Sephora Merrick park FL

[Anonymous]

I have been a Sephora customer for over 8 years . Booking make up appointments and consuming their products. I have never experienced any issues at a store until yesterday when visiting the Sephora at Merrick plaza. I was having a girls day with my mom , her friend traveling from Dominican Republic and my kids.  As we tried on products and make up the employee Matilde Blustein hovered around us. Our family friend from out of state asked if products from the store were shipped and this woman responded “no”. I clarified to her that there was an online page which you could view and order products. This employee then continued to shadow our every move around the store. I began to feel uncomfortable, paid for my beauty blender and asked my mom if she was ready to go. My mom was in the middle of testing out foundation with another Sephora employee who was being very helpful.  Matilde the employee who was hovering around us the whole time has the mall security corner the area in which we were sitting. My mom and her friend began to feel very unwelcome. My mother then completed her own purchase and as we walked out of the Sephora there were two more security men standing waiting for us to exit. The moment we left Sephora so did the mall security. My mother almost cried and said she felt discriminated and that it was unfair that she had to leave the store without having done anything wrong. I felt terrible . I had told them that Sephora was a place where they could try things on before buying and they felt as if they had done something wrong . While I was cleaning my mascara another employee came and just took the mascara from my side. When we walked out of the store I decided to go back in by myself without them or the baby. I spoke to the manager and let her know how I felt . I hate having to mention race but both my mother and her friend are dark skinned Afrolatina and yesterday the employee Matilde made them feel as if they were thieves. She judged them ahead of time and with no motive at all had the store surrounded by security.  I took my mother and her friend to this Sephora in particular because Merrick park is located in a beautiful affluent area and I wanted to treat my mom to a different experience. I am sad to say that she felt out of place , discriminated and belittled. To top it off we weren’t able to complete our purchases at Sephora due to the pressure we had to buy and get out. We will never forget the  employee Matilde Blustein who made our experience horrible and tinted the name of Sephora black for us.