I love the curation of this store! That's why I was so excited to go there one day to treat myself to a Christmas gift and buy either a fragrance or clothing item. Unfortunately, the experience I had with the staff was pretty rude and deterred me from shopping there and I haven't gone back since.
A few weeks ago I went into the store, looked through their body & fragrance products and I pulled out my phone to take a photo of a beautiful perfume oil so I could look up the brand to research if they were natural & non-toxic when I got back home (since the FDA allows fragrance products to be sold without disclosing any potentially harmful ingredients). It's also not my style to splurge randomly on a big ticket item without giving it some consideration, so this is what I do to remember the names of products if I were to go back.
However, the shop clerk (who was also sadly not that knowledgeable either) said--in a way that was *not* polite or cordial--that this was against their policy and asked what the photo was for. She then proceeded to tell me that lately the Internet is becoming a larger shopping destination than brick-and-mortar (thank you for that news) and that they would rather I not take a photo in case I was planning on going home and buying the product elsewhere online.
First of all, I completely understand that risk. If I were a retail shopkeeper would also prefer that customers not use my store to discover great products only to buy them elsewhere.
Second of all, there is a way to communicate this without coming off as unwelcoming or rude. The ONLY way brick-and-mortar will survive in this "Amazon age" (that I was so thoughtfully schooled in) is by prioritizing excellent service. Making your customers feel *welcome* and like they are building a positive relationship with you when they could be going to 1000s of other stores is *important.*
But I did NOT feel like I was being welcomed at all. I don't want to make any assumptions here, but I also am 100% convinced that if I "looked" more like their typical clientele--white, middle-aged, blonde woman--then I would have looked more like someone who would drop more serious cash, and I would have been treated differently. Instead, I'm younger than MOST of the customers in the entire shopping center, it feels like, and I was dressed casually in yoga pants and Ugg boots, which probably does nothing to make me look older--and I already get told that I look years below my 25 years of age.
Finally, if I want to find a product at a store and buy it online, a clerk policing my freedom to use my iPhone however I want will NOT change that.
I am never one to trash small local businesses that are trying to get by or curating beautiful items. But I don't like the idea of anyone else going to that store being treated in such a disappointing way when they are going into a store EXCITED to buy themselves a treat. I hope this review motivates the store to train their staff to be cordial and welcoming to everyone who walks in through their door, regardless of whether they fit their typical clientele persona. read more