Iowa Sears boots two cops out of store for wearing uniforms

This is how retail works: You unlock the door in the morning, you staff the store, you stock the shelves, and welcome customers in.

If a couple of customers some in dressed in their police uniforms, you treat them as any other customer.

Except at a Sears store in Des Moines, Iowa.

From the Des Moines Register:

Sears corporate officials Tuesday apologized to two police officers who were told to leave the retailer's store at Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines because their uniforms were a distraction to store security personnel.

"I was dumbfounded," Officer Richard Glade said. "I said, 'You've got to be kidding me.' "

Kimberly Freely, a spokeswoman at the Illinois headquarters of Sears' corporate parent, initially called the incident a "mix-up." She did not elaborate, but later, in a written statement, she described the episode as a case of mistaken identity.

"Our store management was attempting to address an ongoing issue of excessive socialization between mall security officers and store associates, which had been hampering associates' productivity," Freely's statement read. "In no way was this an attempt to prevent on- or off-duty officers from shopping at our store. Sears is issuing a formal apology to the Des Moines Police Department through store management, and we look forward to serving all members of the Des Monies community."

Complete idiocy. Sears used to be America's largest retailer, and it's pretty easy to see why they've taken a fall. Morons run the show there.

Three weeks earlier, another Des Moines cop in uniform was booted out of the store.

The last time I was in Des Moines, I noticed other retailers besides Sears.

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