The last two unlicensed Key West cosmetic shops have closed their doors. OhLaLa, 120 Duval St., and Francesca, 119 Duval St., were the final targets of a five-year campaign by the Key West Rip-Off Rapid Response Team. Known for their aggressive sidewalk solicitations, sky-high prices, frequent consumer complaints and repeated city code violations, the shops had drawn the scrutiny of the local volunteer consumer advocacy group.
Rip-Off Team spokesperson Tevis Wernicoff is now appealing to Duval Street landlords not rent to unlicensed cosmetic shops. “Key West does not like, want or need these Rip-Off shops returning, and it would be a real mistake to rent to them in the future,” Wernicoff said. “We didn’t spend five years protesting, lobbying and picketing only to see more of the same businesses reappear on Duval Street. Our volunteers are getting older and we don’t want to have to start picketing again!”
Unlicensed cosmetic shops started opening on Key West’s most iconic street in 2014, and reached a high of 11 separate storefronts in 2016.
The Key West Rip-Off Rapid Response Team formed in 2015, initially protesting a business at 119 Duval that sold $40,000 worth of merchandise to a woman suffering from mental illness. After experiencing 19 days of sidewalk picketing by the Rip-Off Response Team, the business agreed to a six-point consent agreement with the group, which detailed better business practices.
Responding to numerous consumer complaints and frustrated by what they saw as continued inaction by the Key West Office of Code Compliance, the group of volunteers continued to organize and grow. The Rip-Off Response Team initially worked to recover money for victims; lobbied City Commissioners for strict code regulations then took action. Then they pressured businesses to adopt better business practices. The team employed educational campaigns to warn locals and visitors about the shops’ high-pressure sales tactics and inflated prices.
When all else failed, the group held protests and sidewalk picketing that ultimately proved effective in closing several of the stores. The impending threat of sidewalk picketing and the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic likely helped close the last two of the businesses commonly known as the Key West Rip-Off cosmetic shops.
Only time will tell if this is the final chapter of the story of these notorious shops.
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