I've been a customer of Sunflower Natural Foods for a number of years, and felt good about supporting this local business. I am a member of the Co-op in Concord, but have always come to Sunflower first.
That changed today. One of the employees (though you'd think she owned the place) was so rude to my 17-year-old daughter this afternoon that I was flabbergasted. We were looking at shampoos, and when my daughter flipped the cap to smell it (a reasonable thing to do), she barked, ""Don't do that! Now that product is compromised and we can't sell it! If it doesn't say 'tester,' don't touch it!"" She then got down off her ladder, strode over to where we were still looking at products--stepped in front of us without even saying ""excuse me""--and snapped the bottle off the shelf. She then loudly announced to the woman working in the back of the store that she was placing a product that had been ""compromised by a customer"" on the counter up front.
Needless to say, my daughter was mortified. Now don't misunderstand: I can appreciate the need to keep product in an ""uncompromised"" state. However, my daughter is NOT the type to squeeze bottles, break seals, or apply product that is not labelled ""tester;"" in fact, she is the most respectful teenager I know (and I SHOULD know--I teach high school). And since respectful teenagers are a rare commodity these days, I am angered to think that this woman treated my daughter in this manner. Her manner, in fact, was positively ELITIST, and being within the confines of a natural food store does not give anyone the right to act that way (though there's plenty of it around).
This is a tough economy, and good, consistent customers are hard to come by. This former customer of Sunflower Natural Foods will be taking her (significant) business to Concord in the future. To be honest, the selection is better anyway.
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