The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-06
GOOD SALESWOMEN.
There Is a Demand at
All Times for Their
Services.
MANY CALLED BUT FEW CHOSEN.
Success Is In Availability
and in Neat, Quiet
Dressing.


perseded in prominence before the pub
lie by the girl behind the counter. Tho.
girl who begins to earn a living by
working at salary of 50 per week,
or thereabouts, has life of unful-
filled promise before her.
The girl may be a high school grad
uate, or even an alumna of a higher
educational institution, but as a coun-
ter clerk. she shines only in the esti-
nation of her gentlemen friends, I'M
less she is possessed of qualities that
are generally distributed among half L
dozen of the best known people.
Hundreds of high school girls have
seen chance to become expert salee-
women by working few weeks at va
cation time In a store. A larger num-
Der have tried the work, and fallen way
below par in the belief of the employer.
The manager of a large department
store in tf8s city recently escorted The
spy man through the business world
thatfiourishes on a few acres of floor
space.
The manager sent The Spy man
through the departments in the Lead
Behind a counter two girls were ex-
changing notes OF q pleasant evening
WINGED when the reporter passed by,
but when the manager walked briskly
down the aisle, there was a furry of
eagerness on the part Of the girls. One
had discovered few scraps of paper
on the hoor, and the other had SUD
denly spied stock box that should
be placed on one OF the shelves at tine
rear of the counter Y
The manager saw it all, but did not
speak to the girls. They were compli-
menting each other for cuteness in
discovering the boss" and rejoicing
IN the fact that he never saw them
when they were not at work. While
they were exchanging pleasantries
| this is what the manager was telling
The Spy man: Those girls think l am
blind. 1t kind of CRATES on me TO have
| them think that l am an old codger
and easily fooled, but l always let lit
tie things like that go unnoticed. One
of those girls will be worth four times
her present salary in a few years.
Il consider her a prize. She likes to
| talk with the girls near her counter,
and is sometimes late in the morning,
| but she has a way about her that
| pleases customers. She has not the
| supercilious smile saleswomen usually
| lavish upon customers. Her best quail
| ty is that she has learned the maxim,
| No trouble to show to customers,
] and believes in it. The other girl Is
| green. She is taking the place of girl
| who has been sick and is now on a
vacation, When she returns, the green
| girl will be used as a sale hand. She
| is too pert and dresses too we'll to
| please customers.Ysd Il Ed gaH Qe
The store manager was called away
4 and the reporter wandered over the big
| store. A floor walker greeted him as
| an old customer and was so suave that
| the reporter got uneasy. Just as The
| Spy man had determined TO make his
| escape, matters were made easier by
| the floor walker being called to the
| rescue of a girl who had not made
| change correctly. fA ae lH Is
| This floor walker was found to be a.
| stranger in the city, despite the famil-
| iarity of his greeting, and 1t was a
question of but a few days when he
called at the office for his check. It
| developed that the reason his services
We're unappreclated was because Of q.
| desire to exhibit fashy clothes and
| gaudy neckwear. TIE girl behind the,
counter always refers to the floor walk
Fer as 1.-The old fool" Between no store
| employees Is there a wider breach than
| that which separates the girls behind
| the counter from the floor walker
| He is looked upon as tattler and
although It is within his duty and an
| essential part of it, to report cases I'M
which the saleswoman has lost her tenn
| per, that is forgotten. From the mo-
ment he enters the store until the doors
are closed at night, he is being critic
| ised but if he is an experienced hand,
| he never notices an employees dislike,
and continues his promenade with dig
nitySs
Although the floor walker is supposed
to be a man of business and thorough
I flear, ho1 Of 10
or more THE Spy man encountered had
| any qualifications for position where
| the confidence and good will of Gus
toners is to be sought. The typical floor
| walker is q dapper little chap, with a
Van Dyke beard, frock cutaway coat
| light trousers, and rather tiaring neck
| tie This Ii the man who eSsayed to
point out to The Spy man that there
| is trouble enough with the girls in my
| department to drive any common, or
binary man crazy" He endeavored to
prove that the girls were saucy by
growing at them and then calling at
tention to the fact that they moved
slowly when he ordered them sharply
| Had this same self important man
! spoken kindly he would be the idol cf
| the girls in the department he patrols,
and they would do his bidding without
remonstrance. H
| If local storekeepers can be believed
there is a field In which the new woman
| can earn q fortune. Awe-inspiring girls
and those of an impressive disposition
are not included in the offer. There Is
| a demand which has never half been
| filed and that is for young women WIZ
are possessed of the ability TO sell
! goods over the counter, and continue to
| do so, at the same time gaining the re-
spect of the purchasing public. These
| young women are scarcer than the.
! dollars in the pay envelope of the bum
| die boy. Local dealers in goods which
| young women have always been known
as dispensers Of, say that SIS per week
would be common wages for sales
women if they had mastered the art Of
selling goods without affectation. Some
of the finer points cannot be developed
by experience, but the average girl be-
| hind the counter can demand and get
double her present wages IL she would
observe in detail the rules which efI,-
ployers post regarding their employees.