Rebel Sport slammed for 'discriminating' against mum: 'Not okay'
The mother of a newborn in a pram said she could not access the area of the Rebel store that was up five stairs.
A mother shopping with her newborn daughter at a Rebel Sports store has called out the retailer for "discrimination" after not being given access to an elevated section of the store due to having a pram.
Brooke had gone to the Rebel store in Charlestown, NSW to pick up football boots for her older son when she realised the footy gear was on a "podium", up a set of five stairs. “I was like, 'How do I get up here?' And they [said] 'Well, you can't'," Brooke claimed online.
Though a lift was nearby, the staff allegedly told Brooke it was for wheelchair access only. After seeking further assistance, another Rebel staff member tried to help Brooke carry her pram up the stairs, but she says he was told not to by the other staff. "This is something you really need to look at because that is not okay," Brooke said.
Parents told to 'take baby out' of pram
Brooke told Yahoo News Australia there were "several other mothers" who commented on her video saying they have had the same issue with this Rebel store, while others thought she should have "just taken her baby out of the pram". The debate got so heated that Brooke has since turned off comments on her Tiktok post.
"I know everyone’s got different opinions and people were saying 'just take your baby out of the pram', but they don’t know my story, and they don’t know anything about my baby," Brooke said. Her five-week-old daughter was born prematurely and was in NICU before being released. "I’m not intentionally getting her out of the pram to go a small distance. She is safe in her pram with the cover over her."
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Calls for Rebel to address the 'design flaw'
Brooke believes, if parents cannot use lifts, Rebel Sport need to address this design flaw so that parents with prams can access the entire space. "Prams should be able to access the whole shop," she said. "There is obviously a design flaw in the set-up of the shop but anyone should be able to access that part of the shop, especially a paying customer."
She told Yahoo H&M used to be located in the same spot before Rebel moved in there this year. She said H&M gave parents access "through a side door, and they had a lift in the shop which I had previously used".
Yahoo News Australia has reached out to Rebel Sport for comment.
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