‘Sounds like they want for themselves’: Marshall’s shopper says workers blocked her from purchasing items

Hello Kitty items have become hot commodities at stores like HomeGoods and TJ Maxx. Numerous customers have shared stories about struggling to find Hello Kitty items, while others have alleged that workers are hiding Hello Kitty items so that they can resell them themselves.

Given this scarcity, TikTok user and Hello Kitty collector Bionca (@slaybeautybybionca) was ecstatic to discover three Hello Kitty blankets at a local Marshalls. Bionca said she planned to give a blanket to both her daughter and granddaughter, then keep one for herself.

However, upon trying to buy the blankets, she was told that she could not. In a follow-up video, Bionca filmed her interaction with employees at the store, who told her that she is limited to just one blanket.

Bionca countered that she has seen others buy more than one blanket, and that, in her experience, this has not previously been a policy of the store. In the caption of the video, which was viewed 656,000 times, she offered more details about her side of the story.

According to the caption, Bionca said two employees accused her of taking the blankets out of the stockroom, which she denied. 

“[The employees] said the policy is that you could only have one but you took them out…we didn't even put them on the floor yet,” Bionca wrote, recounting what the employees allegedly said to her.

Bionca said she decided to try to purchase the blankets anyway, at which point she was told that the policy was that each person could only buy one blanket.

@slaybeautybybionca I made a video before this one, showing you guys how excited I was to finally find the viral @@hellokittyBlankets from @@Marshalls! Well, it all came to a sudden halt when I was cornered by two employees basically at Marshalls, two young girls, that are employees of the store, or at each end of the aisle blocking it so I cannot get through and started coming towards me, so each was on each side of me so that I cannot go out the aisle either way. They told me I cannot buy these blankets that I dug them out of the box and back in the stock and I said I was never in your stockroom. I got these out of the bin and they were sticking out you could see them. Somebody had already pulled them out. They were just laying there and they told me I cannot have them. They said the policy is that you could only have one but you took them out that we didn't even put them on the floor yet. I said, I have free range to go through those I was told told That you can by managers and also buy customer service when you call the store if you need to speak to somebody. So I told them that I'm going to buy the blankets that they cannot tell me I cannot have them I can buy what I want with my money. So I start walking towards the front of the store. I'm in line and as I'm moving forward to go to Lane 6 start seeing managers walk to my register and they start telling me that I cannot have these blankets that I was in back just like the other girl said in a bin and that I took them she said we can only let you have one blanket and I said well why can't I only have one she said because that's a policy and I said when did this policy start because just a week ago when I came in and you guys had 16 of the Valentine's Day ones you guys let one person by the mall and didn't say anything in the same woman who is at the front, telling me right now to my face that I cannot have these was the same woman that let her buy those. she said we're trying to stop resellers and I said I'm not reselling. These are for Christmas presents for my daughter and granddaughter and for myself. I'm a huge collector you see me in here every day wanting these and looking for them. I'm here at 7 AM in the morning and when there's nobody in the store and I just stopped in after I got off my shift. and then people in line behind me seen what was going on in the third offering to buy each one of the blankets for me. I felt very uncomfortable and I was almost brought to tears. This really brought up a lot of I would say feelings of PTSD being followed in the store for them 30 minutes and being harassed and closed in like that and told I cannot buy what I want to buy with my own money. Please let me know in the comments below and please share this video please please bring awareness to what's going on at the stores. I understand that resellers are selling these. These are gifts and I've been looking for these blankets for literally a year if not over a year now for this particular blanket and this is the first time I have found a hello kitty blanket in since summertime. I have went to a store myself and found a blanket myself since summer. Please let me know what you guys think in the comments below . I'm still feeling kind of upset and it was one of my favorite Marshall stores in the closest to my house to go to and now I feel like I cannot even go there anymore because everybody knows me and the associates were so rude I literally heard these young girls in the isles looking for these blankets cause somebody said they were back there and they were looking for them and when they finally found them in my cart is when I started getting harassed for them and all the managers that came up to me at Marshalls Vadnais heights MN. ✨ sadaf #mar#marshallsr#marshallsemployeer#marshallsemployeesi#bringawarenesse#trenda#awarenesss#ptsdp#fypr#virald#sadnessl#hellokittyl#hellokittyloverl#hellokittystrawberryblanketr#marshallsblanketsr#marshallshellokittyo#problemo#problems ♬ original sound - SlaybeautybyBIONCA Shop

“I said when did this policy start because just a week ago when I came in and you guys had 16 of the Valentine's Day [blankets] you guys let one person [buy them all] and didn't say anything,” she recalled in the caption. “[And] the same woman who is at the front, telling me right now to my face that I cannot have these was the same woman that let her buy those.”

Bionca then reiterated—both in the video and caption—that she understands there is a large resale market for such items. However, she noted that she is simply a collector and is not purchasing these blankets for the purpose of resale.

In the comments section, users speculated that there may be another factor at play.

“I never saw a hello kitty blanket. But I read that the workers hid them till they can buy them,” said a commenter.

“The worker said I sold you a blanket I put aside for myself.. sounds like they want for themselves. customers first!” alleged another.

“They literally would not bring out a hello kitty vanity for me to buy out the back. that an employee accidentally told me they had 2! I don't get it,” claimed a third.

That said, some users stated that this policy was not unheard of.

“I work at a Marshall’s and my manager told me to limit the amount because of resellers,” shared a commenter.

“Unfortunately, our district mangers tell us there's a limit to a certain item due to resellers,” stated a second. “I wish customers were to understand that.”

The Daily Dot reached out to both Marshalls and Bionca via email.

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