Banning children from shops

[Geoff T]

May I suggest a small semi automatic behind the counter - (placed on single shot as the owner could end up doing more damage himself)

Only if I'm allowed spare mags!

I have to admit I am allergic to children and if I had my way would ban each and everyone one of them from the town, let alone my shop and don even get me started on pushchairs....

AMEN!!! I'm voting for you (or me) as next "ankle-biter" minister!!!

but realistically it is not an option is it.....I take the approach that if a said kid is running riot in my shop or even looking at me the wrong way I will firmly (but with a nice friendly smile on my face) tell them to stop.

A good loud "hey"...I learnt that from Ceaser Milan (dog trainer) normally suffices. Normally gets the desired response from the parent as well.

Reading between the lines it does sound as if the owner may not be handling as well as he/she could

shame that most parents - present company excluded of course! - don't stop their offspring from doing what they know is wrong...

question for parents, do you think the verbal abuse - so frequently mentioned - is a parental defense mechanism? (obviously not one, so don't know!)

Scenario - I have the pleasure of being married to a lady in her 50's who - unhappily - is sight impaired, and has a white stick... We had a situation where a "young person" (or whatever you call "brats" these days!) was doing the usual (messing about, taking up more then his fair space), and managed to hit my wife from her blind side while we were shopping in Tesco's (other supermarkets are available - BBC influence!).

She - scared, naturally - reacted strongly,and berated the child for scaring her. The mother then tore into my wife in such an hysteria that I only had 3 options:

1. pass out in amazement at the mother's reaction!:|
2. hold my wife's coat while she wiped the floor with the cow!
3. extricate my wife from the incident (ignoring cow and family!), and escort her to somewhere where I could calm her own, and complete our shopping trip.

for a change I went for ...

but parents can't advocate that kind of behaviour - can they? How far do you protect "your precious", and at what cost?

 

[yorkshirejames]

question for parents, do you think the verbal abuse - so frequently mentioned - is a parental defense mechanism? (obviously not one, so don't know!)

Of course it is.

 

[mcgovern]

common law would say your property, you keep off whomever you want. Would advise with small children use reasonable force

 

[Cornish Steve]

This is an interesting thread, and it's also a sad commentary on modern parenting. Leaving the latter aside, the most sensible idea IMO is to keep all items in locked glass cabinets. This is the norm in the US. Nothing breakable or valuable is accessible to customers. If you want to examine an item in detail, you must ask an assistant, who unlocks the cabinet for you. This is also true of DVD sets in bookstores, computer games wherever they are sold, and even items such as printer cartridges (that are otherwise stolen). This solution solves both the breakage and shoplifting problems. Without something like this, your friend will go out of business fast.

As for the principle of barring children, I'd be amazed if governments can interfere enough to demand you allow anyone into your shop. It's your shop, your business, your choice. Still, it would lead to terrible publicity, so why do that?

 

[mitch@volume]

just have one of those remote locking doors that unlocks at the push of a button from the counter and a CCTV camera showing the people approaching the store. If they look dodgy or have kids don't unlock the door and act closed or something. no need to say 'no kids' but you can decide who comes in and who doesn't
I know of a guy who was doing this for his car audio shop as it was in a rough area and he had high value stock and worked alone so didn't want to risk a robbery etc

or open by appointment only? then you have the customers name and contact number if they do end up bringing a child that breaks something ?



just a couple of ideas. but as said purpose built shop display cabinets could make great use of the space and keep the stock secure.

 

[matt.chatterley]

Not a lawyer, but it's your shop, not a public place, so you can exclude anyone you want to (although disability and other discrimination rules apply!)

However, you will alienate a lot of people, even those without children. I would suggest a more subtle sign saying that they are not toys, and asking parents to ensure their children do not play with them. You could consider the layout so that more valuable and fragile things are on higher shelves. Depending on space, you could even have corner with a couple of kids book, toys and a small stool to encourage them to stay there while their parents browse.

Have to agree. I'm sure you can (legally) exclude kids if you want - it's your property after all (mind you, being Britain, probably some archaic law which makes it illegal or some silly EU directive!).

That said, surely it would cost a lot of trade? Basically no parents with small kids are going to come in, and the local press will probably have a field day!

 

[Zeno]

There have been some very interesting points raised here. Thank you all for your comments.

Display cabinets are a good idea and all the really valuable stock is already contained in these. Unfortunately, due to space considerations it is simply not feasible to have all the merchandise in them.

Perhaps a point to highlight is that the parents of young children do not represent any significant % of the paying customers of the shop. I will concede that the paying customers may be Grandmothers, Aunts etc however it is certainly not common for them to bring them when they are shopping (I am told you can see them making the "Can't you keep that child under control?" face when there is a sprog in the shop).

Someone raised the issue of perhaps that my client's attitude is contributing to the problem and I must admit that has struck a chord. Would anyone else think that perhaps some of the younger mums know that they are winding him up by doing it so are amused by it?

My client had actually decided against this based on the adverse reaction. I agree that on a slow news day the local rag may delight in provoking it.

 

[mcgovern]

is your client the kid catcher from chitty chitty bang bang

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Someone raised the issue of perhaps that my client's attitude is contributing to the problem and I must admit that has struck a chord. Would anyone else think that perhaps some of the younger mums know that they are winding him up by doing it so are amused by it?

Ok, guilty confession time. :redface:

You know how currys can be a complete PITA regarding faulty items, insisting that you need to call the manufacturer, who need to send out a repair man, etc etc etc.

I purchased a small table top fridge for an elderly lady, it was faulty, it was hot, old lady didn't want repair men etc, needed a fridge that worked.

I piled fridge and young child in the car (pregnant at time). Got to the store, found gullible new member of staff and asked him to carry the faulty fridge in, asked manager for a straight replacement.

he wasn't keen, kept trying to wriggle out, insist i take faulty one home again, etc etc.

My young child asked me if she could play with her ball.............
I said yes
Girl & ball moved closer to the big TV section
Manager suddenly found a new fridge to give me and carried it out promptly to the car.

Time from appearance of ball to new fridge in car, less than one minute.

 

[lockie]

why not set up a play station or tv to keep the kids entertained ? Only need a small space with a couple of chairs and a tv. The parents are happyish the kids are occupied (not my idea of occupying a child but it works for many) and the parents get more time to possibly spend more money in the shop.