Artisans Etc — Attraction in Big Bear Lake

I have been a Lover of "All Things Big Bear Lake" since my parents first brought my Brother and I up here to ski Snow Valley, then Goldmine (now Bear Mountain) and Snow Summit.

From Paoli's for Italian Cuisine, to the many Shops that line Big Bear Village, we have always enjoyed our visits and have brought many Friends and Family members to share in our love of this amazing Village.

This Visit was NO different but after a fun-filled morning with our diverse group, including dear Friends from England and Colombia, Illinois and Ohio, we were SHOCKED and quite appalled at the rude and arrogant behavior shown one of our guests by Jennifer, the Owner of Artisans, Etc.

Our dear Friend, an Artisan in her own right and possessing an Architectural background snapped a photo of the Store as she had multiple Shops that morning.

Having obviously not seen the sign "No photography please" it was a totally innocent mistake that very easily could have been handled with a polite request from Jennifer to have Maria delete the photo and point out the sign she missed.

Jennifer chose a tactless,crude approach and said, "When you come to our Country, you need to learn English and to read signs!"

Her voice escalated and she got quite hateful. Our Friend was noticeably shaken and deleted the photo immediately.

Another Friend, a local who, like me, have purchased art from this Shop in previous years (quite expensive pieces I might add) stood up for Maria and told Jennifer her approach was cruel and unwarranted. This made Jennifer angrier and she said a few more racially negative things.

We left the Store and shared our unbelievable experience with neighboring Shop Owners and much to our further dismay, learned that Jennifer has treated others in a similar manner.

SMH. This is 2018. Enough hate exists. I have owned a Family Business before and learned early on that Customer Service is crucial to the success of any business. One never has to be cruel and surely never racist!

For the record, our Friend handled Jennifer in her own classy manner. She walked up to her, looked her square in the eyes and said, "I will visit Big Bear again, but NOT this Store."

Our Friend has more class in her pinky then Jennifer has in her whole being!

Had this been an isolated experience I would not bother with a negative review but when we were told of similar encounters from others, I felt compelled to write this.

I love positive reviews and am known to leave many. It's rare to have to leave negative ones. This is my 2nd in over 15 years of reviewing venues!

In closing, my heart goes out to the wonderful and talented Artists that display their work in Jennifer's Shop. Sadly, I bet they wouldn't do so if they knew what kind of horrible bigot Jennifer is.

This Review points out their amazing talents should not be marred by one ignorant Shop Owner. I hope and pray this is a "wake up" call for Jennifer that she needs a lesson in treating others with respect regardless of their accent or skin color! Shame on her!

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Sadly Jennifer missed this speech and its historical value. I have to admit, I was very embarrassed that this happened in Big Bear. I know many fine people here. It's sad to see the blatant ignorance of one woman stain what proved to be a beautiful visit to this...

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If I had my way, it would get minus stars. The old lady who works in this shop is the rudest, nastiest, most sour person. We went in on my husband’s birthday and my son and daughter-in-law were visiting and she was soooo rude and just awful! She was walking around being nothing but a cranky, controlling snot. She has NO business interacting with people. If she only works there, she should be fired. If she owns the place she should sell it to someone who knows how to be a polite, decent human being. I or anyone I know will NEVER buy anything from this place with this miserable person...