What to know
- Toronto hairstylist Temitayo Odubanjo raised concerns after noticing products marketed for curlier hair textures were locked behind glass at a Keele Street Walmart, while products for straight hair remained freely accessible.
- After she questioned store managers and shared her experience on TikTok, Walmart removed the glass door from products’ shelves.
- Odubanjo later said the experience highlighted the power of speaking up and encouraged others to use their voices when they see injustice.
A Toronto woman’s act of speaking up is quite literally opening doors in her community, after she called out a local Walmart location for locking up curly hair products behind glass.
Temitayo Odubanjo was browsing the cosmetics section of a Walmart located at 3757 Keele St. in Toronto, when she noticed that all products marketed for curlier hair texture were being kept under lock and key.
The products seemed to also be separated from those marketed to straight hair, which were kept on different shelves, and without a door.
Even though she was just originally browsing, she decided to speak up to a store manager.
“I just plainly asked, ‘Why is one product being locked up and the other product not being locked up? Can you explain to me the reason why the ethnic, Black hair products are being locked up?’ And the first immediate response was that, ‘We don’t see Black or White here,’” she told Now Toronto.
Odubanjo, who is a hairstylist, explained that hair products targeted to curlier textures are largely used by Black women and men, most of whom have natural curly hair.
“I just want to validate the fact that… a large number of people with curlier hair are Black and are ethnic. There are people who are White, who are not people of colour, who have curly hair. Of course, I’m not denying that, but the majority of Black people have curly hair,” she said.
“Those were the products being locked and so the first thing they did was just dismiss the fact that those were even Black hair care products in the first place,” she added.
According to Odubanjo, managers also told her that the decision to lock the products were based off of date, which indicated those products were some of “the most stolen items in their store.”
Despite the manager’s response, the customer pressed on.
“If there is such data that exists, it has to be comprehensive enough for you to isolate a specific group of people, it has to be such an overwhelming amount of data that justifies you targeting Black and ethnic individuals and making them feel inferior in your store by locking up their products,” she said.
“I tried to explain like, ‘If you see things in your culture, only things in your culture being locked up, how would that make you feel?’ And he admitted that would make him feel bad. So, I feel like that admission in itself, they know what they’re doing.”
After receiving what she felt wasn’t a fitting response from the store, Odubanjo posted a video on social media calling out Walmart for the decision.
The video quickly went viral, with over 200,000 views and hundreds of comments. While some were supportive of the customer, Odubanjo says the video also sparked multiple racist comments and messages.
“I just thought maybe everyone would feel as outraged as I did. Boy, was I surprised with the comments. I got so many hate comments till now,” she said.
“A lot of people were noticing that even the same product line was being separated based on the ones that cater to curlier hair and the ones that catered more so to straight hair. A lot of people tried to say that hair care has no race, but I think we would be doing a disservice to say that.”
On top of the video, Odubanjo also contacted Walmart Canada about the incident. Although she hasn’t received a reply to her email, she says they promptly responded to her DM, asking for more details of the incident. However, she has received no updates from them since.
Walmart unlocks products
Despite not getting a direct response from Walmart, Odubanjo says she was informed by a friend that the Walmart location has removed the glass door locking the products.
The hairdresser herself says she has also visited the store and confirmed that the door was removed.
“I’m thankful that they actually complied and removed it. And then when I posted the update video, I received the positive comments,” she added.
Odubanjo says the incident has made her reflect on the power of speaking up, and she is now encouraging others to do so as well.
“If you want change to happen, you can’t be silent. You have to go out of your comfort zone and you have to say something. You have to support those who speak out, even if you feel like everyone else is against that person, if you know deep down in your heart this is wrong, there is an injustice taking place, you have to use your voice and you have to take action,” she said.
Now Toronto has reached out to Walmart for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
