Ben Gue Antiques & Gifts

Reviews 3

MI

Michelle Anderson

This business will not serve shoppers with children. Ive never written this in a review before, but I strongly urge anyone thinking about purchasing anything from this store to continue on down Main street and patronize another establishment with ethical practices. This one is discriminatory towards shoppers with children. I know this because this morning I went in to browse, and I brought my two year old daughter. She walked in with me, holding my hand, and immediately saw a basket on the floor, with plastic fruit in it. She sat down quietly and began pulling them out and counting them. I squatted down next to her, helping her count and checking out the store... I was relieved- sometimes kids walk into a cluttered store like this one and start trying to touch everything- the more expensive the better. But this fruit reminded me of the baskets of fake fruit my old Italian aunts used to have on their dining room tables for decorations, and I was considering buying them for my daughters play kitchen at home, since she liked them so much... she wasnt knocking them together or damaging them, just lining them up and counting them. While she was counting I was doing my version of window-shopping- from my perch directly next to her, I could keep one eye on her and browse the store with my other eye. There was a lot to see. While a lot of it wasnt my taste (painted signs with pithy sayings on them, country kitsch plaid accessories), there were a few things that caught my eye- they had some very pretty shabby chic bird items: a mirror with birds, a few smaller painted statues, and three canning jars in an old metal carrier that looked adorable... However, before I could really check any of these items out, the owner came over and explained that his store is not a toy store, and the fruit on the floor was not a toy. At that point, I felt we were clearly being discriminated against because of my daughters age, and so I said that wed be happy to leave, and I helped my daughter to put the fruit back, and we got up and left. While we were doing that, he continued to tell me that hes had kids in his store before who made a mess and broke things, and that "you have to understand that if she doesnt put something back and the next customer comes in and trips, its my liability." After we had just specifically cleaned up the 5 pieces of fruit and quietly left the store. I responded (not my finest moment) that "oh sure, clearly my daughter was unattended" as I left. A little hint of sarcasm for him. I understand that he probably has had children left unattended in the store. Maybe they ran around, and broke something, and their parents refused to pay for it, or never bothered to tell him about it... But my daughter was well-behaved and pleasant. I was never more than 6 inches from her. She didnt damage anything, or cause any other customers discomfort while shopping. I doubt anyone would have even known she was there. I would have happily bought anything she damaged in the store, though shes never damaged anything in a store before. I would have also given him the satisfaction of having her apologize, because I try very hard to instill good manners and good citizenship in my kid (I only have one, so Im like white on rice when we go out). Ive seen customers in stores take a part gift baskets, unscrew lampshades, and do all sorts of things to merchandise, and I suspect hes never thrown an adult out of his store for taking plastic fruit out of a basket and counting them. To buy them (they were individually marked), you had to take them out of the basket. As you can imagine, I was embarrassed and upset to be thrown out of a store when my child was behaving well and we were doing nothing more than pleasantly shopping. This business lost me as a customer, and I hope others will consider refraining from shopping with them until they change their ways.

A

A Private User

My wife and I first went to Ben Gue on the advice of a friend over nine years ago. We have made it a tradition that includes taking our children each year. The Christmas selection in the lower level takes plenty of time to browse. We see new things tucked away and behind other things each year.

LE

Lee Lynn

Ive shopped this store often and I absolutely love everything about it.