Big 5 Sporting Goods — Attraction in Los Angeles

Racial Profiling Like Clockwork

I've been living near this store since it opened many years ago. The location used to be a Thrifty's with a Crown Books next door. Anyways, invariably, as a person of partial Sub-Saharan African descent, I get profiled by the store's security, retail staff, or even management on occasion like clockwork at this Big 5. I always say a brief prayer before I reluctantly go in because it's literally a 1-minute walk from my house and the convenience is too hard to pass up.

Except I'm a former NCAA All-American athlete (you would think an old man who looks like an athlete would be welcomed in a sporting goods store; I'm usually wearing athletic gear with team logos, hiking boots with trail dust, etc.), an Ivy League college graduate, a former LAUSD career elementary teacher, and a medical professional. Most importantly, I'm a regular customer and neighbor of the store. Getting profiled regularly at this store is one of those experiences that has me seriously considering retiring abroad because it reminds me just how deep institutional racism runs in the United States.

The one positive note I will say about the store is they have a great selection and prices on shoes, and they usually employ someone friendly to ring up the items. These are the only reasons I can bear to tolerate going...

Why is this store so highly reviewed?!?! The terrible experience begins before you even get into the store: 0 parking. They validate parking for ONE very cramped and crowded garage. Parking garage is around the corner from the entrance of the store, about four blocks away, there is no direct entrance from that busted old parking garage directly to the store. They did not have what I wanted so I ended up having to pay three dollars to park for nothing. The line was so long I didn’t even bother waiting to see if they would validate even though I didn’t purchase anything… But I’m sure they wouldn’t because this whole place is real trashy. They only Validate parking for one hour anyway… So if you want to try anything on in here, shoes, waders for fishing or tried to buy any specialized type gear where you’re going to need to talk to a clerk do not go to this store! The store was disorganized as well with merchandise cram to the rafters and put in bizarre places that was not intuitive. I have no idea why anyone would think this was an OK location for this type of store. This is a great spot for a koo koo roo but not this type of store. I should’ve driven the extra 10 min to the Glendale store in the 1st place. I would rather fish sporting goods out of a public toilet then go to this location again. That’s not an...

I rarely visit these stores nowadays, but today I decided to go and buy some sport attire but what a disappointment that was. First, half of the items where not priced correctly at the register, I had to tell the manager that they were reflecting the incorrect price then he tells me with a stubborn tone that it was correct. I went back and took a picture of the items and then he said, yes our mistake but then he doble charged me thinking I was not going to check my receipt. I went back and told him what a joke he was. That's simply fraud stealing from the public. Sad and pathetic to say the least. Need to improve a lot Big 5 or you won't be around for another 10 more...