Here's How 19 Celebrities Treat Retail Workers, According To The Employees Who Helped Them
If you do your shopping in a major city, then there's a slight chance you might catch sight of somebody famous inside one of the stores. However, if you work in that store, then helping celebs on the daily might feel like just a normal part of the job.
Paramount / Via giphy.com
Recently, we asked the retail workers of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the times celebs came into their stores.
Here are some of the best answers:
Disclaimer: These stories have not been verified. The users are supposedly speaking from their own experiences.
1."When I was in college, I worked at a small grocery store during the summer, and Taylor Swift came in to buy some baking supplies. She was very sweet and soft spoken, and she took a picture with a little girl who was shopping with her grandma. When she came to the register, the cashier next to me checked her out. When she asked if Taylor wanted paper or plastic, she looked behind her to her security like she was afraid she was going to choose the wrong one. Eventually, she went with paper bags."
"She was genuinely kind and smiled at everyone. She was just as beautiful in person as in pictures and totally rocked her bright red lip."
2."I worked for a very well-known jewelry store in the UK. We have acres of celebrity customers, but the standout best was Mariah Carey. I was primed and ready for diva behaviour, but she was charming, polite, and spoke to every member of staff in the boutique before purchasing a very inexpensive charm (that we could easily have gifted her) and being very gracious and excited about it."
"Sometimes people surprise you."
3."I used to work for a big trip destination museum in my state. We had a lot of famous people come by. Personally, I never saw or interacted with them, but some coworkers did. The most memorable were James Corden, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, and Chris Pratt. They were filming something for Corden’s show that tied into the Lego movies. At the same time, we were also having a high-intensity crowd day — lots and lots of people — so a few of my coworkers were asked to dress up in our character costumes. These 'characters' interacted with the celebs throughout the day. Most of them were super nice and gave them high fives, but Chris Pratt absolutely hated them."
"He wouldn’t even look at them. Other coworkers later said that they saw the group walking around outside, and while most gave out waves, gave hugs, and posed for pictures, Pratt acted annoyed and pushed off. I’m actually glad I didn’t get the chance to meet him."
4."I work at a luxury brand store in a mall, and last week, we had Lil Nas X come into the store with a few of his friends and two bodyguards. He was so nice and friendly to all of us and spent a lot of time trying to find the best mirrors in the store to take pictures in!"
5."I was working in a museum when Senator Lindsey Graham came to do a quick visit on his way to a Republican fundraising dinner. People were asking for his autograph or selfies, as my county is predominantly red. He went through and assumed that I would want a selfie, but I told him no thank you. Then, without me asking, he autographed a piece of paper and gave it to me."
"I smiled, said thank you, and threw it away as he walked out."
6."I used to work at Banana Republic, and Michael Bublé came in once with his bodyguard. I was helping him pick out V-neck sweaters, and he said he and his bodyguard were having a disagreement and asked for my help. They were arguing about whether having visible chest hair in a V-neck is sexy or not."
"I had a whole conversation with him about it. Overall, he was just the nicest, most down-to-earth guy."
7."Abby Lee Miller from Dance Moms came into my store, and I checked her out. She left her credit card on the counter and left, and I was so scared she was going to come back and scream at me. She didn’t, though."
8."Ayesha Curry came into my toy store. My staff and I stood behind the counter, silently screaming to ourselves. Another staff member came over and couldn’t figure out what we were doing, so I wrote on a slip of paper, 'AYESHA CURRY!' She audibly screamed, 'WHERE?' We were trying to be cool. This staff member wasn’t. She went over to Ayesha and asked for a pic. Ayesha was so nice, obliged, and bought tons of toys for her kids. We may or may not have framed her receipt."
"Two weeks later, her daughter (Riley) came in with her grandparents and was playing with a squishy ball. It popped and splattered ALL over her. I was mortified. I had to clean blue goo from all over her face and hands. Lots of highs and lows with the Curry family in my little store."
9."Chad Michael Murray came in to the pet store I worked at and asked for help picking out the healthiest treats for his puppy."
10."Gal Gadot came to a shop I worked at in Tel Aviv. She was looking for a Hamsa (a token against the evil eye in Israel and the Middle East). It wasn’t my shift, but I heard she was super sweet and down to earth."
11."The televangelist Joel Osteen came to a book signing in our store. We'd had numerous authors and musicians before, but no one was as bad as he was. He was rude to every customer. He made outrageous demands of our store staff and forced us to call the local police to 'protect' him (absolutely no one cared he was there, and no one approached him)."
"He was the biggest diva ever."
—zemt
12."I met Daniel Kaluuya at a popular shoe store in downtown NYC. He was super nice!"
13."Back in 2004, when I was in high school, I was working at a McDonald's inside of a Walmart. One Sunday, Dave Grohl (of the Foo Fighters) came in! I didn't want to be a nerd in front of him, so I was 'playing it cool' the whole time I was taking his order. However, 16-year-old me was freaking out on the inside so bad. I regret not asking for an autograph or something."
"He was really chill and friendly. To this day, nobody believes me when I say, 'I met Dave Grohl while working at McDonald's.'"
14."Bill Murray was my client at a high-end menswear clothing shop for an afternoon. He was so subtly funny and dry. He was packing up to leave in another room, and I was putting my snow pants on in a corner with my skirt hiked up around my waist. I heard, 'What are you doing?' When I looked up, he was standing there, staring at me. We both burst out laughing, and then he asked that I help him further. I put my snow pants on, and we continued fitting clothes!"
"I’ll never forget making Bill Murray laugh!"
15."My favorite was when I worked as a meat cutter, and Laurence Fishburne overheard me singing the praises of Black Forest bacon to another customer. He then said he’d like a half pound when I’m done!"
"A few years later, I was able to tell him that story at an ABC holiday party…what an amazing full-circle moment!"
16."When I worked at Target, Usher came in. He was an ass. He was preemptively telling people that he wouldn’t take pics even though no one wanted one. This is Atlanta, so people see him around all the time."
17."I work in the middle of rural Pennsylvania, so there's not a ton of celebrities around here. However, Jon Voight's brother was a college professor here, and Jon used to come up for Christmas. Every Dec. 23 or 24, they would come in and shop in my bookstore. We would make a joke of it, like it wasn't Christmas until you saw Jon Voight, like he was the Elf on the Shelf or something."
"I attempted to help him find a book once, but we didn't have it. All I can say is that he is taller than I expected. I don't think a single customer ever recognized him because a) he looks a bit different/older without movie makeup on, b) why the eff would Jon Voight be shopping in the middle of nowhere PA, and c) most of our younger employees have no idea who he is."
18."When I worked at a now-closed home linens store in Studio City, California, in the late '90s/early 2000s, we were very close to some of the television studios, so we'd regularly get different television actors in our store. Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz came in the store a few times as well. I was a HUGE Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fan, so everyone was told that if they came in while I was in the store, I was to be called immediately. Honestly, the actors that came into our store were some of the most pleasant customers I remember."
"It was everyone else that was a complete pain in the ass."
19.And finally: "I worked as a visual merchandiser at Macy’s many years ago, and my best friend worked in security. She texted me one night going absolutely WILD because Paris Hilton was trying desperately to get a dress off one of my mannequins. She was struggling with the arms, and they fell off before someone finally came over to assist her."
"This was way back in the mid-'00s when she was dating Doug Reinhardt, and he was in Milwaukee doing some club promotions. Her luggage was delayed, she needed something to wear that night, and Macy’s was the nicest store in the city at the time. I remember watching the security video of it over and over and just cracking up."
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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