Stripping A Mannequin…



About a month ago I went to the mall with my daughters to do a little shopping. We needed to get out because the snow had kept us in all winter long. My daughters graze through the clothes, store after store, but aren’t having much luck finding anything.

We hit all their favorite stores: JCPenney, NY & Company, H & M, Aeropostale, and Forever 21. Suddenly, at Forever 21, my older daughter sees a pretty dress on a mannequin that she really likes. Even more unusual is the fact that I also like it! So we begin to look around for it in the store. I found a blouse that looked just like it, but not the dress. I look at the size on the mannequin and it’s a small. So I ask my daughter if she really wants it I will take it off the mannequin. Both of my daughters are horrified. Their eyes are screaming, "You can’t do that!"

So, I proceed to unzip the dress in the back of the mannequin, but the looks I was getting from the girls finally made me stop. It’s bad enough when strangers give you looks, but my own girls? I told them to wait there and I would find a salesperson. Surely the store would prefer to sell the dress then keep it on the mannequin. I finally track down a nice young lady wearing a store ID tag. I explain to her that my daughter would like a dress that is on the mannequin, but nowhere in the store. She asks which one. I point over to it. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have any of those left in the store.” I ask if I could have the one on the mannequin because it is the right size. She tells me no, it’s not possible. I was speechless for a minute. She goes on the explain that it is a company policy. They have someone who comes in to dress the mannequins and the garments cannot be removed unless they do it, sorry.

I am disappointed and irritated at the thought of such a ridiculous policy. The same thing happened a few weeks earlier in JCPenney and the salesperson immediately took the sweater off the mannequin for me and replaced it with another.

Well, so much for the poor economy and the poor retailers! So much for the customer is always right! They kept their dress and we kept our money. Nice doing business with you Forever 21!