Those who are familiar with shopping at thrift stores, know the thrill of a treasure hunt. There is perhaps no better way to find unique, vintage, and charming things from clothes to home goods, all at a fraction of the cost of regular stores. As an added bonus, it is also good to know that you are recycling instead of letting perfectly good things end up in landfills.
While it is hard to deny these virtues of shopping at a thrift store, it is perhaps not a stretch to say that most of these second-hand stores tend to have a chaotic aspect to them too. Clothes and goods are not always in perfect order, and there is that sometimes funny smell coming from things being stowed away in someone’s attic or basement for too long.
Then, there is also the frustrations of finding disorder created by the shoppers themselves.
It is not uncommon to find customers who tend to treat thrift stores in a less caring way than say normal department stores. This might include being careless with the displays and racks themselves, or letting their less than savvy companions take over.
We speak of course of children who come along with their parents, grandparents, and caretakers and then treat the store as their personal playground. In a way, it is hard to deny the attraction they feel towards the sprawling aisles of toys and interesting goods, but at the same time, that is no reason to let them go crazy!
A thrift store in Fargo, North Dakota, knows a thing or two about just how disruptive children can be in their store. So much so that they even put up a sign banning them from coming in.
Dean Clark and his wife own the Plato’s Closet clothing thrift store in Fargo, and after claiming to have had one too many incidents of children behaving badly, had to bite the bullet and post a sign which said:
«Children under 7 years old are not allowed in the store. Thank you for understanding.»
Understanding is not exactly what the customers were being though. When Kalene Krebs decided to go shopping there, she was most certainly taken aback:
«I’ve never heard of a store banning children. I was with a friend and my son, so I had my friend go into the store to ask why they didn’t allow children. They said they’ve had some horror stories of children running around wildly, hiding in racks of clothes, etc.»
The option provided by the store manager in case Kalene still wanted to come in and shop, was to hold on to the hand of her son at all times! So even though it seemed odd, Kalene did give it a try, until:
«We went in for a couple of minutes before we decided it was an absolutely ridiculous rule and left. I’m not going to support a business that doesn’t allow children in their doors and I’m sure many people would agree»
Here is a video sharing the story and just what others had to say about the sign!
So, would you side with the store, or with the parents on this one? No matter what side of the fence you are on, it seems like there is a good argument to support both. On one hand, the store doesn’t want the liability of children being injured, and on the other hand, parents can’t just leave their kids at home when out shopping!
There is also the legal question of whether or not such discrimination against parents or caretakers is okay! Whatever the case may be, for the Plato’s Closet owners in Fargo, they might not have to wait too long to see what their customers think by how they spend their money.
