Arcadia — Local services in Provincetown

Jay at Arcadia likes to gawk, harass, and yell at visitors. I strongly recommend avoiding this place. Should you be looking for an artsy, locally-owned store to shop at, you’re in luck because every block in Provincetown has a dozen of them. Arcadia, by any measure, isn’t unique.

I always make a conserted effort to patronize locally owned businesses — despite their generally higher prices and a sometimes lack of online presence — especially those that support the local arts community. This commitment doesn’t change during my frequent travels to Provincetown.

So, you could imagine my disappointment when I was blindsided with the most vile, disrespectful attitude when walking into Jay’s business on Sunday. It was with a thick, un-ironic sass that we were immediately ordered to leave our iced coffee on the floor next to the door. A request of the sort is never a burden because it is a common one for walkable towns, especially in smaller/tighter store layouts in which there’s a high probability of a spill on merchandise. However, the request’s accompanying attitude was completely uncalled for.

Accompanying our entry, and barked orders, was no greeting — not a welcome, good morning, or “How are you?” — which contributed to a tone in which we clearly weren’t welcomed by Jay at Arcadia.

While we walked around Arcadia, Jay proceeded to aggressively stare at us (all without blinking, which I suppose is impressive in its own right). Having visited before to see my friends’ art on display, I had inquired about the upstairs gallery; “Is there any art on display upstairs today?” I wanted to ask before inviting myself upstairs, which wasn’t at all an unreasonable request considering the insurmountable store clutter immediately blocking the stairs and other parts of Arcadia (in other words, common sense indicated the upstairs could be closed to visitors). I was astonished by Jay’s reply, which was a long-winded, grotesquely condescending rant about how the upstairs “always” has art on display and is “always” open — was I in third grade again, being lectured about the use of the bathroom pass by my recently divorced teacher? In his rant, he did everything short of explicitly calling me stupid. I’ve never, ever been treated worse in Provincetown.

Somehow, the uncanny tone was feeling as if the roles were switched; myself as a friendly retail worker in the hot seat with a nasty customer (Jay), which unfairly led me to feel as if his inexcusable demeanor was my fault, and that it was my job to defuse the situation. Perhaps he was frustrated by the influx of tourists from a cruise ship in port for the day (of which I wasn’t a part of). Or, he was upset that the many people who walk through town do tend to window shop. Either way, his hostile personality is unacceptable for someone who chose, on their own free will, to run a business in a town whose economy predominantly relies on tourist dollars.

Imagine what it takes for one’s self esteem to stoop so low as to yell at a kind visitor. I suppose it doesn’t take much mental horsepower, or class, to sit down at an unremarkable shop and gawk, harass, and yell at strangers. I would advise Jay to choose another line of business, because clearly he’s miserable and doesn’t deserve to run a shop in...

The store is very cute and has nice items for sale. The owner seems to know a lot about the products and can tell stories about them.

Unfortunately, my rating stems from the fact that the store owner was incredibly rude and unwelcoming to guests. I had every intention of buying some gifts for friends and even had specific items in mind as I was browsing the store, but after a completely rude interaction, I decided to walk out and never return.

I was looking for dog toys as gifts for friends and family. I saw some items that looked like dog toys and asked the owner if they were. The owner rudely responded that those were baby rattles, as if my question was an inconvenience or an insult. I didn’t touch the item; they simply appeared to be small, plush toys that a dog might have. It was a very normal question.

I then asked if he had any other dog toys on the table. I saw a sign about dog toys, and directly below the sign was a basket of toys, so I assumed those were dog toys. He scoffed again and said, "Like I said, the dog toys are on the table." Apparently, these flat sacks with handles, located diagonally from the sign (not below it), were the dog toys. These items looked like small purses and were made of the same material as a larger bag next to them, so it wasn’t clear to me that they were toys and not small purses.

In the end, he assumes everyone knows as much as he does, and if you don’t, he doesn’t want...

This was my second year in Ptown, and therefore my 2nd time in Acadia. The owner Jay is very knowledgeable on everything in the shop. Unfortunately we had quite a bad experience with him last week, without going into to much detail, we bought something that later we found to be completely overpriced (when he assured us he was at least 20% cheaper) we didn't check, at the time but later that day found the product $80 cheaper on the products website, we went back to try and come to some arrangement (getting a price reduction or return) but Jay turned very aggressive and started shouting and eventually ordered us out of his shop. AVOID. or at least check online before making your purchase. We understand that small businesses sometimes have a little mark-up, we try and support the independent shops whenever we can, and have spent a small fortune in Ptown in...