Enforcement of a long-held policy of barring people under 16 unless accompanied by a parent became a flashpoint on Barracks Row recently. When Patty Curran’s son Ian, on an errand from his mother to buy raw hide and waste bags, the 13 year-old was prevented from entering Chateau Animaux.
Patty Curran, and her sons Ian (right) and Keith. Millie, their dog, is allowed in Chateau Animaux, but Ian wasn't. Photo provided by Patty Curran.
Curran, mother also to a 17 year-old boy, complained to the store owner, who cited similar 8th Street SE policies and discrimination concerns if children were let in on a case by case basis. Curran, whose sons have been raised on the Hill, said on a local listserv that she feels “businesses that turn away kid/customers are undermining our efforts to raise our kids to be responsible, supportive, contributing city dwellers.”
“This is a policy we have had from the beginning,” said Chateau Animaux’s co-owner Dennis Bourgault. He said he has enforced the “under 16” policy since he and his partner opened the pet store’s predecessor, Doolittle’s, on 7th Street SE, back in 1994.
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Noting that he is a lawyer, Bourgault pointed out that letting in one kid because he is nice or because he knew him would open the door to discrimination lawsuits if he barred others. “We have nothing against kids. We have sponsored Capitol Hill children’s baseball teams for years and years and years. A lot of stores have the same policy. It is not fair to us to be babysitting kids,” Bourgault stated. He noted he was on the listserv for pet stores nationwide where the issue had recently come up and the majority of them have signs posted. Sometiems when kids come in, “stuff gets broken, kids get hurt,” and his employees would probably “kill me,” he said, if he placed the burden of eyeing the teen or preteen patrons on them.
Without a doubt, there have been troubles associated with groups of kids along 8th Street, many times after school let out at Hine Junior High School before it closed last year. Business owners said things had improved since then.
On Barracks Row, others cited similar signs at Backstage, the theater store, and homebody, the nifty home goods store. Rather humorously, the sign on homebody’s door belonged to previous tenant Plaid, a clothing, denim and fashion accessory store for women and babies. Owner Erin Mara hasn’t gotten around to taking it off yet, as she plans on getting a new door. Rather ironically, kids come in with $20 bills while the parents are next door at Irish pub Molly Malone’s, Mara surmises, and buy things at her store, with its open floor plan. “We have kids 12 and under who are good customers. We have no policy,” Mara said.
Ed Kopenhaver, an owner of Frager’s where the age of admittance is 18, said the policy is “not heavily enforced, but it is there so when several unruly or troublesome kids come in we can use it as our rational for asking them to leave. Generally—if they come in a large number that is worrisome, but if they look like they are there for a very legitimate purpose, no one is going to ask them to leave.”
Kopenhaver said the policy is only several years old and a response to incidents in the store, some involving making keys for possibly stolen vehicles. If the key looks torn up or sloppy, a sign for a possibly stolen Toyota, for example, the store now says it cannot duplicate it for the would-be customer.
This begs the question—what about children at a children’s toy store? Everyone wants to know how Groovyland on Barracks Row handles kids as customers.
Manuel Cortes, co-owner of Groovyland, said he used to enforce the policy of no one under 16 when Hine was open. “Kids were coming in [after school] and it was crazy and the kids were disrespectful,” he said, but noted after the store had been open, kids now know they have to behave.” They know they have to ask for permission and I say yes, but you have [be respectful]. I used to have a sign but I took it down—it used to be 16 and under, but it confused parents,” Cortes said. “If I see they are not behaving, I have to say you have to go, you have to come with an adult. I say you can come in but you have to follow the rules and if you don’t, you have to go,” said Cortes. He also noted many kids now ask for permission to come in.
“I do have a lot of kids (10, 11, 12 years-old) that come in here and in a week they spend $10,” Cortes said.
He recounted how he likes to work with young customers, even ones who perhaps were trying to steal from him.
A “10 year-old came in. She was by herself. She was trying to steal one of the bead sets,” Cortes said. “I said, ‘you have to go now and you cannot come back without your Mother’.”
“She came back three weeks later to apologize. [We] had 20-minute talk. She lives at the shelter—she was coming from school to the shelter but she stopped here. I said I would help her to buy that toy if I see her grades—for every ‘A,’ you get $2… I think I made my point. You have to talk to kids…she had some money and she bought a little magic kit… and was so happy,” He had not seen her or her grades, since Hine closed.
Two other Eastern Market retail stores that sell children’s items, Dawn Price Baby and Hill’s Kitchen (kiddy aprons and egg whisks!) do not have a policy barring adolescents under 16. Leah Daniels, owner of Hill’s Kitchen, say teens come in asking for items, especially now, around Father’s Day.
Executive Director of the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals or CHAMPS, Julia Christian, responded with sympathy to both the parents of teens and the businesses.
“I am a person who grew up as a kid being sent to various places around here to grab things for my parents and was definitely looking forward to the day I can send Chloe (her two year-old; Happy Birthday Chloe!) out to do my errands too! However, the reality is that this kind of policy has to be an all-or-nothing kind of situation. If I try to imagine being on the other side of the coin, where my child is not let in, but sees another child allowed in, I know I’d be furious about that.”
Christian noted there were several provoking ideas to address the situation, including one of registering or making an ‘only one kid at a time’ rule, which Curran suggested as well, and said she would float the ideas with business owners.
She did note that people should “try to steer clear of blaming this situation on one single store – especially considering that I know Chateau Animaux has supported and sponsored several different community things over the years.”
Curran was among those who also suggested a role for increased foot/Segway/bike patrol officers from metro police during mid to late afternoon, when school is out.
“I sympathize with small business owners and the challenges they face doing business on a busy corridor with multiple bus stops, but I do feel like they should be able to staff their stores with enough folks–and train them properly–to keep their eye on kids/customers; isn’t that a part of being a business owner?” Curran said.
Writer Elizabeth Festa, whose household, in the spirit of disclosure, has a receipt for all of the stores quoted from the past couple of months.
This is a tough question. I hate when kids are running wild in stores(with or without their parents present) while I’m trying to shop (I don’t have kids), and having worked in retail, I know how hard it can be to keep track of them. On the other hand, if I were a parent, I’d certainly want to be able to send my child (of appropriate age) out to run a few errands in the neighborhood. I think the solution is to limit the number of kids under a certain age (16?) allowed in a store at a time. It can be really difficult to keep track of groups of kids AND give them and your other customers a good level of customer service – especially at smaller independently owned shops where there is often only one person working at a time. Limiting the number of minors seems like the fairest solution for all parties.
I remember being a kid and getting angry at a store owner on our street who would watch my every move in their store, despite my always buying something. I still hate that place, and never went back after a few visits despite their wide selection of junk food and video-game magazines. I like the Groovyland approach. Set rules, and if they don’t follow them, kick them out for good, just as stores will do for adults. And yeah, more cops for the hour after school gets out. Kids like the Curran kids shouldn’t be persecuted for the bad behavior of other kids. Kids are people too.