Photo gallery: Meijer on Ann Arbor-Saline Road

The Meijer store at 3145 Ann Arbor-Saline Road in Ann Arbor. Allison Farrand | The Ann Arbor News

(Allison Farrand)

SCIO TWP, MI -- Several women say a man has been following women around at Ann Arbor-area grocery stores and complimenting their "beautiful feet."

The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office reported two incidents of a suspicious man approaching women Monday, May 9 at the Scio Township Meijer, 5645 Jackson Road.

Police say the man has not committed a crime, but they want to talk to him about his motives and are seeking information about him.

The women said he had a pattern of approaching them, complimenting them on their feet and hair, and persisting to follow them when they tried to ignore him or declined his invitations to dinner and lunch.

"He was just very pushy. He did not take no for an answer. I got frosty real quick," said Julie MacIntosh. "That didn't dissuade him at all."

They described the man as a black male, about 25 to 30 years old and weighing about 220 pounds. He wore a baseball cap, and in at least two instances, a white T-shirt and light-colored jeans.

MacIntosh said she was shopping at the Scio Township Meijer in March when the man approached her. She said she tried to ignore him, but he complimented her flip flops and feet. He said only white women take care of their feet, she said.

"Then I got the creeper vibe," she said.

He followed her when she walked off, continuing to compliment her. He then asked for her phone number. MacIntosh told him she's married.

The man persisted, asking if they could be friends. She again declined and told him her husband was a Marine, and the man left her alone.

While MacIntosh said she wasn't scared for herself, she would be worried about her 13-year-old daughter shopping in the store.

One woman, who asked not to be named, said the man was walking out of Meijer while she was walking in on Monday afternoon. He turned around and started following and talking to her.

The woman said she approached the service desk, and he got into her personal space and starting complimenting her on her feet and flip flops.

"He said white women had beautiful feet. He asked me out and for my number," she said.

The woman declined, telling him she was married.

She said she didn't get a close look at him.

Another woman, who did not wish to be identified, had two encounters with him at the Meijer on Jackson Road. The first was two weeks ago, and he approached her and made comments about her feet and beauty, and asked her out to dinner and then to a casino.

She kept telling him no, she said, and then he bent down to touch her feet.

"That was bizarre and not at all normal behavior, especially after you tell him multiple times you're married and the answer is no," she said. "I don't know what his intentions are, but I don't feel a good vibe."

On Monday, May 9, she saw him again several times in the same store but he didn't engage her in conversation. After noting him talking to another woman, they reported the incidents to Meijer management, she said.

"Obviously, he's targeting women," she said. "He's not there doing shopping."

At the Meijer store on Ann Arbor-Saline Road, another woman said the same thing happened to her and a friend late Monday evening.

The man tried to start a conversation about her grocery list, but the two women didn't engage and left the aisle. The man again approached her friend and complimented her feet, and asked her to dinner and to lunch.

"This guy has a pattern all the way down to the script he says to each woman and the fact that he has followed some of them to the car makes him a threat to the community, not just some guy giving compliments and flirting while shopping for mustard," she said. "(The sheriff's office) is not taking this lightly and obviously see that this may be a serious situation."

Another woman told The Ann Arbor News she had a similar experience in the past month at two different Kroger stores, one on Stadium Boulevard and the other on Carpenter.

The man approached her while she was shopping in the produce section, told her she was pretty and asked her out to dinner. When she explained she was married, he asked her to lunch. She declined.

Anyone with information about the incidents can call the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office confidential tip line at 734-973-7711 or 1-800-SPEAKUP.

Lindsay Knake is a cops and courts reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com.