Earlier this week, LGBT bloggers and the Twitterati erupted in “huzzahs” at the announcement Old Navy would carry Pride t-shirts in its stores and on the company’s website*, beginning June 1. Furthermore, it was announced, 10 percent of the sales would be donated to the It Gets Better Project. The project is near and dear to the hearts of many of us lesbihomogays, especially those that grew up outside of gay Meccas where gay visibility is almost non-existent and there’s little support or acceptance for queer teens.
But June 1 came and went, with nary a shirt to be seen on the website.
It turns out Old Navy is limiting the distribution of these shirts to those same gay Meccas where they are sure-fire sellers and where their display won’t roil the retail waters for the heartland-targeted chain. The shirts are being carried in just 26 of the companies 1,030-plus stores.
I think it’s really sad that the parts of the country most in need of queer visibility won’t be able to easily access these shirts.
A fellow Twitterer suggested we should be happy that Old Navy is making an effort. I disagree. I think we should buy the shirts, but we should let Old Navy know that this should have been a chain-wide project. Heck, we should buy ALL the frakkin’ shirts and we should speak up loudly while we do it.
If the retailer is this afraid of flying its rainbow flag in less-gay-friendly places, maybe someone will get a taste of how actual gays feel. Can compassion and understand happen through retail transactions? Queerer things have happened.
You can Twitter Old Navy at @OldNavy. You can write to the customer service department at custserve@oldnavy.com, and you can call them at 1-800-OLD-NAVY (1-800-653-6289). You can buy the shirts from the stores listed below. The more that get ordered and shipped, the better.
Let Old Navy know that pride isn’t situational.
*(Honestly, I don’t know if Old Navy said the shirts would be on its website, or if that was assumed by a blogger and repeated, just like it was obviously assumed that “stores” meant “all stores”.)
Here is the complete list of Old Navy stores carrying the shirts. You can order directly from the store for a $6 shipping fee. I don’t know if multiple shirts can be ordered for that fee, but it might save costs to gang them up.
This from Old Navy:
Thanks for your message regarding the Pride shirts supporting “It Gets Better”. We have provided the store list below that will be carrying the tees. Please know that the tees come in Men’s, Women’s ($14.50) and Baby sizes ($7.50). Should you or your readers wish to purchase the tee, they can contact any of these store locations and have the shirt shipped to them for a $6 shipping fee. Please provide the store with these item numbers [the shirts come in white and grey/carbon]:
- Men’s Carbon – 877144-00-1
- Men’s Bright White – 877144-01-1
- Women’s Carbon – 876657-01-1
- Women’s Bright White – 876657-00-1
- Baby/Toddler Girl’s Bright White – 878420-00-1
- Baby/Toddler Boy’s Navy – 871540-00-1
CALIFORNIA
Beverly Connection
100 N. LA CIENEGA BLVD, LOS ANGELES, CA, 90048 (310) 854-0706
5873 Fashion Valley 7007 FRIARS RD, SAN DIEGO, CA, 92108 (619) 299-4329
4th and Market
801 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 94103 (415) 344-0376
FLORIDA
Florida Mall
8001 S ORANGE BLOSSOM TRAIL, ORLANDO, FL, 32809
(407) 812-7258
Coral Ridge S/C
3200 NORTH FEDERAL HIGHWAY, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, 33306
(954) 566-8154
GEORGIA
Buckhead Station
1 BUCKHEAD LOOP, ATLANTA, GA, 30326
(404) 467-0604
HAWAII
Ala Moana
1450 ALA MOANA BLVD, HONOLULU, HI, 96814
(808) 951-9938
ILLINOIS
North and Kingsbury
1596 N KINGSBURY ST, CHICAGO, IL, 60622
(312) 397-0624
5789 State Street / Washington
35 N STATE ST, CHICAGO, IL, 60602
(312) 551-0523
MASSACHUSSETTS
Cambridgeside
100 CAMBRIDGESIDE PLACE, CAMBRIDGE, MA, 02141
(617) 577-0073
MINNESOTA
Mall of America
138 E BROADWAY, BLOOMINGTON, MN, 55425
(952) 854-0096
The Quarry
1620 NEW BRIGHTON BLVD, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55413
(612) 788-6491
NEVADA
Turnberry Town Square
6587 LAS VEGAS BLVD SOUTH #8-169, BLDG M, LAS VEGAS, NV, 89119 (702) 361-0135
NEW YORK
Huntington
839-114 NEW YORK AVE, HUNTINGTON, NY 11743
(631) 351-1854
18th & 6th Avenue
610 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY, 10011
(212) 645-0885
Herald Square – 34th St.
144-150W 34TH ST 150 W 34TH ST, NEW YORK, NY, 10001
(212) 594-0115
Broadway
503 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY, 10012
(212) 226-0865
OHIO
Lennox Center
1731 OLENTANGY RIVER RD, COLUMBUS, OH, 43212
(614) 298-8953
OREGON
Lloyd Center
1028 LLOYD CENTER, PORTLAND, OR, 97232
(503) 287-6040
PENNSYLVANIA
Gallery II
1001 MARKET ST, PHILADELPHIA, PA, 19107
(215) 413-7013
TEXAS
Barton Creek
2901 S CAPITAL OF TEXAS HWY, AUSTIN, TX
(512) 328-0959
Dallas Galleria
13350 DALLAS PARKWAY, DALLAS, TX
(972) 776-4770
VIRGINIA
Tysons Corner
1961 CHAIN BRIDGE ROAD, MCLEAN, VA 22102
(703) 356-0894
WASHINGTON
5th and Pine
511 PINE ST, SEATTLE, WA 98101
(206) 623-3983
WISCONSIN
Madison East Town
2348 E SPRINGS DRIVE, MADISON, WI, 53704
(608) 240-1702
