Hundreds of People Put On Waiting List For Erie County’s Last Milkman

The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and it has turned lives upside down. One of the most common changes is less time spent going to the store or maybe just having your groceries delivered, including a staple -- milk.

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A few weeks ago, talk of the milkman coming back made news but now we know the full scope of what has happened with Erie County's last milkman.

According to an article from The Buffalo News, Bradley Hellert was retired after running Hillside Dairy in Akron. He was the milkman.

But after the pandemic started, Hellert was fielding hundreds of calls from former customers who wanted him to restart the business because they didn't want to leave home.

He relaunched as the milkman and has 100 clients on the first night.

His total customers have reached nearly 1,200 throughout Erie County, which was far greater than before his retirement. 800 orders are on the waiting list, which means roughly 2,000 people are customers of the milkman.

"We have been really, really scrambling. It’s been a real adventure," said Hellert, who celebrated his 35th wedding anniversary on Friday. "I did not expect anything like this to remotely have occurred. I was expecting a couple of hundred customers, not 1,100."

He usually does the milkman job alone but with so many customers, he was supplied with four more trucks and delivery drivers.

What's amazing, is that because of this, there's talk of the dairy business staying open long-term, after the pandemic!

The milkman is back!

Read the full article at The Buffalo News.