No one was injured late Friday in an armed robbery at the Big H Food Store on East Main Street, Rome police said.

Two suspects escaped with almost $3,000 from the Big H, 29 E. Main St., after robbing a clerk with a knife, police said. There were no immediate arrests.

The robbery happened about 11 p.m. The clerk was closing the business, and had walked over to the adjoining Big H Laundromat in the same building to clean before he left, said Rome police officer Nicholas Hovers.

"The guys come up," Hovers added. "They're waiting for him outside."

When the clerk stepped outside the laundromat, one of the suspects forced him back in while the other served as a lookout, Hovers said. The clerk was then forced to the rear of the laundromat.

"That's when (the suspect) pulls a knife out and says, 'Hey, open these machines,'" Hovers said.

The clerk handed over some money from the laundry machines, and the suspect then walked him at knifepoint back outside and to the convenience store. The clerk was walked around the counter, where he got cash as the suspect grabbed phone cards and other items, Hovers said.

After getting the cash, the knife-wielding suspect walked the clerk back outside, Hovers said.

"As soon as they get out, they take off," Hovers said of the suspects.

Pfc. Joel Stroupe and other officers responded to the scene. Stroupe used a K-9 dog in an attempt to track the suspects, though the trail disappeared around Pennington Avenue and South Broad Street, he said.

Anyone with information about the robbery should contact police at 706-238-5111.