Rude behaviour by shoppers becoming a sign of the times, says Canada's retail council

Christmas shoppers at the Stokes store in Charlottetown's Royalty Crossing Mall will see plenty of signs advertising bargains during its closing sale, as the kitchenware chain shuts down some of its locations.

They'll also see a sign at the checkout asking them to please be kind and respectful to staff.

Store manager Emily Boles said they felt some customers caught up in the stress of holiday shopping needed a reminder that abusing employees is not OK.

"I've had my staff being called stupid. I've had people say the reason we're closing is our fault — just general bad comments. And I've had a gentleman throw a kettle at me."

This kind of story doesn't surprise Jim Cormier, the Atlantic director for the Retail Council of Canada. He said poor behaviour from customers has increased over the last couple of years.

"There seems to be a growing number of consumers that come into retail stores and feel for some reason they can dehumanize the good people working there, whether it's just treating them with complete disrespect, or going so far as verbal and physical assaults," Cormier said Monday.

"Regrettably, that's all up, and it's not just a P.E.I. problem, it's not just a rural or urban problem. It's all across the board."

Carinne McGeoghegan, who was doing some holiday shopping at the Charlottetown mall Monday, said she has noticed some rudeness from fellow shoppers. She said it could be an extension of the online trolling that spilled over into real-life encounters during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"I feel like that confidence to say something negative has translated into people feeling they can treat people that way face to face, so it's not surprising," she said.

"Our convenience culture — they just want everything now, and it's not great. Not great, especially at the holidays."

The retail council suspects another factor may be the large number of newcomers to Canada working in retail who may not speak fluent English.

"At times, maybe you have to be more patient when you're in a retail store, because that person trying their best to help you may still be working on their English language skills," Cormier said.

"So we just ask people: Regardless of whether it's a new Canadian, or someone who can trace their roots back five or six generations in this country, be patient when you're in retail stores, especially this time of year."

Angela Omeili, who works at the Eclipse clothing store at Royalty Crossing, said disrespectful customers may not be aware of the impact they are having on employees.