Photo: The West End Journal
“Unacceptable.” Home Hardware’s sign is bold and direct: Employees will be treated with respect or customers can find another place to shop.
Canada-wide, a number of the chain’s stores have used this brand of signage to deter unruly guests from mistreating staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the start of the pandemic, people were self-isolating and feeling uncertain about other people,” notes Jeffery Ho, owner of three Vancouver Home Hardware stores. “A number of them were aggressive, rude and obnoxious.”
While Ho supports the signs, he says they were actually created in Home Hardware’s head office and implemented across the country.
“We just try to remind people to be patient, and to be respectful of each other,” he explains.
In one instance, Ho says a woman began crying and shouting while he tried to help sort out her Aeroplan miles.
“My system was broken, which I tried to explain to her, but she wasn’t listening,” he adds.
On Facebook, The West End Journal shared a picture of the sign at the Home Hardware on Davie Street, remarking that “This is a problem many local merchants are dealing with every day, and there is no excuse folks. Stay calm, and be kind. How hard is that?”
— Elana Shepert/Vancouver is Awesome
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