"The system just quit working (at about noon)," said Sunny Patel, manager at Tomboy Market in the Cass Corridor. "I called and they said the system is down everywhere. They said they're working to fix it, although they didn't give us a time. This happens a few times a year, but they usually fix it quicker. It's taking a long time today.

"The majority of our customers use (the system), so there's nobody here," Patel said.

Metro Foodland on Grand River near Southfield in northwest Detroit is also empty, store manager Charlonda Love said.

"In our neighborhood the majority of our customers use the Bridge Card, so we've been pretty much empty," she said.

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