Boycott this store. And send complaints about their required bag check policy to the 5 Below company on the website here https://support.fivebelow.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
My mom and I often visit the 5 Below on State Street until our visit on Friday June 27th around 7pm. As soon as walked in we were stopped at the door by an employee yelling at us from behind the counter. All because my 70 year old mom was wearing a see through, netted backpack. He demanded that she check her backpack. This confused my mom who suffers from confusion and memory loss. She didn't feel safe checking her backpack that had her medication, cell phone, and a lot of other value items. Generally, netted, or clear backpacks are not required to be checked anyway as a matter of privacy since people can see valuables and personal items and because it provides proof that nothing was stolen since it would be seen. This is why my mom has a netted see-through backpack for our visits downtown so she doesn't have to check it. She has never been required to check it at any other store or museum, not even the art institute which is extremely strict. I didn't see any lockers so I assume that we were expected to leave the backpack behind the counter and trust the employees not to go through it or steal anything from it. This is amazing since I know that employees at this store are required to use clear backpacks and purses when at work in this store as a way to prevent employees from stealing. So, if the store doesn't trust employees not to steal, why should customers feel safe trusting employees not to steal out of their checked bags. There was no sign in the store window stating that bags had to be checked to enter warning of this new policy. It is generally required to post a sign, or at least it is the kind thing to do. Had there been a sign we never would have gone into the store. I said that we would leave and the employee nodded. As we turned to leave my mom notice some pennies on the floor and thought that maybe she had dropped them so I started to pick them up for her. As I did the employee started yelling at us again to check the backpack. We were right in front of the door, facing the door, not near any merchandise. There was no reason to start yelling at us again. This further confused and upset my mom. The employee continued to yell, harass us, and bully us out of the store. We have visited this store many times and have never been required to check bags or been yelled, bullied, and harassed by employees. We will never visit this store again. Not only did you lose a sale this time, but you lost a lot of sales because we always visit this store to buy something as a souvenir or things we need. We went to Target instead where my mom was allowed to keep her backpack with her we were treated with kindness and dignity; something we didn't receive at 5 Below. read more