A chain of stores in Tampa Bay, Fla., has pulled all clown costumes off its shelves in reaction to the creepy clown craze that has been spreading across the U.S. and beyond.
Goodwill-Suncoast decided to stop selling clown costumes and accessories in its 18 retail stores, even though Halloween is just two weeks away, WFLA reports.
“We had a customer come to us who said they were really freaked out by this creepy clown phenomenon,” Chris Ward, of Goodwill-Suncoast Inc, told the channel. “We wanted to be sensitive to that so we decided to pull clown costumes from [our] stores.”
The decision of Goodwill-Suncoast comes just days after shops across the U.K. were warned by police not to sell clown costumes to potential pranksters following a spate of clown-related incidents in the country. However, one store told ITV News that it was not responsible for withdrawing a “technically inoffensive item in response to a fad.”
More Must-Reads From TIME
- Jane Fonda Champions Climate Action for Every Generation
- Biden’s Campaign Is In Trouble. Will the Turnaround Plan Work?
- Why We're Spending So Much Money Now
- The Financial Influencers Women Actually Want to Listen To
- Breaker Sunny Choi Is Heading to Paris
- Why TV Can’t Stop Making Silly Shows About Lady Journalists
- The Case for Wearing Shoes in the House
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
Write to Kate Samuelson at kate.samuelson@time.com