Presents of Mind — Local services in Portland

As an advocate of small business and shopping local at first look I thought this store might have been an interesting find. Was shopping with my father and sister on our annual holiday trip and I insisted we take a peek. The service was lackluster - wasn’t offered a greeting or a “hello” but more of a half-efforted nod from the woman at the register. My father and I found items for purchase, again the point of sale seemed disingenuous and unfriendly, but were happy with our selections nonetheless. While my sister continued to shop I couldn’t help but observe that the treatment of other customers was remarkably superior to what we received entering AND at point of purchase. Just an observation. After exiting the store - and now already three blocks away we we discovered we had been pursued by one of the shop attendants making strong implications that my sister had stolen a ring from the store. Completely embarrassed and ashamed (as we were in a public space), my sister automatically volunteered her fingers and pockets for inspection while repeatedly sharing she doesn’t have it (now suppressing tears because of the humiliation). I had to step in and clarify exactly what the shop person’s accusations were and she then began to back track her claims of theft when I began to record on my iPhone her now changing responses. She retreated back to the shop as it was 100% clear it was a false accusation and misjudgment (I assume racially motivated based on our first entrance into the store - remind you we were purchasing customers too). It’s sad to see a local, small business treat any customer with a low level of service and then still find a way to embarrass, harass and humiliate them even after they leave. When playing back the recording of the incident, no apology was even made for the store’s error and lack of respect to my sister. If zero stars was a rating, this is what...

I've heard a lot about this store from friends and finally had the chance to come in recently. My dad and brother were in town, so I brought them with me and they both purchased items - we loved the store and wanted to support a local business. Once we left and were already a bit down the street, we were approached by a worker who said they believed I walked out with a ring (I did try some in store, but didn't purchase any). I held up my hands to show that I didn't, but then they directly asked me if I took a ring because one was missing and they couldn't find it. I answered no again, so my brother asked if she was accusing me of shoplifting because it felt like she didn't believe me at all. She answered by sharing a story about how she mistakenly walked out with a ring one time when she was shopping herself elsewhere. While I completely understand that theft is harder to monitor in small businesses (my family owned a small business for 10 years, so I get it), I feel the situation could have been handled better. I did not appreciate being approached and accused in public once I had already left the store, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I truly wanted to love this store because I enjoyed the selection they have, but I'm not sure I'll be back after that experience. I hope other shoppers don't go through what I did...

Loved going here until my daughter and I were treated poorly and criticized by an employee. My daughter dropped a Crystal. It wasn’t broken but I did immediately apologize and offer to pay for the crystal. We were buying 2 other crystals and some cards... over $50 worth of things. The worker physically took the merchandise out of my child’s hand (which I was buying). She told my daughter, look don’t touch. She told me that I need to watch my child better. I must have looked puzzled because she stated again, that I need to do a better job of watching my child and to pay attention next time. She also told me to get my daughter away from the merchandise. My daughter is 7. She is not a toddler or a baby. She was not yelling, bouncing around, or being destructive- she’s calm and collected. She dropped one crystal, something an adult could have easily done. Accidents happen and a $15 rock does not warrant this type of reaction. Anyways, I stayed calm, smiled and offered to pay for the unbroken rock 3 times. I checked out with the rest of the merchandise, although I shouldn’t have. The way the employee spoke to me and my daughter was not appropriate, I will not be returning. When we left the store, my daughter cried on...