A Black woman claims she was racially profiled by employees at a T.J. Maxx store in Wisconsin.
In a now-viral TikTok video, Sophia Madrid emotionally recounted her shopping trip with her boyfriend at the Racine T.J. Maxx. They were looking for purses when she noticed several workers watching them closely.
Her boyfriend described how multiple employees approached them one after the other, asking if they needed assistance. “The woman at the front stared at us as soon as we walked in,” he said. “Then she positioned herself by the door, almost like she was guarding it.”
Madrid also heard store associates discussing her and her boyfriend over their radios, continuing even after they purchased four handbags at the checkout.
In her TikTok, Madrid expressed doubts about returning the items due to her experience. “I felt so disrespected and dehumanized,” she said. “I didn’t come here to be mistreated; I just wanted to shop for bags, and now I don’t even want them anymore.”
The TikTok video received millions of views and thousands of comments criticizing the employees’ actions.
In a follow-up video, Madrid revealed that she reported the incident to the retailer, receiving a gift card and a contact number for customer service in response.
“They offered us a $500 gift card, but it feels like just a way to brush off the associates’ behavior,” Madrid said. “No matter how often theft occurs at your store, you can’t falsely accuse people of color the moment they walk in just because of assumptions.”
Madrid expressed her hope that T.J. Maxx will improve training for staff to better serve communities of color.
“All we want is a genuine apology from the employees involved. We’re not interested in a gift card that we won’t use,” she captioned her TikTok. “We will NEVER return to this store or support their business again.”
A T.J. Maxx spokesperson released the following statement amid the backlash, per Atlanta Black Star
“At TJ Maxx, we are committed to fostering an environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and we deeply regret that the recent experience of our customer in our Racine store did not reflect this,” the spokesperson said. “We want to make this right. Our leaders have had multiple conversations with our customer to express our sincere disappointment in her experience and explain the actions we are taking to help ensure this does not happen again in our store. This includes a thorough review of what happened with the Associates involved as well as using this as an opportunity to speak with all of our Racine Associates about our expectations for proper customer engagement.”
