That's an awful story, but I've heard of similar behaviour in shops here.

A friend of mine was just killing time once and wandered into a fashionable little shop in a mall in Auckland (I can't remember what shop it was). Almost as soon as she was in the door the (stick thin) salesgirl came over and told her 'We don't stock anything in your size, why don't you try Farmers' and steered her out the door.

They must figure its bad for business to have a fat person seen in the store

I tend to buy most of my clothes through mail order. Ezibuy have a special catalog for sizes 16+ that actually has nice clothes for most ages, including togs. Saves me the whole trying on clothes ordeal as well.

Sarah