I frequently walk the Imperial Valley Mall for exercise. My grandson and I were there (last week). I was absolutely appalled by Spencer’s choice of apparel it had displayed in its front window. There were two St. Patrick’s Day hats with vulgar sayings on them in plain view for all passersby to see. One of them said “I came to this party to f@#% a leprechaun.” The other one was just as disgusting. I asked a store associate to please remove them, but when I returned hours later they were still there.
I have a very inquisitive grandson. Explaining the reason for a little pinch for not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day is one thing. Explaining this ... not so easy. The mall should have standards and regulations. This is an embarrassment and a bad reflection on our community. — Grandmother on a Mission, El Centro
Believe it or not, Spencer’s itself has standards and regulations. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t have 620 stores across the United States and have become a mall fixture since 1963. The company itself started in 1947.
We say this because Spencer’s has very specific demands of its individual stores and how they display the adult-oriented material.If those hats were in the front window, in full view of passersby, that would violate the company’s guidelines on displaying merchandise, according to Kevin Mahoney, general counsel of Spencer’s Gifts LLC, speaking from the corporate office in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
Rather than call to Spencer’s in the I.V. Mall, we wanted to direct our question to the corporate offices, because we thought they might have an overall statement about corporate responsibility.
Mahoney did not disappoint, and he made a great point: “We understand that not everyone that comes to the mall is our quest.”
That in mind, Mahoney said the standardization of where to put the merchandise includes that all material with profanity or all sexually explicit is kept to the rear of the store, out of the line of sight of those who are not entering the store.
Further, every Spencer’s has a sign at or above the door warning of the content therein.
As for this specific complaint about the El Centro location, Mahoney assured us that he follows up every complaint with a call to the management of individual stores, and this situation is no different.
He said he will send the manager outside to do a visual inspection, move the offending material if necessary and “and make sure they are operating according to our instruction,” he said.
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