Update, Aug. 27: The owner responded publicly here saying she had "looked into" the incident and…read morewould be happy to speak privately. Yet no one from The Phoenix has actually contacted me by email or social media, despite the store continuing to view my posts about what happened.
Several brands carried by The Phoenix, meanwhile, have reached out to me directly because they do not want their names associated with this kind of customer experience.
What is most troubling is that reviews describing racial profiling and discriminatory treatment at this store go back to 2016. That is a decade. At that point, this cannot reasonably be treated as an isolated misunderstanding or simply a customer "feeling this way." If The Phoenix has been aware of complaints like mine for years, what action has actually been taken? Were those customers contacted? Was the conduct investigated? Were policies changed? Was anyone held accountable?
A public Yelp response offering to speak "if I'd like" is not initiative. After ten years of similar complaints, the burden should not be on customers who felt profiled or humiliated to pursue the business for a conversation.
If these concerns are genuinely being taken seriously, that should be visible in the behavior of the business, not just in the wording of its review responses.
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At 44, I have never experienced treatment like this in a retail store and I've never written a review, but this warranted one.
Following a conference in Washington, D.C., I stopped into The Phoenix and asked to try on a ring. An associate was helping me when the manager, Bonnie, followed us over. When I reached toward the open case to indicate the ring I wanted to see, she reprimanded the associate in front of me, instructed her to lock the case, and made the interaction feel as though I were being treated as a theft risk rather than a customer.
Being Latina, the experience felt like racial profiling. I cannot speak to intent, only to the effect: feeling watched, suspect, and unwelcome.
Founder to founder, I also found the judgment behind the interaction striking. Much of my own work centers on brand, customer experience, and how businesses earn trust. In a multi-brand store, where customers can easily buy directly from the designers or elsewhere, this kind of treatment is especially short-sighted.
Even before that interaction, the atmosphere felt unusual. Bonnie was having staff stand by while she tried on clothing, creating an environment that seemed centered more on the manager than the customer.
On Women's Equality Day, the irony was difficult to miss. Women are not exempt from treating other women badly. We should expect better.
