File this under…”Say What?” or “You’ve Got To Be Kidding.” Consumerist had a particularly vexing post about a sister’s quest to find a cocktail dress in Macy’s for a holiday party. After searching the racks and finding nothing over a size 12, she did what any other smart shopper would do, she asked where she could find her size. But the answer she got will either have you raising one eyebrow or tell your girls to “hold your coat and your bag.”
After a dedicated search for a sales associate and politely asking where the women’s department might be, she was informed by an employee “Pam” that she was standing in it. Our savvy shopper pointed out that there were only casual clothes in that department. Pam replied that they’re upscale customers (you know the ones who actually dress up for work and go out), usually wear smaller sizes. In fact, she said that the store’s research tells them that plus-size customers don’t need formal wear.
Then Pam tells this sister that she should go to the Macy’s in a “black” mall, where they’d better be able to help her. Now here’s the part that got me: Pam was a sister too. Yes, really. But she was an equal opportunity size bigot because our shopper overheard Pam tell a white shopper the same thing.
But this encounter left our girl shook. She says “In less than 2 minutes, Pam managed to condescendingly call me fat, poor, and low class, insult all plus sized women in general, and make sweeping racist generalizations of “women of color” being fat and poor, all while being African-American herself. She couched all of her insults and rudeness in terms of “demographics” and delivered her spiel with a smile and superficially polite niceties (”ma’am” and “have a great day”). I was so shocked, angered, and insulted by Pam that I literally left that store in tears! I knew that if I tried to talk to any of the Macy’s managers about my conversation with Pam that I would get so worked up that I’d be either crying or yelling or both, so I made the decision to just leave.”
I know some other sisters who would have taken that opportunity to straighten Pam out. Literally.
The good news is that our shopper went to a different store and found a fabulous dress. But this is still bothering her (as it should). She wondered in her note to Consumerist whether she should shred her credit card and send a letter to Macy’s CEO. My answer: Hell yes. And don’t forget to mention Pam’s vexing customer service strategy.
Besides being annoyed with Macy’s the other thing that get’s me is that this is Macy’s, not say Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom’s, Neiman-Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue. The funny thing is that the majority of the truly upscale stores will move heaven and earth to get a dress (of any size) for one of its customers. A good idea since 14 is the average size. Attention Barton Creek Macy’s” it’s time for a reality check!
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December 22nd, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Wow!!!! I can’t believe this. I hope that the Macy’s salesperson was trying to be helpful, even if in her own ignorance. Obviously Macy’s has to step up their training game beyond store locations and perceived demographics.
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
You can’t get mad at that sister…
The sad truth is that most mainstream manufacturers/department stores don’t care about size 14 and up, even though that is the average size in the US today. (And I’m not counting those matronly plus size clothes lines). There is a whole world of us out there that needs to come out of the closet so to speak. I can’t tell you how hard it is to find a decent fashionable pair of jeans (hello “real” Seven for all Mankind and Citizens), a sexy blouse (Lafayette 148 is way too expensive for multiple purchases) or a cute dress in my size (OK maybe Lord and Taylor has the edge on that one). But I’m in what called no woman’s land. I’m size 14-16, and I want to dress contemporary. However most of the clothes I like stop at size 12 or 14 (or 12W I like to say). Then in some cases the manufacturers may produce those sizes, but stores like Macy’s chose not to carry them. They will only sizes 2-12 or 4-14 to keep the # of units per style on the floor smaller.
So where do we go to shop?? There is no place right now. It’s something my “Fellow Fashionistas” don’t want to discuss because the usual response you get from people is “you’re such a pretty girl, why don’t you lose weight”. Well the truth is I am happy, healthy, in shape and comfortable with my size 14. Isn’t that what we should be striving for? I think the fact that I have to lose weight or gain it to fit into the Plus size “boxy” clothes which don’t fit me anyway is not the answer. But that can spiral off into a whole other conversation. The truth is that contemporary companies need to extend their sizes up to 16 to cover the average girl. They need to start respecting the women with the power to spend money on the same styles that our smaller sisters are representing themselves in. We have to let people know through our economic voice that we want a change, then maybe the Macy’s of the world will carry the sizes we need and we can shop at any store we want to. Or maybe we all should band together and start our own companies to fulfill the need.
Well…a girl can dream cant she??
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I’m a little upset at the shopper. Here is a portion of the woman’s comments: “In less than 2 minutes, Pam managed to condescendingly call me fat, poor, and low class, insult all plus sized women in general.”
Is the lady saying a Macy’s in a Black mall is poor and low class? Hello! Has she just insulted all Black people? Did Pam actually call her fat or does she just think of herself as “fat” or full-figure or plus size. Maybe that is how she views herself. I wouldn’t tear up my Macy’s card for something stupid like this.
December 29th, 2008 at 5:37 am
I don’t see anywhere in the consumerist blog where it says that Amanda was black. Why are you making **** up?
January 6th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Ahhhhhh hahahahaha!
Sounds like good advice
Wait! There is no black equivalent to Macy’s
There’s that lack of real choice again
January 20th, 2009 at 12:04 am
this is just too sad to be true, some people are just ignorant to the point of no return. self hate is the worst form of hate
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:32 pm
What Pam said seems cruel, she was being completely honest and said what many others are too cowardly to say aloud but still practice.
Are upper all upper class people small? No. Most of them? Yes. Why? Because they are better educated and know the effects of processed food on the body. So they exercise and eat healthily. Also, these things are more accessible and affordable to them.
Lower class people tend to eat more junk food regularly and exercise less. This leads to a higher obesity rate in people of lower income brackets.
Also, if you would like to look at race, these problems are even more magnified.
African Americans are the lowest earners of all ethnic groups in America. Taking the previously discussed problems of poorer people tending to be fatter, this problem is significantly magnified in the African American population.
So, in conclusion, while what this girl said may have seemed harsh, it is for the most part true.
So rather than complain about what she said, how about hitting the gym and eating a bag of carrots so that you are not just a size 14 statistic.