Tackling Halloween Traumas at The Range...

While picking up resources at The Range to make sensory boxes, this is what I saw...www.facebook.com/julia.collar/videos/10155067466570897/

This is my Facebook Live post about the Halloween display directly at the entrance to The Range in Milton Keynes; to date, it's been seen by nearly 3000 people.

I have no problem at all with Halloween, but I don't think it's okay to place these animatronic and extreme Halloween items in the entrance, and provide no alternative route for people to get into the store. Making such displays unavoidable is, frankly, abusive; no one would want or allow their small child to be forcibly exposed to horror movies on screens in a television department, for example, so how is this different?

These items are not suitable for young children to see, and may be especially upsetting for anyone with sensory processing issues and/or recovering from trauma.

BBC 3 Counties picked up on my story and featured it on their consumer affairs programme. Unfortunately The Range - as always - declined to comment on their story displays; apparently, The Range's head office is never willing to engage in any public dialogue around customer services, which seems a very odd commercial decision indeed.

However, I will continue working on this issue and would very much like to provide The Range with training around these issues and support them in developing exciting low-cost Halloween displays that create a destination visit for their stores, and that ensure anyone who would find these extreme figures upsetting has choice and control over whether they see them or not.

If you have any contacts at The Range's head office then please send them my way!