protected function initializeCustomer(array $attr)
    {

        // load the customer with the passed SKU and merge it with the attributes
        if ($entity = $this->loadCustomerByEmailAndWebsiteId($attr[MemberNames::EMAIL], $attr[MemberNames::WEBSITE_ID])) {
            return $this->mergeEntity($entity, $attr);
        }

        // otherwise simply return the attributes
        return $attr;
    }