Jun
23
Dive Brief:
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According to a report by the Center for Popular Democracy released Monday, Spain-based fast-fashion retailer Zara has disproportionately targeted black customers as potential shoplifters in its stores throughout New York.
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The union-allied group surveyed 251 employees and conducted focus groups that said the retailer has a practice of labeling suspicious customers as “special orders” that calls for intensified scrutiny. Black people were most often targeted this way, and were also discriminated against on the job at Zara, the report said. Dark-skinned employees were less likely to receive promotions or other considerations and were treated more harshly by management, according to the report.
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Zara USA said in a statement that the company uses the term “special order” to indicate the need for customer service or “zone coverage” on the floor, not to target any group, and that half the employees in a recent round of promotions at the company in the U.S. were Hispanic or African-American.
Dive Insight:
These dueling claims regarding Zara stores in New York could actually both be right. It’s possible that the “special order” practice is misinterpreted or mishandled at the store level, or that discrimination is happening at individual stores in a way that the company is not fully aware of.
The group that conducted this survey is interested in unionizing Zara stores, so it could be argued, as Zara has, that it has a bone to pick with the retailer. But the company may want to take its own close look at how customers and employees are treated on the store floor and how its own employees interpret its policies.
Recommended Reading
The Guardian:
Zara accused of creating culture of customer discrimination in new report
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Corporate News
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