I never do this type of thing, but if you are ever in Great Barrington Massachusetts, do not go to One Mercantile.
I spent the weekend in a small town in Massachusetts, and on the way back to the city we decided to stop by a town called Great Barrington. I researched ahead of time and saw an article from Vogue magazine of places with what we should visit when we are there, and among vintage stores and crystals shops there was this cute home decor and gift shop on the list. I was the one who wanted to go there. And made my friends go there. When we get there, the shop had all these interesting knick knacks and plates, and it resembled a West Elm. They had a section of candles. Now if you know me I LOVE scents and candles. I browsed the candle section and there was a lot of the scent combinations that I never heard of, and to be honest, I do this everywhere with candles because you are buying the scent you have to make sure you like it. I picked up a small travel sized candle that was priced at 8.95 but I was on the fence about it and continued walking around the store and caught up with my friends. I showed them the candle and asked what they thought and they were neutral about it.
I was really considering buying that candle, but me and my friends went to a huge Target the day before and spent an ungodly amount of time and an embarrassing amount of money there. Have a huge problem shopping and it is very easy for me to go overboard so I am trying to practice self control. I thought "Milly do you NEED this candle?" I didn't. "Will this candle spark joy?" It won't. No candle would. I set the candle down and continued walking around but I felt the two store employees (a man and a woman who I can only assume are the store owners) eyes on me. They didn't greet me and my friends but they would not stop staring at us. Even when I went up to the register to look at the products they said nothing. Me and my friends were headed towards the door and I saw the woman whisper something to him and he started to follow us, rearranging the shelves near us and circling us but still not saying anything.
When he went back the register I talked to my friends "Hey is it me or are we being watched?" My friends confirmed that the vibes were indeed very bad and we decided to leave the store. As we were walking out the door the male store clerk aggressively walked towards me and said "Hey do you have that candle you picked up?" "No I put it down" I said. "Can you show me where you put it?" This dude made we walk through the whole store looking for the candle. It was so humiliating my heart was beating so fast and I was sweating. I went right to the area to where I left the candle and the candle was actually at the FUCKING COUNTER THEY WERE STANDING AT. Had they checked their surroundings for 1 minute they would have saw it, but instead they choose to embarrass me and my friends.
If they were really concerned about me stealing they could have approached me. "Hey do you have questions about the products?" "Do you know what scent you are looking for?" Or even a more aggressive "Did you want me to ring that up for you?" All of those things would be problematic but at least it would still have the guise of good customer service.
Which brings me to another point, I am the epitome of a dumbass millennial. I drink oat milk matcha lattes, I go to yoga at least twice a week, I live in WILLIAMSBURG, and I have spent lots of money on "crystals" (rocks) that will "manifest abundance." Needless to say I am fiscally irresponsible as fuck. Had they given me the slightest bit of attention and talked to me about the brand story of any of the candles or the sustainability of their 40 dollar salad bowls I would have bought so much shit because to be honest I eat that shit up for breakfast and ask if it's gluten free.
Outside of the store I was so angry and embarrassed I couldn't stop crying. My friends were visibly upset and shaken too, I couldn't stop crying so much so that the woman store owner came outside. But instead of listening or asking if I was ok she immediately defended her actions towards me "I just want you to know we do that all the time to everyone, people steal from us all the time" Then it became crystal clear to me why the store owner was outside. It wasn't to check in on me or apologize for bad customer experience (for the record neither the man nor the woman apologized) it was to make HERSELF feel better about the situation.
Spend your money somewhere that doesn't make people feel terrible. read more
