Monday, April 20, 2015

My Letter to The Children's Place

I can't believe that this is what is bringing me back to ye olde blogosphere, but here it is, warts and all.
Thank you for taking the time to consider feedback from your customers. I am a long term shopper of The Children's Place, having found your products when my oldest son (now 20) was only about 2 years old. For the most part, I've been very satisfied with the quality and the variety of offerings you carry for children. I'm not at all happy that the (local to me) store has closed but I'm making due on that angle. I'm writing to you today because I was so disappointed by my experience when shopping the piles of graphic tees for young girls at your (alternative to the local to me) location.
All the tees that have little girl faces on them were very Caucasian-looking girls (wide eyes, long flowy hair, typical "white girl" features, etc.). There were NO "girls of color" featured on any of the tees stacked in the displays at all. I fully realize that this might be true of just this season's offerings, as in the past I've been happy to find one tee or so every couple seasons. But yesterday was the final straw for me - I have to speak up. I find this lack of diversity in your product lines very alarming in this day and age.
When I inquired to an employee who was working the floor, she encouraged me to speak up. She and her fellow employees (who were lovely and very friendly and helpful. AND were beautiful African American ladies who shop there also!) stated that they too had noticed the lack of diversity. As a mom to two gorgeous Chinese daughters, I feel that the products I buy for my children should be representative of the vast differences that exist in our culture, that we should be applauding the differences by showing beauties that are far more representative of the many families who shop at stores like The Children's Place.  As I stood in that store observing the clientele, I noticed many families of varying ethnicities. I heard mommas speaking Spanish, Korean, and English. It was a truly diverse crowd in there trying to find great bargains and outfit their kiddoes for spring. The products on your shelves and racks need to do a much better job of addressing those demographics!
Moving forward, I hope that you will please consider a more wide-angled approach that will honor the diversity and the beauty of ALL of your customers! Again, thank you for hearing me out and allowing a venue for customers to share this sort of feedback.
Sincerely,
The Gang's Momma

2 comments:

likeschocolate said...

Yes, Amen! Surprized they haven't gotten the panda fever as many other companies have as that always seems to draw us in. But, yes, all children are not blond and blue-eyed.

Unknown said...

Yes!!