honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, November 26, 2002

ABOUT WOMEN
OK, Hawai'i retailers, we real women have a few demands

 •  Previous About Men/Women
 •  Join our About Men/Women discussion

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Staff Writer

The holiday buying frenzy officially gets under way this week, so this little missive is meant for all you shopkeepers out there. Herewith is a list of my demands:

1. Just as parking stalls have shrunk to Lilliputian dimensions, so have dressing rooms. It would be nice to get into one without having to slide in sideways and press yourself against the back wall in order to close the door. Ditto for bathroom stalls.

I'd also like to request more flattering lighting and "skinny" mirrors (you know what I mean). When I am trying on clothes, I do not want to see what I actually look like. Are you trying to make a sale or what?

2. I do not have a degree in marketing, but readily available Census information tells us that a growing number of people in Hawai'i are from ethnic groups with larger body frames. If you've been paying attention, you've also seen the reports about how overweight we all are. (Yes, I admit that I am "big-boned.") Only recently have you come to realize that we like pretty clothes, too, and not just mu'umu'u.

While we're on this topic, somebody explain to me how you can have a dress size O. By all reasoning, this is an impossibility.

I do not like to be confronted with evidence that these people exist. Can't they just shop in the children's section? If not, put them in a corner somewhere. They won't take up a lot of room, I promise!

3. THIS IS HAWAI'I. We go barefoot here. A lot. Wearing slippers is the same as going barefoot when it comes to the spread factor. So why do I feel like Frodo Baggins every time I shop for shoes? Please try to carry bigger (and wider) shoe sizes. I know they exist because I've seen them in mail-order catalogs and on the Internet, which is where I've been sending my money lately.

4. Enough already with the constant Sale!!! Sale!!! Sale!!! You can quickly lose your credibility if you promise "unheard-of savings" week after week, and it makes me think you are inflating your prices the rest of the time. If you ask me, this is what led to the downfall of Liberty House.

For many years, the Zooper and Rainbow sales were two of the biggest events on the calendar, and in between, we were happy to shop there. Toward the end, it seemed like every day was sale day at Liberty House, and no one was willing to pay full price for anything.

Just give us fair prices from the get-go and you can avoid this trap.

5. Used to be stores offered chairs or benches for restless children and husbands to sit on while we shopped. Somewhere along the line, some retailing genius decided it was better to use that space to cram more merchandise into already-crowded aisles. Simple fact: If my fidgety kids don't have a place to sit and play Gameboy while I browse the racks, or if I can't find a spot where I can get off my feet for a few minutes, I might just leave and go home.

6. Exceptional service has become the exception. I know this is partly because of staff cutbacks, but it's more than that. Simple fact No. 2: Being appreciated makes me want to spend more money. And sometimes I buy stuff just because I'd feel guilty leaving empty-handed after a salesperson has lavished attention on me.

7. All antiseptic-clean bathrooms, all the time, please. 'Nuff said.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.