LIVE MANNEQUINS
When my husband and I were in graduate school we struggled financially to make ends meet. With tuition bills, and high college-town rents we existed on Dave's half-time teaching assistantship and my finding part-time gigs here and there that worked around my heavier load of first year required classes. In October lots of retail jobs were being advertised to staff-up for the ever-earlier Christmas season shopping rush.
One that caught my eye was clerking at a local lingerie shop, Val's, in the older of the two malls in town. It was like an upscale Victoria's Secret, owned by a local couple who were also the on-site managers, she working out-front, and he mostly in the back office. Their job posting stated "flexible hours," clearly appealing to students like me, and the pay was above minimum wage, and included a small commission for what you sold. I hoped working at a true "mom and pop" business would be more accommodating to my class schedule and hopefully less stressful than a rigid national corporate structure.
Dave had recently bought me a lovely bra and panty set for my birthday gift from Val's, so the place intrigued me. I enjoyed their sexy, yet classy underwear, so I thought I would be a good ambassador for their products, and maybe they'd include an employees' discount as an added incentive to attract clerks.
When I showed Dave the job posting, he didn't have near the level of enthusiasm I expected him to have. He loves to see me in racy undies, including the stuff he bought for me at Val's, so I thought he'd be excited that I'd be selling the stuff and maybe bringing home some employee bargains.
"You don't seem too sold on the idea of me working there, what gives?" I pointedly asked him.
He hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before cautiously warning me, "Rumors I hear from some guys I know is that if you tip their clerks, they'll privately model things for men before they decide to buy them for their wives or girlfriends."
"Is that why you bought my birthday present there, so you could scope out one of the cute clerks wearing it first?" I teased feigning indignant offense, while trying not to laugh out loud. I couldn't tell if he was worried about me being potentially exploited, or if he was being a little possessive of me maybe showing off for other men in sexy underwear. I guess those two feelings weren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
"No, I'd never do that," he replied far too quickly and vehemently to convince me he was totally guiltless. So, to get off the spot, he turned it back on me, asking, "So, if you go to work there would you model bras and things for men customers?"
"That depends. Just how much did you tip the clerk?" I shot back with a snarky smile.
"I told you I didn't. It was just a rumor I heard." It seemed as if he was protesting a bit too much.
"I think the rumors you heard are wishful thinking from a bunch of horny men hoping it was true," I shot back.
"Well, if you apply there just remember, I warned you." With that we both let the subject drop.
I did go ahead and apply, and I got an interview several days later with Nick and Val, the owners. She had grown up not far from my hometown in the northeast corner of the state, which gained me instant bonus points with her.
Nick really focused on my availability during the four or five weeks right before Christmas. He pointed out that many of students they had previously hired went home over the University's long holiday break, which started mid-December when the store needed them most. I pointed out that I was a graduate student, older than most, married, and our hometown was right here now. That nailed the job for me, and I started two days later covering two weeknights, Saturdays, and every other Sunday afternoon. I could get 18-20 hours a week in, and they offered to work with me on any schedule changes I might need.
Most evening shifts had two clerks on duty, weekends had three, so I quickly met my four salesclerk colleagues who were all students too; and I liked them immediately. Each of them spoke highly of Val and Nick and attested to their willingness to adjust everyone's work hours to meet employees' needs. They assured me they also worked among themselves to juggle schedules to assure coverage. Ashley had been there the longest and was married and closer to my age, and we hit it off right away. Debi, Judy and Laura were younger, and single. I had good bosses, good co-workers, and decent pay; this was going to be a great job and help our struggling budget a lot.
While Val had a cadre of loyal, regular customers who vowed they'd never by a bra anywhere else, the Victoria's Secret in the new mall downtown was clearly brisk competition. This was especially true among students, younger University staff, and others with tighter budgets. Val's stocked high-quality lingerie in styles ranging from scanty and sexy to classic and elegant. My employee discount brought things closer to my price range.
