Recession Causes Upscale Stores to Drop the Haughty Attitude
The recession is changing the way upscale boutiques approach customers. Service that used to be haughty is now downright friendly -- even if the customer is wearing jeans and a t-shirt and doesn't seem like she could afford the store's wares.
As the luxury goods industry suffers a massive slump in sales - many sales clerks at designer stores who were famously haughty and patronizing suddenly have changed their styles. In the boom times, the aloof service was part of the exclusive aura cultivated by some brands, sending a message that only the coolest or richest customers were worthy of a purchase. Now, "that arrogant and snobby attitude of feeling people should be grateful to buy at their temple is a dinosaur mentality that is going extinct," says Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a consumer-research firm. "Now those brands have to be grateful for a customer."
Retailers generally don't want to discuss the shift in service. Bottega Veneta and Paul Stuart declined to comment and Chanel and Fendi did not respond to requests for comment. But some do acknowledge that they've instructed their sales clerks to be less abrupt, spend more time with customers and refrain from being pushy.
At Neiman Marcus, sales associates are being encouraged to be "more patient" with customers. "We have seen that customers are more anxious and there is some concern out there," says Ginger Reeder, a spokeswoman for Neiman Marcus. "So it behooves all of us to remember to be a little more patient."
The whole snooty service thing is ridiculous anyway. There are many stories of sales clerks turning away young rap stars, only to find out that the young man in a t-shirt and baggy jeans could have bought the entire inventory of the store with his American Express black card. In any event, politeness is a good thing.
There is another side to the new friendliness: many customers feel harassed by sales clerks who are too attentive, making the customer feel stalked. Apparently, it's hard to find a happy medium.
