Hermes-Palo Alto CA

Everyday in my work, I advocate for equity and social justice.  Then I go out in the world and hope to experience it in my own life.  I have been in love with fashion since I was young and it has blossomed now that I am an adult and can enjoy shopping for the stuff I used to only see in magazines.  Then I went into the Palo Alto, CA Hermes store (pictured above)…

It was a Friday, so I had nice work appropriate dark jeans on, cashmere sweater, Tory Burch ruffle sneakers and my Chanel Jumbo bag.  Not that appearance should matter, but I was presentable with a touch of Luxe. I went in to look mainly at scarves, scarf ring (because I am fancy like that) and to see if they had any watch bands to fancy up my Apple Watch.  I walked in with a smile on my face and said hello to an associate who replied but kept walking by.  I looked for quite a while at the cases with scarves, twillys & scarf rings but no one came over.  I was pretty much a sure sale, yet no one came over.  I took one loop of the store looking at items and one other associate said hi to me, but he too kept walking.  I went back and stood by another case.  There were only 2 other people in the shop that didn’t work there and about 5-6 people who worked there.  Crickets. 

So I left and went to Neiman Marcus where my lovely associate at Chanel greeted me and treated me with kindness and I spend my hard-earned money with him. Kindness and respect are everything with me… I have been in retail and know how a customer should be treated. Apparently I didn’t look like I could/should buy anything from their store.  So I will possibly make my Hermes purchase online and continue to shop at the Luxe shops that respect me no matter how they judge my appearance. I have watched some of my favorite You Tubers talk about the stress to get a Berkin or Kelly in the Paris store and are judged by the associate to be selected for a bag.  It is apparently true for many other situations in Hermes on any continent.  It’s just sad. Guess I will stick with my favorites: Chanel, Gucci, Dior and LV.  I have had EXCELLENT service there which is why they are part of my collection. 

Thanks for reading! XO, Dawn