Shopping While Black--- Doesn't matter if you are a billionaire

[elegantpearl01]

Luxury store apologizes to Oprah
Hermes' Paris store had rebuffed talk show host

(CNN) -- Luxury store Hermes on Wednesday apologized to Oprah Winfrey for turning her away last week, saying that the store was closed to set up for a public relations event when the talk show host stopped by its Paris store.

"Hermes regrets not having been able to accommodate Ms. Winfrey and her team and to provide her with the service and care that Hermes strives to provide to each and every one of its customers worldwide," the store said in a statement.

"Hermes apologizes for any offense taken due to such circumstances."

The store said the incident occurred on June 14 around 6:45 p.m., about 15 minutes after the store closed. It said Winfrey and her team arrived at a time when "a private PR event was being set up inside."

Winfrey had no immediate comment.

The New York Post, which first reported the story in its Page Six column Monday, cited sources close to Winfrey that the talk show host was first rebuffed by a clerk and then a store manager. The Post said Winfrey had gone to the store to buy a watch for singer Tina Turner, her dinner partner that night.

The Daily News added that she was turned away because the store had been "having a problem with North Africans lately."

In comments to CNN, a spokeswoman categorically denied that allegation.

"There was never any discussion of North Africans," the spokeswoman said. "The story is not true."

The spokeswoman said Winfrey came to the store 15 minutes after closing and a security guard informed her the store was closed and gave her a card, telling her she could come back the next day.

Surveillance videotape of the encounter supports the store's account of what happened, according to the spokeswoman.

She said the CEO of Hermes has called Winfrey's people to explain "the situation" and invited her to come back to shop in the store.

[twarga]

I knew it!  The whole North African thing was made up by Oprah's people (the security camera supports Hermes denial) to save face for showing up after hours without an appointment.  What a bunch of pretentious boobs!

**But you know what's sad?  5 years from now, nobody's gonna remember that Oprah's people lied, they're only going to remember that Hermes is racist.  They should sue for slander or libel or whatever (I'm not a lawyer yet, so I don't know exactly), especially if they have videotape.

[amarain]

The whole "problem with North Africans" quote came from a tabloid paper and had no attributable source. It's bad journalism to pick up on something like that and say that the staffers said it.

So far, there is nothing to contradict what the store said. They were having an event, they refused to shut down the event and open the store up just for Oprah, and she got mad. Now someone's making this into a big race thing. If it had been a white celebrity, people would be cheering that they didn't get special treatment for being rich.

[amarain]

so.. if all the cases and registers were closed then why were there still shoppers in there...

assuming that the shoppers that were in the store were considering buying a purse... then at the very least one cashier had to have a register open...

correct?

There were no shoppers in the store. It was being set up for a private event.

But then, that's not nearly as good of a story, huh? Much better to assume that it was racism.

[ViagraSaint]

Let's see...

Premises:

Facts:
1) Oprah is working on a movie on racism
2) Oprah goes to Hermes after it is closed
3) "Shoppers" are in stores (disproved by camera evidence)
4) Oprah turned away

Allegations:
5) Oprah staffers claim comment about "north africans"  (see #1)
6) Oprah claims others shoppers in store

Facts:
7) Camera conclusively proves store is closed
8 ) Camera conclusively proves these were not shoppers but workers

Oprah's conclusion
1) Incident was racism, and it will be documented in the movie she was already working on.  (see #1)

Hermes
1) Nope, camera evidence says otherwise

Oprah PWN3D!

[InVinoVeritas]

while the store manager(s) may have been technically correct to turn Oprah away, it's still bad business.  like it or not, companies in the luxury goods business must cater to people of influence.  it makes no sense to  alienate anyone who, at the stroke of a single television episode, can cause a run on a freaking handbag.

[ViagraSaint]

while the store manager(s) may have been technically correct to turn Oprah away, it's still bad business.  like it or not, companies in the luxury goods business must cater to people of influence.  it makes no sense to  alienate anyone who, at the stroke of a single television episode, can cause a run on a freaking handbag.

how does this differ from class discrimination?  if you allow people of influence to break the rules that apply to the proletariat?

[amarain]

I agree Vino, which is why I think they really couldn't accomodate her because of the event, so they gave her a card and asked her to come back. They probably figured she would understand. I think they underestimated her ability to make an enormous issue out of any time she doesn't get her way and the tendency of the media, especially the tabloid media, to jump all over a story like this.  

[InVinoVeritas]

while the store manager(s) may have been technically correct to turn Oprah away, it's still bad business. like it or not, companies in the luxury goods business must cater to people of influence. it makes no sense to alienate anyone who, at the stroke of a single television episode, can cause a run on a freaking handbag.

how does this differ from class discrimination? if you allow people of influence to break the rules that apply to the proletariat?

i don't think it's beyond the right of most private entities to go beyond normal accommodations for it's best customers.

[amarain]

They're not stupid. They knew who she was and they know how much money and influence she has. I think that if they could have accomodated her, they would have.