A supermarket in Melbourne’s outer west has apologised after encouraging its staff to racially profile its customers and ask for extra assistance if African people entered the store.
Key points:
- The manager said he had received criticism because of the sign
- He has put up a new sign apologising to the community
- Metcash, which operates the chain of IGA supermarkets, said it took action to remove the sign
For three years, the IGA in Sunshine West had a sign taped to its cash register that stated: “If an African customer comes to the bottle shop presses [sic] the button for assistant immediately!”
“Minimum 2 staffs in front while we serve Africans,” the sign also read.
The manager of the store, who did not want to share his name with the ABC, said he had taken down the sign after it was shared widely on social media, and apologised for offending the community.
He said he wanted to put the sign up as a reminder to his staff that if a “stranger or African” comes in, they should press a button to alert other staff members.
“We [can] get somebody to stand next to them just for safety reasons,” he said, adding the alert button was not only used for African customers, but also when the store was busy.
An apology note was written on Monday afternoon and placed on a bench near the cash register.
“We would like to apologies [sic] to anyone that got offended by the note we had … it was not our intention to offend,” the note said.
The manager said the store had received several complaints from customers about the sign, which was why he decided to put up a new sign apologising to Sunshine’s African-Australian community.
“We don’t really mean for this, we apologise for what we’ve done. I’m sorry it will never happen again like that,” he said.
“I’ve done the wrong thing for the public, we should not do like this.”
The manager said he should have told his staff to press the button if a group of strangers entered his store, rather than singling out African customers.
“It is my mistake. Big mistake,” he said.
Supermarket implements mandatory training
The manager of the store said he had not been visited by IGA’s head office about the matter, and that he had not received racial-sensitivity training in his role.
“They say if something like this [happens] next time, just better train the staff if they really need help to press the button, and don’t [be] racist [to] anyone,” the IGA store manager said.
But a spokesperson for wholesaler Metcash, which operates the chain of IGA supermarkets, said once the sign was brought to their attention, the company took action to remove it and implement mandatory training for all staff.
“This type of behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in any IGA store across the country,” a spokesperson told the ABC in a statement.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting local communities across Australia, we will ensure ALL IGA employees continue to create a shopping environment where all are welcome and equal.”
The IGA manager said he treated all his customers in the Sunshine West store like a friend.
“We never have these kind of issues,” he said.
“Customers are like a god for us. We treat them like friends.”
