Black woman buys smoothies and hot plates at Erewhon in Los Angeles. Then the workers accuse her of stealing: ‘Spent…near $200’

A Black woman says Erewhon insisted she was stealing after she had just spent over $100 at the store. The Erewhon employees' alleged racism has outraged viewers.

In a video with over 157,700 views and more than 25,000 likes, Janiya (@niyy_3.0) says that several Erewhon employees confronted her and accused her of stealing after she re-entered the store for a bag.

“It's mind-boggling to me that this … still goes on,” Janiya says in reference to the racism she says she experienced.

‘Erewhon won't be getting any of my money'

Erewhon is an upscale grocery store. Customers know it for its niche and vitamin-packed viral smoothies as well as its celebrity collab flavors, per GQ.

Janiya says that after spending $125.86 on three smoothies, two hot plates, a side of French toast, and miscellaneous groceries like ginger shots, she sat down outside to eat her food. She didn't finish it all, so she says she packed some of it up and went back inside to get a paper bag.

According to Janiya, an employee told her they couldn't give her a bag because the hot plates of food didn't have tags on them. She says the worker had asked to see her receipt, but she had discarded it. The woman says she went back to the trash and got it back since it wasn't buried too deeply.

Janiya says she showed the security guard the receipt, and they gave her the bag. Then, she says she went to the bathroom. She says that when she came out of the bathroom, the security guard was waiting outside for her. By her account, he told her that she actually had the wrong receipt.

A Second Receipt Check

“I come out the restroom,” she says. “The same security guard who stopped me and helped me put my items in the bag tells me that those are not my items—the hot plates are not my items. He then proceeds to show me a small receipt with just three smoothies on there and says that that receipt is mine—after I showed him my receipt that I had already dug in the garbage to get.”

Janiya says that at this point, she was fed up and no longer wanted to show security her items or her receipt. She says the security guard got a manager to further deal with the situation.

In the video, Janiya seemingly brings the security guard and manager to the cashier and asks the cashier to confirm she checked her out earlier. The cashier doesn't seem to want to get involved.

Finally, Janiya says she showed her receipt for a second time, and the manager let her go. This is when Janiya says she overheard the security guard make a racist comment.

“See, man, it's always them,” she says she heard him say. The “them” in question refers to Black people.

Janiya says it was her first time at Erewhon and her last.

“I won't be back. Erewhon won't be getting any of my money,” she concludes.

‘My mom and I got accused of stealing sushi'

Folks in the comments section are outraged.

“[The] cashier pissing me off cause u can't vouch ?” one commenter says.

“You spent … near $200 please contact the corporate office,” another comment suggests.

“It's the cashier's fault. They are supposed to put the black paid sticker on each hot or cold bar item! I would look at your receipt and see if the cashier's name is on there and report them. Sorry you went through that!” another person shares.

Is racial profiling common at Erewhon?

This is not the first time an experience like this has happened at Erewhon. A similar situation happened to another Black shopper at the Erewhon in Culver City in 2025—the same store Janiya went to.

In a video, the woman says that they accused her of shoplifting, although she didn't even touch any of the merchandise in the store. The woman says she was with a white friend who did touch the merchandise, but no one accused them of stealing.

Even one of Janiya's commenters shared a similar experience. They wrote, “My mom and I got accused of stealing sushi at the Rodeo Drive location, I didn't have my receipt so I had to have them look up my card. They were trying so hard to embarrass me like … who's stealing $20 sushi?”

Subplot News has reached out to Erewhon for comment via email and to Janiya via TikTok direct message and comment. We will update this story if they respond.

@niyy_3.0

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