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USA TODAY logoShocking 'masks required' sign at Arizona shop aims to shame customers
Snarky signs aren't anything new for Phoenix vintage shop Antique Sugar, but a recent notice asking customers to wear a mask hit a nerve online.
A photo of the sign ricocheted around the internet, racking up thousands of shares in just one day after Antique Sugar owner Sarah Bingham posted it to her personal Facebook account Monday morning.
She'd typed out the requirement in bold typeface on four sheets of printer paper, respectfully asking patrons to wear a mask or postpone their visit.
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"We'll be happy to debate the efficacy of masks with you when this is all over and you come in to sell your dead grandmother's clothes," it said.
"TL;DR: Masks required," the sign finished.
Bingham had grown frustrated when, 10 days into the city order, some people still weren't covering their faces when they came into the shop. A few people became angry with her when she asked them to wear a mask.
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"It's such a minimal, easy thing to do, and I'm asking so nicely. Well, not anymore, but I did," Bingham said.She taped the new sign over one with more docile language: "Help us stay healthy so we can stay open," she recalled.
Running Antique Sugar was tough during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but slowly, the owners were adapting. Bingham and her best friend, Annamarie Sanchez, started selling more clothes on Instagram and offering more exchanges to customers who didn't feel safe using the dressing rooms to try on clothing in the store.
"It's such a fun and happy atmosphere here," Bingham said of the community that's supported Antique Sugar this spring and summer. She said the majority of her clientele was happy to abide by the store's guidelines well before masks were mandatory in Phoenix.
For that reason, Bingham said, the response on the new sign has been all positive so far. Some customers have laughed as they've walked in, and many have said nothing at all.
She was running Antique Sugar alone on Tuesday morning and had a busy morning ahead of her, between news outlets calling and hundreds of Instagram messages to review.
No one had walked in without a mask since the sign went up.
"I wonder if it's actually being the deterrent I wanted it to be," Bingham said.
Follow Helen Wieffering on Twitter: @helenwieffering
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Shocking 'masks required' sign at Arizona shop aims to shame customers
Photo of the sign: https://twitter.com/chrisilluminati/status/1277786909666955265
We didnt have a retard governor forcing c19 patients in with grandma so they didnr all die. I think were3 going yo be ok, you stupid bitch