LETTER TO THE EDITOR / Cosmetics Shops: Six is Enough!
In a new tactic against cosmetics shop rip-offs on Duval Street, a local consumer group is asking Key West landlords not to rent to any more proprietors of this type of business.
The Key West Rip-Off Rapid Response team, in a letter dated November 15, 2018, also gives notice that any new cosmetics shop opening here will face organized, indefinite picketing in front of their business.
“These cosmetics shops give Duval Street and all of Key West a bad reputation among tourists. Local residents are fed up with constantly being solicited and frequently berated by their employees,” the letter states.
The letter goes on to ask, “Property owners need to look past their bottom line and consider the overall image of Key West, both as a tourist destination and as a community, before renting a store front to one of these shops.”
Sighting the fact there are already six of these shops on Duval and Front Street in Key West, with a history of consumer complaints, group spokesman Bruce Mitchell says, “Enough is enough! Any new cosmetic shop opening in Key West that operates in this manor will face organized, indefinite pickets in front of their business.”
The letter writing campaign is a new tactic by the Rip-Off Rapid Response Team who for the last four years has filed complaints with the City Code Compliance, lobbied the Key West City Commission, helped get victims their money back and occasionally picketed cosmetic shops.
Spokesperson Bruce Mitchell admits, “We have not been effective stopping the fleecing of tourists by these shops, but we have made sure several victims got their money back. Now we hope to stop any more of these dreadful businesses from opening he in Key West.”
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