Panda Mart required police assistance and additional security as a large crowd of shoppers tried to rush into its newly opened Melbourne store.

Described as a ‘real life Temu’, Panda Mart opened its first Australian store at Cranbourne HomeCo centre in Victoria, offering ultra cheap items. The store is located on the site of the inaugural failed big box Masters hardware store.

“We didn’t expect we would be this busy. We didn’t prepare to get this crowded and this [many] customers,” said store owner John Chen, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.

“We started managing by putting more security and put more staff on the floor, but it’s still too much.”

Bargain-hungry shoppers started queueing at the store on Thursday. However, the situation went out of control as many shoppers attempted to push their way past the doors and left the shelves disorganised with many items scattered on the floor.

The store decided to close its doors to the public on Saturday afternoon and reopen the next day.

“To improve safety and comfort, we’re actively managing customer flow by increasing staff, implementing crowd control, and streamlining checkout,” said the store on a Facebook post.

The South African retailer, which sources 28,000 items from China’s export manufacturing hub of Yiwu, intends to open a second Australian store in Preston, Victoria, later this year.

It also plans to expand its range to 50,000 items, according to the SMH report. Panda Mart also has stores in New Zealand, the US, and South America.