Rainsong Shoes Healdsburg — Local services in Healdsburg

I was over at another boutique where the lovely saleswoman offered to call ahead to this shoe store as they were near closing. I needed a pair of sandals to go with the dress I'd just purchased for a casual event I was hosting in town. She told the Rainsong employee that she was sending customers over and whoever was on the other line clearly consented to this. Upon my arrival (less than 10 minutes later), I was rudely welcomed. I let these women know that the other boutique called ahead to ensure I could purchase shoes. The saleswomen at Rainsong looked CLEARLY surprised that anyone would call ahead for me and their faces showed surprise and shock. Their reaction to me saying I was the person the other boutique called ahead for was cringe worthy and utterly embarrassing to witness.

After their clumsy and half-hearted attempt at recovering from their inappropriate initial reactions to me, I attempted to walked around the store and was hounded, rushed and followed. I was cognizant of the time and was being slowed by their berating. At one point, feeling completely overwhelmed by these two women, I calmly told them to give me two minutes to orient myself, to which one of the women phonily replied, "I'm not rushing you." Everything about both saleswomen was rushing me. Meanwhile, my friend who walked in behind me was not harassed at all, and left to her own devices to browse the store at her leisure. Another friend left the store immediately upon feeling the toxic energy and vibe of these women.

The overall feeling was that I was not welcomed in the store. In addition to being told several times that they were getting ready to close, they also insinuated that nothing in the store would suit my taste without even asking me what I was looking for. They redundantly used phrases like "we're a boho store," and "we don't sell anything... simple here." I have to assume that these women were purposely trying to insult my intelligence. For context: my entire outfit was from Free People...I'm quite familiar with "boho" (fun fact: my hairstyle is even called "boho braids"). All while also insinuating that I couldn't afford anything in their store. "Simple" is a dog-whistle term for "not cheap." Interestingly enough, the sandals I eventually landed on were incredibly basic/simple in style, as were most shoes in the store.

When I asked to purchase a pair of sandals, one of the women rolled her eyes at me (likely thinking I did not see). No one should should be treated with such poor customer service.

It’s clear that this store and these women do not like people of color (black specifically in this case) in this store. My (white) friend who was in the store much longer than me came out after purchasing her shoes and apologized profusely to me. She could not believe the way I was treated especially in contrast to how she was treated.

Had I had other options, I would have spent my money elsewhere. Avoid places that appropriate cultures (“bohemian” is not a style and Rainsong belongs to indigenous native American people) that promote serenity and oneness while treating customers with toxicity, microaggressive (covert) racism, and little respect. Truly a shame. I always enjoy discovering new shops while I’m on the road and I can’t believe how despicable the treatment here was. It’s 2022. There’s no reason for this type of blatant disrespect to be happening. Do...

My husband and I have shopped at both store locations (Mendocino and Healdsburg) for years. We stopped in to the Healdsburg location on Memorial Day weekend and were horrified by the behavior of the store clerk. We walked into an empty store and were not acknowledged. Shortly after another couple walked in and was immediately welcomed and assisted with a pair of shoes. As the clerk was bringing shoes out to the other customer she walked past me WATCHING me as I browsed the shoe rack. Her stare was so awkward and intense I looked at her and said “Hello? Yes, what is it?”. She stuttered and said, “oh I’m just helping this other couple” and awkwardly kept walking while keeping her eyes on me. I thought, ok odd. I kept shopping and there were still the same TWO couples in the store. She DID not speak to us, offer assistance- nothing. I finally asked for a pair of shoes in my size and was told they didn’t have them. No follow up, no other suggestions. I don’t recall seeing this clerk in the store before but my husband recognized her from previous visits. Usually the store is so busy that perhaps I never noticed her before. The customer service has never been great in Healdsburg but I love the shoes. We have always experienced a welcoming friendly vibe in the Mendocino store. The rude awful energy of this clerk was so ugly. As a couple of color who has visited Healdsburg Rainsong for YEARS I was so turned off by her behavior. The other couple, who was acknowledged and provided service was white. In 2023 it makes me sad that this was even a thought or feeling my husband and I both left the store feeling. We won’t ever go back. We will happily spend our dollars elsewhere and will not be recommending this store to any family or friends who also visit Healdsburg. This clerk needs to do better and really examine her behavior. No one should leave a store feeling the way my...

As a resident of Healdsburg, I strongly support our local business. That includes buying all of my holiday gifts in town as well as purchasing other items throughout the year such as all my tennis shoes from HB Running Company, etc. I needed a pair of men’s house slippers and walked into the store as they opened at 11:00. There were no other customers in the store. The two store employees never greeted me, continued to talk to each other behind the counter nor did they ask if they could help. Basically, they ignored my presence. I finally asked if they had a slipper in my size. They went to the back and brought out it out only to leave it on the bench with zero conversation. These did not fit so after sitting there another ten minutes, I got up and asked for another size. That was delivered again with no conversation, questions, etc. I decided to buy the larger slippers and took them yo the counter to pay for them. After paying, there was no thank you provided by the clerk and no attempt to provide even basic customer service.

This is a small town and businesses need the support and loyalty of local residents. I will continue to shop here with hopes that they realize that customer service needs to...