Erica Wiltz/Photo Courtesy of TikTok
A New York City model Erica Wiltz uploaded a video to her TikTok account last week and has gone viral with over one million views. Documenting her wedding planning journey on social media, she filmed herself inside of a Saks Fifth Avenue store, appearing to be completely ignored by staff as she tried to find a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes for her upcoming event. Saying that the experience caused her to leave in tears, Wiltz, who is Black, captioned the video revealing that she only received assistance after she had to “demand help.”
The video opens up with Wiltz standing awkwardly in the store with a caption and voiceover stating, “Me shopping for wedding shoes, patiently waiting and watching them help everyone else,”
@itsdaddylonglegsWent to ##saksfifthavenue excited to buy @jimmychoo wedding shoes & it turned out like this. ##onblast ##blackinamerica ##racismawareness ##nycshopping♬ Opportunity – Quvenzhané Wallis
The camera then panned to what appears to be a Saks employee walking to the back of the store. When Wiltz was shown in the video receiving assistance from a worker, she apparently felt that the damage had already been done, captioning the clip, “Had to demand help, but he’s still not getting my sale,”
The model continued, “Left in tears. Saks, get your people.”
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Adding more context in a second TikTok video, Wiltz called out the experience as discriminatory, saying, “I decided to go to Saks because I love going there. I’ve always had great experiences, and I wanted a Jimmy Choo wedding shoe. It was my dream to have a Jimmy Choo wedding shoe… I’m in the Jimmy Choo section, and I’m watching the salesperson help someone else, who happened to be a white woman, but whatever, I’m not thinking this at the time,”
Wiltz continued, “So, they were taking a while, but I was patient, I didn’t say anything, I just kept looking at my wedding dress on my phone, holding it up to shoes, comparing, and just waiting,” She went on to say that the salesperson “never acknowledged” her. However, it was clear to see that she was waiting to be helped.
@itsdaddylonglegsReply to @jfloresss01 I deserved equal treatment and didn’t get that. ##saksfifthavenue ##nycshopping ##badcustomerservice ##onblast ##racismawareness♬ Stylish Jazz HipHop – Future Oriented Triad
Wiltz then called out online haters who tried to blame the experience on her outfit and attitude at the time, both of which seemed far from inappropriate. “Either way, it’s wrong to discriminate against people, whether it was classism, racism, whatever it was,” she asserted on TikTok.
Saks has not commented on the viral incident.