It looks like Forever21 may be hiring a new manager soon. The clothing store is catching backlash after profiling teens over the weekend, and calling the police to falsely accuse the teens of stealing.
The incident occurred at the Stockton street store in downtown San Francisco. Big Rich, a San Francisco youth leader and founder of a San Francisco based youth program, Project Level, took too Instagram to blast the store for accusing him, his daughter, and the three other teens present of stealing. He wrote:
Guess what?????@forever21on Stockton St in San Francisco just accused us of stealing and called the police. When the police arrived they checked our bags and saw almost a thousand dollars worth of clothes we just bought for a@projectlevelphotoshoot!! We retuned EVERYTHING and asked for an apology and they refused to so we will have our lawyers handle the rest. Even the Police officers and other shoppers knew who we were and they spoke up immediately!! The manager hid in her office and said she was afraid to apologize like she was the victim and not us!!! We have spent THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS at this store, we were disrespected and embarrassed in our own city! SEE YOU IN COURT@forever21
His wife Danielle, went into detail writing on Instagram:
So today around 5:00pm@big.rich, myself, and some of the@projectlevelteam went to@forever21on Stockton st in San Francisco for a big shoot for our students. (FYI: We shop at@forever21for all of our students needs because its affordable and trendy and we cant get reimbursed for these costs.) We get to the dressing room so our 3 youth could try on the clothes and 2@sfpdofficialofficers cornered me (Mind you we work directly with@sfpdoften) and inform me that I am being accused of putting clothes inside of a white grocery bag. The officers said that the store manager wanted the officers to check 1 of 4 of my shopping bags asked if they can search my bag. I told them once they didnt find any of their merchandise in my bags that they would need to apologize. I allowed them to search my bag that contained a pair of shoes from Schutz. The officers informed the store that we didnt have ANY of their merchandise and we were "allowed to keep shopping in@forever21" and the manager was "too scared to apologize to us," but brave enough to call @ sfpd on us. We were fed up and disgusted, put all the clothes down and we decided to leave the store and not patronize them. What hurts the most is we were shopping for our students who dont have the means to be styled like professional artists. Rich and I use our own money to give youth an opportunity they unfortunately can't afford, plus we employed over 75 youth that will be making $2400 or more this summer through Mayor@londonbreed Opportunities For All initiative. Forever 21 how dare you disrespect the very people who spend their hard earn dollars with you, you racially profiled 2 beloved San Franciscan's who give to empower communities of color. And the biggest slap in the face this same store has utilized our youth@taylorandtylorto gain more social media notoriety. After the incident I called the store to speak to the manager to give them an opportunity to apologize and they responded back "I'm sorry you had that experience, you can call our store manager." So since Forever 21 wants to disrespect us and racially profile African Americans, we refuse to let up.#respectheblackdollar#boycottforever21
Unfortunately, its a story people of color have been all to familiar with. Now, the youth program leaders are fighting back. Their story has caught social media's attention with many users now refusing to shop at Forever21 using the hashtag #boycottforever21. Their story will be featured on KPIX news tonight. Hopefully, the teens and Project Level get the apology they deserve, after Forever 21 cuts the check!