Belleza Ropa Clothing and Shoes — Local services in Olympia

I waited to see if I would feel less angry with how my boyfriend and I were treated here, but it's been months and I still can't quite believe it. I was walking back to my car after working in a local cafe, and thought I would see what styles of walking sandal the store carried since I was traveling with family to Charleston and planned to be on foot a good portion of the time. My boyfriend was with me, and when we walked in we were the only people in the shop aside from the two blond attendants. We greeted them and I explained I wanted to take a closer look at their Birkenstocks slides. They smiled stiffly at me, and when I walked to the rear of the shop with my boyfriend, they began talking about us audibly; I literally heard one woman say to the other, "So what do you do when these type of people walk in?" And the other said something like, "There's nothing you can do..."

It was mortifying and deeply hurtful. My boyfriend noticed I was flustered and asked me what was wrong, and I told him I thought they were talking about us. He asked me what I wanted to do. I said that I was there to look at sandals and that I would at least get a better idea of what might work.

One of the attendants eventually came over and began asking me questions about what I was looking for, but it felt very judgmental. Something about the way we appeared to them meant that they felt entitled to treat us terribly. After asking about materials, foot support, and whether they carried any US made sandals (the answer at the time was no), I left. I didn't feel comfortable confronting them. Reading over some other reviews, it seems this is an ongoing experience for some people.

My takeaway is that your experience in this shop likely depends on how you are perceived. The fact that I had on a backpack with my laptop and books in it meant I was treated as a likely thief or unlikely customer. The irony of course being that I would have been a customer had I been treated better.

I have not returned and don't plan to. Although I prefer to support local, independent businesses whenever possible, I will go...

First I spend hundreds of dollars in this store...I find their service marginal (except for Gwen) however I like their clothes. I went into the store today with a mask and I used their hand sanitizer....then I was told that I had to wear my mask over my nose. I explained I had a breathing condition that made wearing the mask over my nose almost impossible. I even said I had a note from my doctor.....STILL I was told that was the policy period. I compiled until I could no longer breathe. I left the store after setting the clothes I would have bought on the counter. Since I am a doctor I understand the wearing of masks, they protect the wearER, HOWEVER what I find most objectionable is the lack of logic and thought. It will be A LONG TIME, if ever I go back to Bellezaropa. This is an update to my post...first the service is much improved. I also really like the clothing lines they have so I continued to go and see what they have and of course buy🙄...the service started getting better and better. I also made sure that I commented on the past bad service and they explained like alot of businesses that getting good help was hard. I want to shout out to Belleza Ropa for hanging in there through alot of challenging times the last few years. They have changed hours, had sales and kept up with communicating with their customers with all those challenges. They are local and have proven...

I really ,don’t know how to say this so I’m just gonna say it. I really need a new pair of shoes, and I was Looking for a certain type of shoes they were Danskos, I had bought a pair online They did not fit me. So I wanted to buy a new pair. I went downtown ,had my husband drop me off because traffic was too busy, that’s all good. They had the product in place and I was really appreciative about that. But there was two, little old Bitties sitting in the two chairs one of them had to tell the other “oh it looks like the economy is getting better. “. )Now mind you me,yes I was only in jeans and a T-shirt and maybe some dirty shoes. I had the money. But as a woman of color I felt really out of place. I spent 260. I bought a bracelet which I loved and earrings ( love the brand) I actually love. And the shoes. But felt comfortable. I was actually ashamed. This should not be that way in Olympia I don’t think right? I have the money I don’t think I’m ever gonna go back. It was embarrassing. The cashier was really sweet one when she saw I was spending my money. Again the old lady said “ The economy much be getting so much better cause people are really...