- A Kmart worker posted a TikTok of himself doing a funny store closing announcement last month.
- In the video, which went viral, Liam Gildea put on a British accent and joked with customers.
A supermarket worker who went viral after posting a TikTok video of himself theatrically announcing the store's closing time says his bosses told him off for it so he quit.
Liam Gildea, a musician from Australia, was in charge of closing a local Kmart branch last month when he decided to change things up a bit.
In the now-viral TikTok video, Gildea films himself as he starts to play the classical piece "Spring" by Vivaldi into the shop microphone before announcing the closing time in a British accent.
"Good evening customers! As the time is now 8.50 p.m. this store will close in 10 minutes time. As the sun must set on a beautiful horizon, so must you make your way to the front of the store to finalize your purchases," he says over the music.
"Good morrow customers, good morrow!" he added.
The video quickly went viral, and prompted many positive replies. At the time of writing, it has more than 9 million views.
"I LOVE THIS! It's giving Bridgerton," one person commented, while another said Gildea "deserves a raise."
You can watch it here:
@liamgildea_ Good morrow, customers #fyp #kmart #retail #announcement ♬ original sound - Liam Gildea
But Gildea told Insider that after the video went viral he had a "feeling" that he might get in trouble with management.
"It just felt like something that the company wouldn't like," he said. "I did hope they'd jump all over it, make me social media manager or something ridiculous, but I was expecting the worst and hoping for the best."
One week later, he was called into a meeting to discuss the viral video. He said that his managers told him he was in breach of store procedures as well as the company's social media policy.
While he wasn't fired, he was given a warning and told to limit his replies on the video, he said, adding that he felt "disappointed" by their reaction.
"I feel like it was something they could've capitalized on instead of dismissed," he said. "I would've loved for them to take action towards it in a positive way, maybe even implement it into other stores," he added.
Gildea said he quit shortly after because he felt everything had been handled "poorly." He is currently still on the hunt for a new job.
A representative for Kmart did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
"I don't regret what I did, I made millions of people happy," Gildea added.