After my workout at Healthrax Fitness & Wellness Center, Ric, Josh and I went to the Hollister Co. store at Dartmouth Mall to see if I could find a Christmas gift for my good friend Douglas. Douglas loves Hollister Co.’s style of clothing yet I’ve had problems shopping in the Hollister Co. at Silver City Galleria and the Hollister Co. at Independence Mall due to the difficulty of accessing their merchandise.
When arriving at this Hollister Co. store I was delighted to find there are no steps at the main entrance. Hollister Co.’s typical signature style of construction includes steps to a porch-like entrance. We heard from another shopper that the only reason this Hollister Co. does not have steps is because the local building inspector questioned the legality of placing steps at a previous accessible entrance; and because Hollister Co. didn’t want to delay the opening of this store they opened it without the steps. Wow!! I wish all town building inspectors understood the Architectural Access Board regulations as well as this building inspector.
I found this Hollister Co. also lacks wheelchair accessibility; I cannot access all the merchandise due to cluttered displays, narrow aisles and furniture blocking my wheelchair access. The cashier counter is too high for me to reach and I cannot access the ATM/Debit/Credit Card Transaction machine.
There are no entry doors to open for the entrance is open within the mall. As soon as I entered this Hollister Co., I found my access was blocked by furniture and racks located in the aisles and I was unable to get by. One employee was kind enough to move a chair that was blocking my chair when he saw me having a problem. I thanked him for his help and proceeded to look for a gift for Douglas. I never found a gift for Douglas in this Hollister Co. due to the lack of access to all the clothing for sale.
While in this Hollister Co. we checked out the cashier counter and found it is much too high for me to reach while seated in my chair; it is approximately 4 feet tall. The ATM/Debit/Credit Card Transaction machine is impossible to reach from my wheelchair because it is set back on this high cashier counter.
I do have to say that I really enjoyed listening to the popular trendy music being played in this Hollister Co. I wish Hollister Co. would also realize being accessible is trendy as well.
I give the Hollister Co. store in Dartmouth. TWO STARS for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn the other THREE STARS they would need to remove the furniture in several aisles that block access for customers in wheelchairs; widen the narrow aisles so a person in a wheelchair can access all the merchandise; lower a section of the cashier counter to a wheelchair accessible height; and place the ATM/Debit/Credit Card Transaction machine where a customer in a wheelchair can reach it.
