I posted this review on Pomegranate and Lime website during the week of Hanukkah in 2022. For those…read moreindividuals who might be celebrating Hanukkah, and for those who do not tolerate antisemitism or discrimination of any kind, I thought my review was worth posting and I hope after reading it, you will give serious consideration to taking your business elsewhere.
"Hi Everyone, I have never written a review such as this, but in the light of all the racism and antisemitism on the rise, I thought this story was important to share. And as always, my reviews come from a place of truth and transparency, based only on my experiences.
In 2022 Hanukkah began December 18 and ended on December 26. I live in Mariemont and this gift shop is the only one in my area. My first purchase I had bought a beautiful hat and gloves back in 2021 shortly after my return to Mariemont.
During the first week of Hanukkah, 2022, I decided to stop in for two reasons. The first because I wanted to see if I could buy another hat. And the second was because I was wondering if the shop carried any Hanukkah ornaments that I could pick up. As it turns out, the owner was there that day along with one of her employees.
This is how the conversation went:
I said hello and I asked the owner if she had any hats for sale. Her response was, "not this year". I then asked her if she had any Hanukkah ornaments that I could buy. She looked at me with this sarcastic grin on her face, and then looked back at her employee, and laughed and said "nope, not this year- no hats, no Hanukkah ornaments" and laughed. You really had to be there to understand how this went down, but that remark, the look on her face, and how she said it in itself really was so dismissive and disrespecting. I just looked at her and said OK and then I left.
I've spent a great deal of time thinking about how absolutely dismissive and humiliated I felt by her.
During the time that followed I never said a word to anyone because I really wanted to think about what had happened before I responded.
Mariemont has a well-known history regarding the demographics that they've been passionate about keeping in their neighborhood. But I would've thought that being the only gift shop in the area that she would've taken into account that there might actually be Jewish people living in the neighborhood, that Hanukkah started way before Christmas and that there might be people who might be interested in getting some Hanukkah ornaments, Jewish or not. I feel the owner not only displayed her disdain for me as a Jew, but Chanukah in general.
I decided to share what happened with close friends of mine, some of whom live in Mariemont much longer than myself or their whole lives, knew the Owner and some of her employees. Shocked and upset, they shared negative experiences.
Out of respect for my friends and their privacy, and because it would be considered hearsay, I won't be giving the details of the experiences that were shared with me. But I will say that these individuals shared that either the owner or her employee(s) had disrespected them and/or their children if they did not recognize them to be a regular customer, or perceived them to be just someone that appears to be "different" or someone they preferred not to do business with.
My friends, sharing their experiences with me and that this behavior towards me by the owner and her employee(s), was not just a one time thing, made me realize that responding to her directly in any way would be falling on deaf ears.
If I owed a store such as this and someone came in asking for Hanukkah decorations and I didn't have any. I would offer to see what if I could get some and use this as a tool to remember in the future that I should have just a few in the store in case somebody does want anything. I do realize sometimes you have to buy in bulk, but even if products sit for several days, or even months or years, Isn't it worth it for good business to have it around just to be able to make that one Jewish person happy who might be interested in buying something. And you never know, someone who is not Jewish would enjoy them as well.
This is a shop that if it were mine everyone would be welcome and no one would be ignored. any form of discrimination, or racism or antisemitism in my mind is never acceptable."
