CITY GEAR in Cincinnati, OH Open now

Reviews about CITY GEAR

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  May 14, 2020, by Taylor Edmiston
  The City Gear location on Race St downtown is extremely distrusting of their customers and I recommend avoiding it at all costs. I used to work nearby this store and have been collecting sneakers for about a decade now, so one day I decided to stop in after work to check out new releases. On that occasion, I was disallowed walking more than a few feet into the store due to wearing my work backpack. Note that there is no sign posted indicating that customers cannot wear backpacks, and that this was right around dinnertime so I was leaving work while still dressed professionally in work clothes. At the time there were only 1 or 2 other customers in the store. The security guard at the door is not actually a store employee, but an outsourced contractor, and in my experience he chooses to exercise a disappointing level of unprofessionalism. Our conversation went something like this: Me: *Walks inside the front door a few feet with work backpack* "Hello!" Guard: "Give me your backpack" Me: "Uhh... wait what?" Guard: "Stop, you can't come inside the store any further. Give me your backpack." Me: "What?! I'm just leaving work. This is my work backpack and it has my work laptop in it." Guard: "I don't care what it is... I'll put it by the desk." Me: *Glances at checkout desk which no one is standing near or monitoring the security of bags that may be stored already, observes that the guard is wearing a rental service uniform and is not actually a store employee* Me: "I'm not comfortable handing a stranger my (very expensive) work laptop." Guard: *smirking and laughing* "What you don't trust me or something?" Me: *(flabbergasted)* "I can't leave my work computer unattended, and I'd like to browse the new sneakers. I'm willing to hand you my ID and let you check my bag before I leave if you have any concerns." Guard: "Give me your bag or you can't come in" Me: "I would like to speak to a manager" Guard: *does nothing* Me: *walks out* The part that doesn't add up about this unusual behavior is that this location is in a safe part of the city — near Washington Park — and the other stores in downtown and OTR don't treat their customers like this. I haven't experienced being stopped at the door and requested to leave my backpack with someone at another retail store in my life. If they intend to treat all legitimate customers like this, management should put up a sign stating this so others can know to avoid the store. After this encounter, I refuse to visit the City Gear on Race St again or give them my business. We have many options for sneaker stores in the city and all of the other ones treat their customers with reasonable trust and respect — Cincinnati sneakerheads would be better off if this store closed. For sneaker stores that are legitimate, consider visiting an independent spot like Corporate or Unheardof, or one of the chains like Foot Locker or Finish Line.