NH Bull Moose Store Suddenly Closes, Staff Fired Friday

Bull Moose

Bull Moose has been a northern New England staple for decades. Always adapting to the rapidly changing times offering new and used records, CDs, video games, as well as various gifts and collectibles.

They are currently operating 11 locations within Maine and New Hampshire, but one New Hampshire location has now closed temporarily after the company fired all of the staff at that store, according to WMTW.

Former Employee Claims

Initial claims from former employees point to Bull Moose's decision to lift the mask mandate in stores, the news station reported.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu ended the statewide mask mandate in mid-April. Some towns kept mandates active, and businesses were free to require masks if they so chose.

Bull Moose had been requiring maks until today, May 24, which is the day mask mandates lift in Maine for vaccinated persons.

According to WMTW, some of the employees expressed to upper management their concerns about lifting the mandate and that they planned on going on strike if Bull Moose didn't reconsider.

The news station stated that the next day everyone was fired via email.

In an interview with Portland Press Herald, former employee, William Boisvert said that he and other workers expressed having an issue with the lift for vaccinated individuals since there is no way to know if individuals are telling the truth if they are vaccinated or not and employees aren't allowed to ask to see a vaccination card for proof.

An employee from another location told Portland Press Herald that there have been ongoing issues with customers being volatile about the mask rules and felt little support from these incidents.

In that same Press Herald article, another former manager noted losing employees due to the way Bull Moose has handled COVID-19 policies.

Mass firings are not new for Bull Moose, as back in 2004 half the staff at the Bangor location was let go.

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Bull Moose Makes a Statement

Bull Moose made a statement on their social media pages saying they made this decision in the best interest of customers, employees, and the company as a whole. They noted that they are not able to share their reasoning behind the firings as they want to protect the confidentiality of their former employees but it has nothing to do with masks.

The CFO of Bull Moose, Chris Brown, told News Center Maine that the store will be closed for days if not weeks.

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