Cleo and Kin — Local services in Town of Pittsford

Final Edit: please note: the items in this shop advertised as crochet are likely machine knit. This is likely an FTC violation. I've updated my review to reflect this information and removed the information suggesting this was real.

Kind of horrified to find hand-crocheted items (full length advertised crochet trousers and fingering/thread weight top, as well as a fingering weight top advertised on the website front page that looks to be crochet) for under $100 in a small boutique store like this. Please be aware, crochet cannot be machine made, there's currently no technology to automate the process of making it, so when you purchase real CROCHETED items, you need to be sure that you're not perpetuating sweatshop conditions by paying fair labor prices. It takes at LEAST 100 hours to hand-crochet a full pair of pants in thread weight like those pictured, and an advertised crocheted top/pants are selling for $72 here. That means if this was real crochet they're paying the workers making these garments less than a dollar per hour probably closer to pennies on the hour in order to make a profit on garments made this way.

Edited: They took down their website to try to hide the listings since they think lying about listing crocheted items and blasting a reviewer calling shame on them is better than acknowledging the mistake. I kinda thought they might, so I saved screenshots of the listings to cover my own butt in case they tried to report this review as false.

I've updated my review to include a picture of the listing for the crocheted top. There is no such thing as machine crochet. All crochet is hand crocheted, therefore - if you list something as crocheted, you are advertising a HAND crocheted item. The listing says crochet.

Another edit: After conferring with a friend since several things didn't add up here, we figured out that these are likely machine knit to look like crochet, using a new manufacturing technique. Reiterating - there is no such thing as machine crochet. There are techniques in machine knitting to mimic a crochet look, but these need to be advertised as machine knit items, as the process is still knit.

This brings up another problem here, as this is false advertising and a violation of the FTC's textile products identification act. Y'all, you can't advertise crochet and it be machine knit. You can use terms like "crochet look" or "crochet like" but again, this is machine knit. Good on you for using ethical practices, but whether you were aware or not, this is bait and switch and devaluing actual crochet work. Instead of threatening a reviewer, maybe be polite and ask the right questions to get to the bottom of the issue. Leaving this as 1 star because of the owner's bad response, false advertising, and lying about what they listed on their website and getting...

The items in the shop are nice, but the experience we had with the employee was not. We had just made a purchase at the men's store across the way (very nice employee there) and walked over to the main shop. We were there for just a few moments when my young son told me that he needed to use the restroom, so I asked the employee if it were possible for him to use their restroom, and the employee told us to go and use the coffee shop down the way. Now, I understand why shops would not want everyone using their restroom, but the restrooms at the coffee shop have a policy of "for patrons only" and actually, since we had purchased coffee from them about an hour before, we felt okay with going back in to use the restroom. The issue that I have is just with the lack of kindness and understanding. When I was a tour guide at a historic house in Charleston, we would sometimes have guests with small children, and I would always allow the little ones to use the employee restroom, knowing that small children are not able to control themselves as much as adults. I was so put off with her attitude that I actually left to meet up with my husband and son rather than finish looking around the store. I also imagine that the coffee shop would be none-too-thrilled about her sending people over to use their restroom. Again, I do understand why policies such as these are put in place, but it was such a small thing that could have made a big difference, and now I just don't want to shop...

I first happened to stumble upon Cleo+Kin in December 2021, shortly after it opened, and was SO happy to have found such a cute shop just minutes away from where I live (in an amazing location right by the canal). In the years since, the store has not only physically expanded into a second location, but grown with the product offerings. Need an outfit for work or date night, check! Need a housewarming or holiday/birthday gift, check! Need a little home refresh, check! Need a new baby or new pet gift, check and check! Really the shop(s) have everything and then some. The staff is super friendly and helpful and the items sold are really unlike any other-so grateful to have these 2 stores in Pittsford. Everyone in Pittsford and greater Rochester area should know...