Unclear on the Concept

Uh... what?

Chris Ostwald, 54, last month opened the “Really British” store in upmarket Muswell Hill but has been met with a barrage of complaints over the name.

He said some locals had threatened to stage boycotts and protests over the shop that sells a wide range of British-themed products; brown sauce, London underground tea towels and ‘Muswell Hillbillies’ mugs, in a nod to the album by legendary group the Kinks, who hailed from the area. A large number of union jack-inspired designs are also on sale. But it Mr Ostwald’s decision to call the shop “Really British” has triggered fury.

He told Mail Online: “A guy came in the other day and said, ‘what’s this, a charity shop?’ We said, ‘no, not at all’, and he said, ‘well it’s racist’, and stormed out.”

He said that he had had shoppers from a number of nationalities visiting the store, but said that the only ones who suggested he was racist were British. “It’s almost the reverse of racism,” he said. Critics have said the shop is against London’s “international nature” and implied that other businesses on the street “weren’t British”.

One man wrote on Facebook: “Chris, while I applaud you setting up a business in Muswell Hill and employing local people I’m curious as to why you decided to call your shop ‘Really British’ (besides the obvious point that you will sell British made goods)?"

"British" isn't a race, it's a nationality. So if they wanted to accuse him of being an overt nationalist, they'd have a valid point. (I consider it a compliment when someone calls me a nationalist, but that's neither here nor there.) Saying that a shop which sells only British goods is "racist," however, reveals a level of ignorance that is almost unfathomable -- made even more so by the fact that they took the time to go inside and flap their gums about it.

Being the ornery asshole that I am, if it were my store I'd hang a temporary banner over the sign that reads "Really Caucasian." That should cause a few amusing head explosions.