Burlap Ranch Mercantile — Local services in Tomball

7/19/24 - My husband James called the store to talk to the owner/manager about an unfortunate incident we had in the baby store. The young woman on the phone said the manager wasn't in, as Saturdays are extremely busy. My husband then replied, "It's Friday." We were told to leave our number with her and we would get a response.

We have given the owner/manager exactly two weeks to call us back, with zero response. Now I feel the need to come to the public with our issue.

We came in, my husband and 3 of our daughters, all under the age of 9. I have a very profoundly autistic, non-speaking three year old. She loves the stuffed animals in this store. My husband followed our three year old over to the tiny stuffed animal chicks and started touching each one, feeling the softness of them all on her skin. She absolutely loves this store, as it is quiet and larger toy stores overhwelm her. She was calm, she was happy, she was hurting nothing and no one.

My 9 year old, who is also autistic with lower support needs than our toddler, went straight over to the Maileg to check out their new shipment that she was excited to see. I was going to let her pick something new out for her birthday. I followed her and our baby to look at the new mice.

A heavy set, dark haired woman started following us around and made us feel uncomfortable. She immediately started strictly telling my toddler over and over again to stop touching the animals and put them each back, with a voice that a mother can only tell was a "Oh bless your heart" rudeness, (if you know what I mean....) My daughter does not speak, she does not understand. She was just touching the stuffed animals. It's a toy store. Is this not allowed? Can we not touch the merchandise? My husband was taken aback by this, as he struggled to figure out what our toddler could possibly be doing wrong. She was not doing anything wrong. And let me say this, we are not the parents that make up excuses for our children. We know when they are in the wrong.

She then proceeds to walk over to where I am with our other two daughters and hovers over my shoulder and just stands there right next to us so close we nearly brush shoulders. Yes it is a small store, but there's plenty of standing room. She then proceeds to tell us to stop touching things! But 'Oh, have you seen our new mice?' She took a toy right from under my baby where I was standing and put it back on the shelf, as if my baby is not allowed to explore the toys in the store either. We felt like criminals. Did she think we were there to steal? I was wearing my Coach diaper bag on my back! I sort of brushed it off, and really in shock, pretending like what was happening wasn't happening at all. I then happily started showing my daughters the new things with a smile on my face. This woman does not leave us alone. She continues to treat us like we are not welcomed there and hovers over my shoulder, watching us intently and not leaving us alone, continuously telling us to not touch or put things back or saying things are breakable. We will pay for something if we break it, but my children were no where near playing roughly. It was the strangest encounter I have ever had in a store. Anywhere. We felt extremely unwelcome, criminals, not wanted there at all. She then drove us out of the store, after we were in there for only a few minutes. We felt so uncomfortable and I was so sad about the visit, because I knew at that moment it would be our last one.

There is a closer store to us that sells the mice. But we always drove the extra mile to come to you. We are going to start shopping at the closer store.

We will...

Picture for attention. I walked into the baby shop yesterday and was picking out some clothes and helping my 18 month old pick out a toy. He was playing pretend with the play kitchen on the floor and I was looking at purchasing some because of how much he liked it. He had moved some pots and pretend food around (still on the play kitchen), when the worker came up to him and got down in his face to tell him that he’s a little monster and destroying all of her things. I apologized and told him that we needed to put things back where they go. As I was trying to reorganize the kitchen counter, she continued to tell me that he destroyed everything. It was so bad another mom looked over and told me she didn’t know about me, but that she wouldn’t be supporting the business after that I had already came to the same conclusion, along with the 8 other moms I was with. It was so hurtful. My son truly did not hurt anything. Simply showed interest in a toy. I will...

we LOVE Burlap Baby! i really enjoy coming here for special unique gifts and especially Meileg Mice. To the women complaining about being "monitored" ... we too have been told not to touch the mice and play with them and i was in the opposite mind set... i want my girls to respect the stores inventory as im sure theyve had misplaced inventory and or damages due to kids playing with a not cheap collectible for kids. it is NOT a toy store.... it is a childrens boutique and the amount of theft and mistreatment that goes on in boutiques the women was probably told by the owner to do her job and keep an eye on product... this is the world we live in. I have always had a wonderful experience and will continue shopping...