With increasing on-line alternatives, I could tell Nick was counting on stellar Christmas season sales to save their bottom line for the year. He was always looking for ways to get ahead of the competition, especially among the younger people. He had enlarged the dressing rooms a few Valentines Days ago so women could "invite" their significant others inside to watch them model prospective gifts being offered. It was a great marketing tool directly appealing to young men but used by those of all ages when luring their wives and girlfriends to come with them to Val's instead "Vicky's."
By early November, I'd gotten to be good friends with Ashley; and Dave and I socialized with her and her husband, Scott. Neither of them ever mentioned clerks trying on selections for men to preview before buying, despite the rumors Dave had conveyed.
By this time Nick and Val were reassessing their prior orders for the Christmas season's inventory and planning their marketing strategies. We clerks could read the stress weighing on them to assure they'd have the most popular items and in the right quantities.
On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, they asked the whole staff to come in early for a strategy session for the holiday sales plan. I wasn't sure how much wisdom I could add, being a social work and not a marketing major, but I sure wanted to help Nick and Val in any way I could, and I was sure my fellow clerks felt the same way. They certainly treated us like family, with Nick even escorting us to our cars after our night shifts ended.
Nick started out the meeting trying to be upbeat about some of the extra PR efforts the mall management was going to make, including newspaper, radio, and even some regional TV ads. The mall owners were even ready to emulate "gimmicky" things done in bigger city malls to build interest and enthusiasm among shoppers. They were planning to hire people to be dressed- and made-up as statues of carolers from bygone years, then every 15-20 minutes they'd spring to life and serenade shoppers with traditional Christmas songs.
Another crew of human statues would be dressed as nutcrackers, Santa, and elves near the main entry. They too would come to life on schedule and sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to welcome shoppers entering the mall.
At that point Val took over, telling us that on the Thursday a full week ahead of Christmas, the mall was having a special "Men's Night" to encourage and assist those procrastinating husbands, dads, and boyfriends in buying presents for their loved ones and friends. They'd have eggnog, champagne, and snacks available in the atrium, and most stores were planning to bring in their full crews to provide "personal shoppers" to guide, encourage, and cajole the men to make informed and hopefully enhanced purchases.
"Think about it, a night of all men in the mall should be a gold mine of opportunity for a lingerie shop," Val ventured, "if we do it right. Nick and I had a far-out, if not a little bit risqué idea, but we'll need your help, and I know we'll be asking a lot from each of you."
"Oh, Val, we'll do whatever we can to help you and Nick; you know that!" Ashley, the most tenured clerk replied expressing all the sincerity the rest of us also felt.
Nick stood and raised his hands and softly told us, "We appreciate your support and loyalty, but don't commit to anything until you hear exactly what we have in mind."
Val went on asking, "Remember what Nick said about the human statues they're planning to have out in the mall?" We all acknowledged that and agreed it was a clever idea.
"Well, were thinking about piggybacking on that theme and replacing some of the plaster mannequins in our front window with 'live mannequins,' like the mall statues, but instead of wearing carolers outfits, they'd be modeling our top selling lingerie ensembles," she explained sheepishly.
"Let me guess," I interjected with a grin, as I displayed my firm grasp of the obvious, "you'd like us to be those live mannequins?"
"I know that's asking a lot," Nick sighed pleadingly, "but it's just for one night and we'll be offering bonus pay."
Considering the size and gender of our potential audience, my first thought was he should have called it "combat pay." But I was liking the idea of some extra money no matter what he called it. Maybe Dave's rumors about the clerks modeling stuff for would-be customers wasn't so off base as I'd first thought. Another job I considered applying for was to be a nude model at the art school, so appearing in lingerie didn't seem all that risqué by comparison.
Ashley leaned toward me and whispered in my ear, "Scott won't like me doing this one bit, but I sure don't want to let Val down."
