 8:45 a.m., right before the first appointment of the day, she said. 

"We've had people come in for their appointments, but had to just send them home, because we weren't able to call them because all their information is on the computer," Curtiss said.

Nearby at Bode Floors Showroom, also in Centre Court, Brian Needel's store was open for business, although the lights were out.

"We can try to sell stuff in the dark," he said, exaggerating, because sun shone through the windows. "There are no telephones, no computer and, unfortunately, today if you have a business, without a computer or a telephone, you should just go home."

When asked if he was aggravated by the outage, he said no. "Today is Friday, it is my birthday," he said.

At least two banks had to shut their doors to customers. and . Some M&T employees were sent to other branches to deal with increased traffic due to the outage in Pikesville

At Giant Food, the store was still open for business, though in an odd, low-lit environment. Vegetables were covered with plastic sheeting, but otherwise, business was going on as usual.