Variety Stores in Columbus, GA

“I would first like to state that the quality of the store is immaculate, however my experience here yesterday was sullied because of three employees who decided to not only RACIALLY PROFILE my family and I but also ECONOMICALLY PROFILE me. What started as a trip to the store for my four children to go in and pick up a few items for our Saturday, ended with my oldest daughter expressing to me that she didn’t like how they thought we were stealing and she’s only 9, to have observed what was being done. As we were checking out my register was locked by an associate. Conveniently enough the three that had just been gathered around the registers all dispersed and were no where to be found. Once an employee showed up, he witnessed my scanned items placed in the bag on the counter, my cart which still had items to be scanned, and THREE candy necklaces I was in the process of scanning. He proceeds to ask me if we are done checking out before entering his log in to allow us to continue our purchase. STRIKE 1. After he enters his log in he looks on the screen to see what was scanned then proceeds to rifle through the bag sitting on the registers counter. STRIKE 2. I grab the bag to proceed to another register to continue my purchase because it became apparent what his assumption were. Lo and behold I was locked out of that register as well after attempting to scan one of the candy necklaces. I turned and asked if the reason I am being locked out is because of something with the product. HE THEN TAKES ALL THREE NECKLACES FROM ME, TAKES THRM TO THE BACK OF THE STORE AND RETURNS WITH ONE AND ANOTHER PIECE OF CANDY I NEVER HANDED HIM. He asks if he could scan the items himself, I politely told him I no longer even wanted the items. He turns around to ask me how many of the necklaces we had, I answered, and he then proceeds to ask me where the other two were. As a reminder I handed all three to him before he went to the back of the store so here we are at STRIKE 3! At this point I’m heated because I am with my kids experiencing not only an inconvenience in the midst of a outing for them, but an encounter I never thought could happen to us. Especially in a shop as inexpensive as this store. We watched several customers check out yesterday morning with no issues. It is unfortunate that my experience was ruined because of those three employees ( 2 African American females and 1 African American male) saw me and my family and decided based off what they perceived us to be, to make an example of us in front of other customers in the store. It was beyond humiliating and upsetting for my children to have been left with this impression once we PAID for the items and left.”

“I love this store. The employee Keisha was very helpful with assisting my family and another customer at the same time. I never have a problem when I shop at this location.”