Mercer Street Chic Boutique & Art Gallery — Attraction in Dripping Springs

Note: after posting my initial review, instead of addressing this, the owner chose to ignore it and ask people to review including her 1 Latina friend. I was review 18.

On 11/20/24, while on a retreat, my team decided to enjoy some shopping & came across this store. Unfortunately, we encountered a woman—who, after some research, I realized was the owner, Deb—who was unprofessional and rude. When I arrived at this section of stores with my team I briefly thought the woman running the shop would be kind as a few of my blonde coworkers had chatted with her outside the shops in passing as we made our way into the art store next door, and she seemed friendly in their brief conversation. Afterwards, I popped into the clothing store to look at boots as a coworker of mine from out of town had mentioned wanting to buy boots the night before but was held up in meetings during this escapade. I took a few photos of the boots for her, hoping she’d see them & want to stop by before we left. Leaving the store I went outside to speak with some teammates who were chatting. However, after some deliberation, I decided to go back & take another look at the boot jack, as I’m in need of one, & the Old Gringo one had caught my eye. Upon reentering to get a better look—and perhaps leave one embroidered boot jack heavier—I found myself utterly shell-shocked instead. As I picked up the boot jack, I heard something I didn’t quite catch and reflexively said, 'This is really cute!' only to be met with the response, 'Yes, it’s $150.' Odd—I hadn’t asked for the price, as it was clearly labeled. I ignored the comment, not thinking much of it, assuming she hadn’t heard what I said. Instead, I asked if she knew why it was embroidered with the name Sora, silently wondering if it might be an item I could customize. Expecting a friendly response as she came over, I was instead met with, 'That’s just the brand, and it’s really expensive.' Pardon? Once again, in the spirit of politeness, I said, 'Oh, that’s interesting,' though the smile had already begun slipping from my face. It was at this moment that I started noticing the strange conversation.The woman then reached out to the boot jack in my hands and turned it around to show me the price tag of $150, reaffirming, 'Yeah, it’s $150,' as though she hadn’t already mentioned the price—or how 'expensive' it was—twice before in such a short span of time. $150 isn’t exactly designer but you would think I was holding a customized designer bag with how I was being treated. At this point, I was done. I was in shock and just wanted to leave the store because of how terrible she had made me feel on what should have been a fun day out. I refuse to support a place that treats customers like this. In shock, I nod and put it down to make my way discreetly outside with my teammates as she helps another customer. I’m Latina and after sharing my experience with my team to see if that was a normal interaction I was informed that it was not normal and was met with equal shock as I’m generally dressed pretty well. To give you an idea of what I was wearing during this, I was in charcoal pants, a high neck black bodysuit, a single pearl necklace, light make up, slightly blown out hair, and a charcoal rain jacket. One of my blonde teammates, after hearing about my experience, went inside to see if she would receive the same treatment. She picked up the boot jack and browsed the nearby items, as we wanted to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. Instead, she was met with a lovely conversation and curiosity about why she was in town—yet, unlike me, there was no mention of how expensive anything was. How disheartening. I couldn’t believe this had happened. The moral of the story: instead of shopping here, consider visiting the much cuter and more modern Palm Social Collective next door, where I gladly spent around $300 on a few adorable pieces with the help of a kind associate. Or pop into Sacred Moon Herbs for a lovely handmade matcha bowl. I’m a big believer in supporting local businesses—just...

Note: after posting my initial review, instead of addressing this, the owner chose to ignore it and ask people to review including her 1 Latina friend. I was review 18.

On 11/20/24, while on a retreat, my team decided to enjoy some shopping & came across this store. Unfortunately, we encountered a woman—who, after some research, I realized was the owner, Deb—who was unprofessional and rude. When I arrived at this section of stores with my team I briefly thought the woman running the shop would be kind as a few of my blonde coworkers had chatted with her outside the shops in passing as we made our way into the art store next door, and she seemed friendly in their brief conversation. Afterwards, I popped into the clothing store to look at boots as a coworker of mine from out of town had mentioned wanting to buy boots the night before but was held up in meetings during this escapade. I took a few photos of the boots for her, hoping she’d see them & want to stop by before we left. Leaving the store I went outside to speak with some teammates who were chatting. However, after some deliberation, I decided to go back & take another look at the boot jack, as I’m in need of one, & the Old Gringo one had caught my eye. Upon reentering to get a better look—and perhaps leave one embroidered boot jack heavier—I found myself utterly shell-shocked instead. As I picked up the boot jack, I heard something I didn’t quite catch and reflexively said, 'This is really cute!' only to be met with the response, 'Yes, it’s $150.' Odd—I hadn’t asked for the price, as it was clearly labeled. I ignored the comment, not thinking much of it, assuming she hadn’t heard what I said. Instead, I asked if she knew why it was embroidered with the name Sora, silently wondering if it might be an item I could customize. Expecting a friendly response as she came over, I was instead met with, 'That’s just the brand, and it’s really expensive.' Pardon? Once again, in the spirit of politeness, I said, 'Oh, that’s interesting,' though the smile had already begun slipping from my face. It was at this moment that I started noticing the strange conversation.The woman then reached out to the boot jack in my hands and turned it around to show me the price tag of $150, reaffirming, 'Yeah, it’s $150,' as though she hadn’t already mentioned the price—or how 'expensive' it was—twice before in such a short span of time. $150 isn’t exactly designer but you would think I was holding a customized designer bag with how I was being treated. At this point, I was done. I was in shock and just wanted to leave the store because of how terrible she had made me feel on what should have been a fun day out. I refuse to support a place that treats customers like this. In shock, I nod and put it down to make my way discreetly outside with my teammates as she helps another customer. I’m Latina and after sharing my experience with my team to see if that was a normal interaction I was informed that it was not normal and was met with equal shock as I’m generally dressed pretty well. To give you an idea of what I was wearing during this, I was in charcoal pants, a high neck black bodysuit, a single pearl necklace, light make up, slightly blown out hair, and a charcoal rain jacket. One of my blonde teammates, after hearing about my experience, went inside to see if she would receive the same treatment. She picked up the boot jack and browsed the nearby items, as we wanted to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. Instead, she was met with a lovely conversation and curiosity about why she was in town—yet, unlike me, there was no mention of how expensive anything was. How disheartening. I couldn’t believe this had happened. The moral of the story: instead of shopping here, consider visiting the much cuter and more modern Palm Social Collective next door, where I gladly spent around $300 on a few adorable pieces with the help of a kind associate. Or pop into Sacred Moon Herbs for a lovely handmade matcha bowl. I’m a big believer in supporting local businesses—just...

My coworkers and I visited Mercer Street for some holiday shopping the other day. While most of the shops we visited were delightful, we had a disappointing experience at one in particular. A colleague of mine was interested in purchasing an item and asked a few questions about it. To our surprise, the owner responded in a way that came across as dismissive and condescending, repeatedly emphasizing that the item was "very expensive". The tone felt unnecessary and out of place, especially given how kind my colleague is and was throughout the interaction.

What made the situation even more uncomfortable was the glaring disparity in how my colleague—who is of Mexican descent—was treated compared to the rest of us, who are Caucasian. The incident hurt her feelings and ours. To add insult to injury, my colleague’s review about the experience has since disappeared and 10+ positive reviews of this shop were immediately posted within a couple of hours of her initial review. Sketch.

Instead of the owner removing her review, she could have commented on my colleague's review with a warm apology. But no, so now, here I am, having to negatively review a small business for their unacceptable behavior in-person and online. I hope this feedback encourages a more inclusive and respectful approach...