Abigail M.
Yelp
Want to experience racism or white privilege in 2024? Shop here!
For context I am an Asian American woman who came here with friends (also Asian Americans). The "staff" is a white woman with brunette hair color that was curly. She is about 5'7 and lanky.
Observations:
1. We were ignored by staff when entering, which is fine, until you see how they greet at other customers, specifically white customers. The overall demeanor is night and day, as they treated those customers with smiles versus no acknowledgement towards us.
2. We were FOLLOWED throughout the store by one of the staff, from table to table. How do we know? Because she would look at us while pretending to fix the items by shuffling it around nearby.This behavior actually discouraged us from buying anything. But we thought we were overthinking so we did a whole loop around the store, and lo and behold the was one staff following us the whole time. There were about 20 other people in the store, majority white. Which by simple observation, the woman seems to be racial profiling us.
3. My friend asked if there was a restroom available and was told no. Of course this is understandable and I was not going to mention it...until you look at previous reviews that states that they DO have a restroom, you just can't be a person of color to use it. If you're white, the restroom is may be available to you (yay!).
Overall it doesn't matter if the stuff here is unique/ good for your house or good to get gifts from. It's expensive, such as a small cheddar knife set for about $30. There are plenty of other small businesses that can benefit from our purchases without this behavior.
As a native San Diegan I'm disgusted with this store. This outdated behavior brings shame and taints the image of San Diego. It is obvious that my experience of discrimination is not unique. Just take a look at previous reviews....it's obvious that racism thrives in this store and the owner Carol has not intervened for years, therefore one can conclude that she may actually encourage this behavior. (Note for Carol: stop wasting your money with the staff member mentioned. Your staff was patting an already folded tea towel 5 times that was not touched by any current customers nor disorganized, shifting it back and forth and pushing some jewelry around while trying to glance in our direction through her peripheral throughout are shopping experience. If you defend them stating that they were working and organizing, my humble opinion is to retrain them to do better. If they are trying to make sure that nothing is being stolen, again my humble opinion is to retrain them to do better).
Therefore, with uttermost respect, DO NOT SUPPORT BUSINESSES WHO PROMOTE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.