S. Mart — Local services in Philadelphia

I love supporting small businesses, but part of that is expecting kindness and understanding in return. I bought an expensive foundation that seemed like the perfect shade in the store. But when I tried it at home once, it was way too light-like white on me. I went back to exchange it, and the cashier was incredibly rude, saying I couldn’t return it because I was a few hours over the 7 days limit but mainly because I had opened it. It’s frustrating because the whole point of exchanges is to make sure you get what works for you—who buys something, doesn’t open it, and then decides to randomly exchange it? That defeats the whole point of why exchanges are a thing-"it didn't work-here's something else!" These policies of no opening should be clear on receipts when they offer exchanges, not written super, super tiny in a store sign.

I even offered a compromise: since they need fresh testers for safety, I suggested they keep mine as a tester replacement and give me a discount on a new shade that actually matched since I had already spent a lot of money. Another staff member was willing to work with me, but the cashier shot it down and even yelled at her. It just felt like a money grab, which is ironic coming from a business that criticizes the new stadium project in Philly for being too...

I just went here with my friend. we were there for about 10 minutes and i bought a mini eyeshadow palette. The cashier put a "paid" sticker on it and my friend and i walked out, deep in conversation. As i was walking through the parking lot, THE CASHIER chased me out screaming asking me to come back inside because the store alarm went off. I nor my friend heard any alarm go off, but that's neither here nor there. I explained that i just had this palette (THAT THEY DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A BAG FOR) and they have no right to chase me out of the store like that. Then a male employee, i'm assuming a male owner came out and proceeded to ask for the palette back and walked inside to test it. When he brought me into the store he proceeded to embarrass me by emphasizing that the alarm went off and he had to figure out why. I told him if he had reasons to believe I stole something, he's welcome to call the police but he has no right to stop me or check my person. It was such an embarrassing experience since it was such a busy saturday. I come here all the time but this level of unprofessionalism truly left a terrible taste...

The snack shop is a little bit on the pricy side for snacks but then again we are in the city. The owners are very nice and polite. From my understanding it’s that they don’t speak English well so it might be difficult to ask them questions sometimes. There is a large variety of snacks which is great and they taste pretty good. The owner buys a lot of new snacks and products for holidays and just in general. I see them clean out expired snacks in bins but then again they might miss some and I have encountered those items. One thing I really want to compliment them on is how well they recycle the shipment boxes. They tear each box apart and neatly put them outside the shop for the city to collect. They recycle the best out of all the shops in Chinatown and keep their store very clean. The beauty store has a lot of products as well. I have however also encountered the cashiers constantly looking and keeping a tab on the shoppers. I’m not sure if it’s to prevent stealing or just their habit. But otherwise the two shops are quite nice to...