(no subject)

[rhienelleth]

Dude. how stupid do you have to be, as a retail employee, to turn away and possibly insult Oprah Winfrey??

There is something to be said for celebrities expecting treatment above and beyond the average customer, such as being let into a store after hours, but this was Hermes, which must be used to catering to high profile clients. Besides which, think of the publicity nightmare those two (oh so fired) employees have caused -- Hermes will be lucky to still be in business when all this is over. Oprah's legion of loyal fans -- (of which I am not, just to clarify. I don't like or dislike her. I have issues with her book club choices, but that's about it) -- will boycott the brand, and I'm guessing so will many of her celebrity friends.

Just...wow.

Comments

[callherblondie.livejournal.com]

I'm not in favor of retail employees turning away and insulting anyone (although I do find it more perversely amusing when it happens to celebrities), but I wonder if I would recognize Oprah if I saw her out on the street without makeup.

While I definitely don't approve of latent racism, Hermes has always amused me because they have always been incredibly rude to everyone--it's like their corporate culture or something or their SOP from their flagship store on down to their airport boutiques. They're equal-opportunity disdainers. It's an old fashion house and I suspect it will do fine even without the business of Oprah's cult. Whether it deserves to is something else.

[annebelle-ca.livejournal.com]

I agree. I mean, even without make-up or hair or whatever she's Oprah for goodness sake! You would think that someone who shows up with bodyguards nd assistants is generally someone of some importance (though I actually use that word with some trepidation.) But then again, it is France. And apparently they have their own way of doing things...

I also agree that Hermes is going to see a drastic decline in sales because of this. I'm not a fan either (she just seems to have become so narcissistic throught he years) but their are untold millions who are. Disaster, Hermes, absolute disaster!

What an epitaph... to be the retailer brought down by Oprah.

[raffaella.livejournal.com]

From what I read, she showed up after closing hours and the people who were still in the store were there for a PR event. Not letting her in was definitely a bad move if they recognised her, but it mostly looks like they didn't want to give her special treatment. As for the incident hurting Hermès's sales, Oprah is only influential in the US. I don't know how important the US market is for Hermès (some luxury european houses sell much more in Asia and Europe than in North America), but I seriously doubt that this incident would mean the end of Hermès. They already apologised, some shop assistants will be fired, Hermès's sales might suffer in the US for a while, and that's it.