Fur-wearer banned from shop

[sophie]

My best friend worked for years at a well-known "cruelty free" cosmetics store. The other day she dropped in to say hi to her former boss, and my friend was wearing a coat with a fake-fur collar, and they got into a conversation about it. The boss said that the day before a customer had come into the shop wearing a fur coat, and the boss asked if it was real fur. When the woman replied that it was, the boss told her that was disgusting and asked her to leave the shop!
At first I thought this was kind of cool, but when I told my sister about it (a non-vegan) she asked if the boss also orders anyone with leather shoes on to leave her shop also! Or she could go one further and request only vegetarians enter the premises.
I know that leather and fur are not considered the same, as fur is from animals killed specifically for this product. But is it any better to kill an animal for meat and leather? Was the boss right to single and order out the fur-wearer?
What does everyone think about this?

[Mystican]

On the one hand, I think the store owner has the right to decide who should be allowed in the store. A "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" kind of thing. On the other hand, though, asking the fur-wearing woman to leave may have ruined a good opportunity to educate her about what "cruelty free" really means. Had the woman had the chance to stay for a longer time in the store, she might have started asking questions... wondering "what's so special" about the store's products, and the boss could have patiently explained why they chose to sell only products that hadn't been obtained through the exploitation of animals... And maybe the boss could also then have gently pointed out the fur coat as an example of that exploitation? The woman might not have even been thinking about what she was wearing, and who knows? She might have been very apologetic and really learnt something from the experience.

Since I wasn't there, I don't know what else about the woman's appearance or behavior might have influenced the boss's decision, and I can't say what the boss should or should not have done... I'm not trying to judge, only point out another possible response to the situation.

Also, I think that in a situation where someone came in and was obviously aware of the ethical standpoint of the store, and still persisted in "flaunting," verbally and visually, his or her use of fur, leather, meat and animal food-products, etc., then asking that person to leave would be an acceptable choice, since that person would clearly not be there to learn, either about the products or the ethics behind them.

-Erik

[duckie1978]

There are actually some really posh night clubs in NYC that REFUSE to allow people in who wear fur. However they let people wear leather, silk, etc. I think that it is easier for people to see that killing animals for fur is bad, whereas with leather people really believe that the cows that they eat produce the leather that they wear. People are only now getting the point that fur is bad but they haven't made that same connection with leather. They don't see how bad it really is.

Personally I think it was great that the store owner told the woman to get out of his store, but I also think s/he missed an opprotunity to educate that woman like Eric said above. Does the store have a "No Fur" policy stated at the door? If not, then it is unfair to just kick the woman out of the store just b/c she admited to wearing fur. It should be posted like "No shirts, no shoes, no service" signs. Like your sister asked, does he make leather wearers leave? Probably not because it is easier to kick out fur wearing people.