By Nicholas Biria @NICHOLASBIRIA
The Vons grocery store chain has issued an apology to Zendaya after the actress claimed she was treated rudely by a store clerk because of her “skin tone.”
“At Vons, we strive to treat each and every customer with the utmost respect,” the retailer said in a statement released to E! News. “There is a policy that limits gift card purchases using a credit card. Zendaya was able to purchase gift cards up to our limit, and we apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding. We respect Zendaya’s voice in the community and similarly are committed to diversity and inclusion. Moreover, we understand that race is a sensitive issue in America and view this experience as a reminder that every interaction is an opportunity to treat each customer as we ourselves would like to be treated.”
This article was originally published on September 7, 2016.
Repeat after me: “Big mistake. Big. Huge. I have to go shopping now.”
Personally I feel her on the same level. I feel the same way about being targeted when I go to stores. Sometimes I get funny looks for being gay. I’m just being myself. I often just shake it off and move on. Once a shopper like myself said clearly and loudly, “oh my god is that Caitlyn Jenner?” This was recent and this girl was probably sixteen at least. May I remind you this was in the middle of a Safeway. I was so embarrassed. But you know what? I didn’t care. I turned my cheek in the other direction and went about my business. It may not have been a sales clerk denying me, but it still hurt.
Zendaya recently had her own Pretty Woman moment. According to the actress’ latest Snapchat videos, a Vons store clerk refused to serve her, told her she couldn’t afford her purchase, and tossed her wallet back on the counter. Yikes.
Zendaya and a male friend recounted the experience in a series of videos. The 20-year-old said she was trying to buy gift cards from the grocery store.
“So we just got out of this Vons,” she shared. “Now, I am trying to buy a lot of gift cards. There are some certain limits and some things, which is understandable… so I’ll take the less amount, whatever. But the lady that was helping us… I don’t think she was a huge fan of our skin tone.”
“She then threw my wallet,” she continued. “I can’t make this up! This is what we deal with! She literally threw my wallet and she was like, ‘you can’t afford this’… It was $400! Long story short, there is so much progress to be done in our world.”
“My cards were loose, so like my card fell on the scanner,” she explained in a follow-up post. “She was about to keep scanning the next person. I was like, ‘That’s my card! What are you doing?’ You know what, it’s all love!”
Thanks to help from the manager, the celebrity was eventually able to purchase the gift cards.
There is progress to be made and work to be done, you can be sure of that.
