1 /5 Hazel Grace: I am incredibly disappointed in this location. I have shopped at this Old Navy since I moved to Spokane. I stopped going for a period of time last year after an uncomfortable experience where I was repeatedly pressured to open a store credit card and the manager would not take no for an answer. During that same visit, I also overheard the manager speaking inappropriately to employees, which felt unprofessional. Last night I asked my 17 year old niece if she wanted to shop there for spring break clothes. She told me she no longer feels comfortable going to this location because of an incident that happened in December when she and her friends were shopping for Christmas clothes. My niece is mixed race, very quiet, and soft spoken. She arrived first and urgently needed to use the restroom. She went inside and asked an employee if she could use it. She was told the restroom was for customers only, and she explained that she was planning to purchase something but needed to use the restroom first. She was then directed to the back of the store and escorted to the restroom.
Shortly after, her friends entered the store and saw her being taken to the back. Her friends heard the manager get on the microphone and refer to my niece as a “VIP.” These girls all work in retail and understood that term to mean someone being flagged or watched for suspected theft. They immediately texted my niece while she was in the restroom to let her know she was being monitored. When my niece came out of the restroom, she said an employee was watching and following her toward the front of the store. The employee only backed off once she rejoined her friends. The girls felt uncomfortable and left, choosing to shop at the Old Navy across town instead. I am extremely disappointed and disturbed that a 17 year old girl could walk into a store, ask to use the restroom, and be treated as a theft risk without cause. One of her friends mentioned that they have gone to this location before after getting dutch and have asked to use the restroom without issue, yet my niece was treated differently. This experience made her feel profiled and unwelcome, and that is unacceptable. Mixing my niece experience with my experience this place should not be opened if they are going to let people like this operate the establishment.
