Walmart Says It Will No Longer Lock Up African-American Beauty Products

The woman, Essie Grundy, said she went to a Walmart in Perris, Calif., in Riverside County to buy body lotion by the beauty brand Cantu when she noticed that all of the products “targeted at African-Americans” were locked in a glass case, “from the middle of the aisle to the end.”

Ms. Grundy, who was represented by the lawyer Gloria Allred, dropped the lawsuit in November, court documents show.

Reached on Wednesday night, Ms. Allred would not say if there was a settlement in the case, which was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice — meaning it cannot be brought back before the court. She said that “the matter was resolved.”

Walmart did not comment on the resolution of the lawsuit.

Ms. Grundy declined to comment on the policy change.

CVS and Walgreens have also faced criticism for locking up beauty products sold to black people.

A Walgreens spokeswoman wrote in an email on Thursday that the company was also discontinuing that practice.

“We are currently ensuring multicultural hair care and beauty products are not stored behind locked cases at any of our stores, which has been the case at a limited number of our stores,” the spokeswoman, Emily Hartwig-Mekstan, wrote.

CVS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday night.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/business/walmart-black-hair-beauty-products.html