I've only had time to scan over the thread, so...
All I'd say is that it makes sense to me that somewhere like Bluewater would want to ban hoodies - I know it's a massive generalisation, to say "all teens wearing hoodies are thugs" (my brother wears them and he's not), but a lot of them ARE, and even if they're NOT a lot of the older generation will feel threatened by small clusters of teens simply by what they may have seen on the news or read about in the papers. It's a knee-jerk reaction, sure - oh my goodness, there's a gang of those terrible hooded-pullover-wearing youths over there, I hope I don't get mugged for my pension! - but if a person is on their own I can imagine they DO feel threatened, especially if they have to walk past a group of teenagers stood talking quietly, hands in pockets, watching them walk past.
Bluewater want to keep their older clientele coming in, since they usually have more money than the teens, and because they want to make it a "welcoming environment" for them they keep the unwanted ones - the hoodies and baseball caps - out. Perhaps it just feeds society's growing paranoia about hoodies, but it does make sense in a way to me. *shrugs*
Mind you, I've not heard anyone say it's bigotry to ask a motorcycle-rider to remove his/her helmet before entering a bank. Does this mean all motorcyclists are potential bank robbers?
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