Monday, November 5, 2007

Sheetz is NOT Family Friendly

My daughters play Soccer so on a Saturday morning, we stop at Sheetz to pick up a snack and water before my 7 year old's soccer game. The magazine rack is next to the snack aisle and displayed prominently on the upper rack (all 3 rows) were adult magazines. I am talking Playboy, Vixen, Nude of the Year along with the Hunting magazines. The adult oriented magazines ( I call it PORN) were in clear plastic wrap and displayed so my daughter could see it with ease.

I wrote to the corporate office describing what I saw and how dismayed that I was at the "family friendly" atmosphere wasn't so family friendly. Here is the response I got from my email concerning this issue:

"Thank you for your recent email concerning Adult Magazines. We always appreciate our customers taking the time to talk to us. While we understand that you may not care to read some of the magazines we sell, it is important you know that Sheetz does not sell pornography. The adult magazines we sell are not pornographic, as this is illegal. Understand Sheetz is committed to being a responsible retailer. Not only do we abide by the law, we take many extra steps to address the concerns you have about products ending up in the wrong hands. We have taken the utmost care with how magazines are displayed, being sensitive to the fact that families shop in our stores. We require adult magazines to be sealed in a plastic bag with only the title exposed. We also display the magazines only on the highest shelves, in the back, to limit viewing to adults only. We also restrict the sale of adult magazines to customers over the age of 18, and require identification at the point of sale to ensure the age restriction is not violated. We are in the business of providing all our customers with the kinds of quality products and services that they are looking for. It is not our intention to offend any of our customers.
Thank You,

Jim Coleman"

According to Sheetz Playboy, Hustler, Vixen are not pornography. I'm sorry but if you have to be 18 to buy a magazine because it has naked women or men then to me its pornography.

My children and I will now go to WAWA or any number of other gas stations in our area. If you don't mind your children seeing these types of magazines prominently displayed then you should go to sheetz, but, if you agree with me, please take a stand as a parent.

Hope you have a great evening!!

Beamer 319

5 comments:

Chris said...

Thanks for posting this. I'm glad you're taking a stand.

dougo said...

Mr Coleman is wrong: pornography is not always illegal, "obscene" (as determined by the Miller test) materials are.

Girl Scout Promise said...

Hoobie,

I agree whole heartedly. Sheetz and stores like it, make their music from inside store sales and not on the gasoline so I am not giving them any money. I can support another business who sees things my "family value" way.

Thanks for posting.

Unknown said...

Just out of curiousity, if these "pornographic" magazines are sealed in plastic and up on the top shelves where only the titles are visible, exactly what is it your children are seeing....the titles?

Girl Scout Promise said...

The plastic is clear from top to bottom. They are displayed on all 3 top shelves. I am taller than the display and I am 5'4". The magazines are not hidden. Its in plain view as a People Magazine or Hunting Magazine which is what I explained to them in my email.
So to answer your question, my daughter saw the complete cover of Playboy and Nudes of the Year.

Thanks for your response. Have a great day!!

Beamer 319