IGA that displayed racist sign behind checkout apologises for ‘big mistake’

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Brooke Rolfe - News.com.au




An IGA has apologised for displaying a sign telling staff to ring a bell for assistance if an African customer entered the store.

Fury at the Sunshine West supermarket, west of Melbourne, grew after images circulated online showing a racist message taped to the liquor cashier’s desk.

“If an African customer comes to the bottle shop, presses [sic] the button for assistant immediately! Minimum two staffs in front while we serve Africans,” the sign read.

Thousands criticised store management after footage from behind the desk surfaced, with the act being described “absolutely disgusting behaviour”.

“Sure they’re independently owned but the African community should be allowed to feel safe and comfortable at their local supermarket,” a comment to a TikTok read.

“How is this even legal? This would be clear cut discrimination and racial profiling,” another said.

While each IGA store is independently owned and managed separately to the parent company, the IGA Australia TikTok account responded saying it was “aware of the situation”.

“We don’t condone this behaviour and are investigating this matter directly with the retailer,” the response read.

The store manager, who uses the name Jack on Twitter, claimed the sign went up after the store was robbed at gunpoint by five African men.

“I’m store manager IGA Sunshine West. We got robbed by five African men, one of the staff had a gun put to our head, we were scared, I’m sorry for what I done,” he wrote.

Speaking with ABC, he said the sign had since been removed and an apology note had been displayed at the checkout for customers.

He added the button referenced in the sign was not specifically used to alert staff to African shoppers, rather it was pressed when the store was busy and help was needed.

“We would like to apologies [sic] to anyone that got offended by the note we had … it was not our intention to offend,” the note read.



He told the publication it was a “big mistake” to display the sign, and promised it would “never happen again like that”.

“I’ve done the wrong thing for the public, we should not do like this,” he said.

IGA’s parent company Metcash has since released a statement saying mandatory training was being introduced for staff at the store.

“This type of behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in any IGA store across the country. As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting local communities across Australia, we will ensure all IGA employees continue to create a shopping environment where all are welcome and equal,” the statement, shared by Junkee, read.