Three men held knives to the throats of a customer and staff after bursting into an Eastbourne convenience store.
The trio, wearing baseball caps and scarves around their faces, demanded cash from the till of the Alldays shop in Framfield Way.
They fled through a back door with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The gang, who are white, are said to be in their late teens or early 20s and one was referred to as Danny.
One was described as 5ft 3in, medium build, with brown hair and long sideburns. He wore a dark blue knitted jumper with a horizontal light blue stripe around the middle.
A second man was 6ft 1in, lanky and had a bad complexion. He wore a white or cream sweatshirt and jeans.
The third man was between 5ft 7in and 5ft 10in. All three had local accents and were described as smelling unwashed.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "This was a terrifying attack on an innocent member of the public and two members of staff just going about their work.
"We are appealing for anyone in the area at the time to call us."
Details of the raid, which happened shortly before 10pm on Tuesday, have just been released.
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