SHOPPING
WHILE BLACK
The former employee, who spoke
on condition she not be named for
fear of jeopardizing her career in
the industry, said she heard sales
staff and security repeatedly rip on
black shoppers: “Their card is probably not going to go through,” they’d
say. “I don’t know why they come
in here and want to try stuff on that
they know they’re not going to buy.”
“If a black person comes in with
a sweatshirt or sneakers, some of
the white sales associates would
be on the floor saying: ‘Why are
they even here? They’re probably going to scam,’” said the former associate, who is black and
worked at the store in 2012 and
2013. “They would say this stuff
in front of me. Sometimes I would
just walk away, and sometimes I
would say, ‘You never know.’”
The luxury department store
chain counts on its reputation of
elitism and exclusivity to attract
rich shoppers willing to shell out
big bucks for a $1,595 Givenchy
sweatshirt or a $4,495 Andrea
Campagna suit. But that same highbrow culture has fostered racial
profiling at Barneys, company insiders and industry experts say.
Barneys insiders told HuffPost
they’ve seen profiling by salespeople and security guards. One cur-
HUFFINGTON
12.08.13
rent veteran employee at the Madison Avenue store — who asked for
anonymity because workers were
given “strict warning” they could
lose their jobs for speaking to the
media — alleged that store security
keeps a close eye on black shoppers
who don’t look famous.
“If you’re black and come in with
an entourage, you won’t be followed
because they’ll be like ‘Oh, that’s
“It’s just the most obvious
way to identify... people that
you don’t want in your store.”
somebody famous,’” the employee
said. “But if you come in by yourself or with one other person, then
you’re goi