Store Apologizes After Employee Sign with Instructions on How to Deal with Africans Goes Public

An Australian store has been forced to apologize for a sign that warned staff to sound an alert if an African customer entered the store.

An IGA store in Melbourne was pilloried on social media because of a sign behind the counter that read, “If an African customer comes to the bottle shop, presses the button for assistant immediately! Minimum two staffs in front while we serve Africans,” the sign read, according to 🇦🇺Australia’s News.com.au.

In its reporting on the sign, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. said the sign had been in place for three years before it was noticed by anyone and became a social media furor.

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

The ABC report quoted the store manager, who it did not name, as offering apologies for any offense.

“We don’t really mean for this, we apologize for what we’ve done. I’m sorry it will never happen again like that,” he said. “I’ve done the wrong thing for the public, we should not do like this.”