Because, just as the TSA "can't" focus on nervous-looking Arabs, these stores can't simply bar entry to black teens wearing hoodies and facemasks, and carrying sledgehammers

moron money

Luxury Stores are limiting entry to their emporiums

COVID-19 is waning, but shopping for a Louis Vuitton bag, a Chanel suit or a pair of Gucci loafers increasingly means standing in line outside a boutique — and luxury brands have been conspicuously tight-lipped on why.

Most elite labels leaned into “appointment shopping” during the height of the pandemic, citing the need for social distancing. But as the threat from the virus recedes, some including Cartier and Harry Winston continue to impose the new policy.

They also have failed to convince shoppers and experts alike of their reasoning — if they bother to explain themselves at all. Major brands including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Cartier didn’t respond to calls and emails from The Post about their persistent use of stanchions in front of store entrances, where queued-up shoppers are quizzed by “greeters” about prospective purchases before entering.

“We recommend booking an appointment prior to your boutique visit, as walk-ins may experience extended wait times,” Cartier’s website advises, without elaborating.

According to experts, roped-off customers can mostly thank a relentless epidemic of smash-and-grab robberies rather than social distancing for ramped-up crowd controls nationwide, including in New York, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle. Theft got so bad last year that Beverly Hills hired two private security firms to patrol Rodeo Drive.

Meanwhile, at the Westchester Mall in White Plains, NY, where robbers ransacked a Louis Vuitton store in February, the boutique’s doors were closed, with stanchions inviting shoppers to queue up outside.

A pair of greeters wearing headsets — flanked by a pair of beefy mall security guards — asked customers whether they were there to pick up an order or to shop. Shoppers were let in only when an associate was ready to accompany them inside.

“They don’t want customers looking around the store without a store employee with them,” a sales associate told The Post. 

This story won’t be keeping me up tonight, because the uber rich don’t “do” lines, nor do their preferred vendors expect them to, and any of the hoi polloi who think it’s a good idea to stand outside a store waiting to buy things they can’t afford, from strangers who despise them, deserve exactly what they get. But it’s amusing, nonetheless.

not everyone needs a personal shopper — these boys don’t

and neither do these