Retailer Drops Policy of Listing Race: Cignal,...

Retailer Drops Policy of Listing Race: Cignal, a nationwide chain of fashion stores, dropped its policy of writing codes on the back of customers’ checks to record their race after a Latino customer attacked the practice as “abominable.” Cignal President Ken Rodriguez ordered his 70 stores to put an immediate stop to the policy, under which shoppers were classified as “W” for white, “H” for Hispanic and “O7”--company shorthand for black. Cignal is a unit of Towson, Md.-based Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc., which has 700 stores in 38 states.