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| - I'm on my fifth Yelp review, and I just realized that I'm handing out stars left and right. Sure, it's great to be positive, but a 75% five-star record makes me look slightly delusional. My first thought when considering a counterpoint to my other glorious reviews was this place.
I was here on a winter break-timed visit to Champaign, i.e. when the store was totally dead. I was the only person there for at least 15 minutes, and looked at literally every item in an attempt to find something to wear to some social function. The owner and one of her employees were chatting and laughing while (sort of) working on some inventory project. They didn't greet me when I walked in, never asked me if I needed help, and expressed no interest in the fact that I looked likely to purchase something. However, as soon as an apparently regular customer walked in, they jumped up, greeted her, directed her toward a variety of new items, and socialized with her as she browsed for jeans.
Of course, I was livid. It's snotty enough to judge a person based on whether you think she's going to spend money, but being socially exclusionary is pathetic. I was on my way to a holiday party, which meant that I was not only on the better-groomed side of my grooming continuum, but also clad in attire comparable to the stuff they were selling. The only explanation was that they didn't know me, and thus didn't care about me as a customer.
Being the occasionally assertive person that I am, I confronted the owner. To her credit, she didn't try to argue, and simply apologized. I do appreciate this gesture, and that's what the second star is for. But really? If you're going for the clique-y approach to life, you might not want to make your living selling stuff.
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