Asian Image — Local services in Chicago

Title: Disturbing Incident of Racial Profiling and Unjust Treatment

I had a deeply troubling experience at A J Houseware & Gifts on January 2, 2025, that I feel compelled to share. My daughter and her friend were shopping at this store when they were falsely accused by an employee of stealing. The children were detained, forced to empty their pockets, and not allowed to leave the store. In addition, one of the children was physically pushed out of the store by the employee.

When the police were called, they reviewed the store's surveillance footage and confirmed that the children hadn’t stolen anything. The footage also showed the employee making physical contact with one of the children, which is a misdemeanor. Despite this, the police officers chose not to arrest the employee or take any further action, which left me deeply frustrated and concerned.

What is even more troubling is that I believe this incident was racially motivated. There are numerous reviews and reports from others indicating a pattern of discriminatory treatment at this location, especially towards Black and Brown individuals.

This experience has caused significant emotional distress for my daughter, who now requires therapy to cope with the anxiety from this encounter. It’s heartbreaking to see a business engage in such behavior, and even more so that no action was taken to hold the employee accountable.

If you’ve experienced similar treatment at this business, I strongly encourage you to report it. You can file a complaint with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations for discrimination or with the Office of Inspector General if you believe there was misconduct. Additionally, if you feel your rights have been violated, you may want to contact the ACLU of Illinois for further assistance.

This type of behavior is unacceptable, and we must take a stand to ensure that no one else faces such mistreatment. I hope this review raises awareness and encourages action to prevent others from experiencing what my daughter and her friend...

UPDATED March 2023: The BEST little souvenir shop in Chinatown, with stellar prices and such wonderfully friendly people who work there! Magnets were about $3-5, coasters for $2, lots of fun little tchotchkes and mugs and keychains and stuffies, all crammed into this awesome shop!

There were these sweet little nightlights that looked like little Chinese lanterns with different designs, but there were maybe only 6 of them left in designs that didn’t really tickle my fancy. So I asked the young woman who was stocking shelves if they happened to have any others. She was so eager and cheerful and told me that she had others and to follow her. She went down to the basement, and after a minute came up with a HUGE BOX full of different designs! She told me to take my time looking through them and picking out the ones I wanted.

I spent over $100 in this shop, but came out with so many souvenirs for friends and family. I feel my money went such a long way here, and next time I come to Chicago, I will save my souvenir money for this place. A+++ experience!!! Pretty big souvenir and gift shop with awesome service and TONS of kitschy and cool items to choose from - from Chicago magnets and stickers, to Buddha statues, to manga/anime action figures, to kawaii purses and keychains. It's a one-stop Chinatown gift shop with fair prices - do your souvenir shopping here instead of at the overpriced...

My wife and I took our friends to eat in Chinatown early so we could enjoy without our children, because they are at school at the time. we decided to walk and visit some stores around. we entered the shop Asian Image my wife bought some things for the children, when my wife was paying one of the women who work in that place came over and she bent over started organize things in front of me between the register and me. when she got up Walk back against me I had to put my hand on the back of her shoulder to stop her and I said it is ok! she raised her voice and told me do not touch me I answered you touched me first later she try to speak in Spanish do not touch me you are filthy. I asked the cashier if the girl was ok. she started talking in mandarin, saying again do not touch me filthy. It was an embarrassing moment for me as my friends and clients were present at that moment. I said I'll never go back to this store ever...