Gaskill v. Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company

A customer entering a store during business hours attains the status of an invitee of the proprietor. Morgan v. Tea Co., 266 N.C. 221, 145 S.E. 2d 877. This relationship, however, does not make the proprietor an insurer of his customers’ safety while on his premises. Routh v. Hudson-Belk Co., 263 N.C. 112, 139 S.E. 2d 1. Any liability on the part of the proprietor for injuries suffered by his customers attaches only for such injuries as result from his actionable negligence. Lee v. Green & Co., 236 N.C. 83, 72 S.E. 2d 33. The proprietor does owe to his customers the duty to exercise ordinary…