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August

 Monday morning I met briefly with one of my employees for a quick check in on how the most obnoxious month of the year is going.  We don't dislike August, we dislike the behavior of individuals on obligatory family vacations which they clearly do not with to be part of.   They'd had one who wanted them to justify my pricing, who insisted that she was not being rude with her query. This is a luxury goods business.  I'd had a family arrive at closing under the guise of shopping, who allowed the children to play dress up with thousands of dollars in merchandise, left without spending a dime, and for thier fifteen minute adventure left my staff and myself with a three hour hide, seek and tidy game. I hope they made some memories.   Then there's my favorite, the person who is legitimately angry that we no longer have the one off item they saw last August, didn't purchase, and hoped would be available at a deep discount as obviously no one else would ever p...
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The truth

 is often stranger than fiction.   Was this piece of furniture cursed? In fall 2021 I purchased a high quality 140ish year old chest of drawers from an individual. This is a typical transaction.  The piece was gorgeous, but not the size anyone was looking for so it sat for nearly a year, getting compliments but not moving along.  Fast forward nearly a year, I'm out buying and receive a call from an employee. Someone had come into the store, fussed about there being dust on the chest they once owned, and departed slamming the door stating that they would never be back as they were heartbroken at the dust on the cherished chest....that they couldn't sell from thier third home fast enough the prior year.  It was the heads up, keep an eye on social media reviews, we just had one who was unhinged. A Karen.  I went about my day, kept an eye out for bad reviews and nothing.  Karen said she'd never be back. That was a lie. Twenty four hours later, I'm in ...
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Cute shop!

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It is a cute shop with hundred plus year old hardwood flooring, soaring tin ceilings and an entry door flanked by a matching old school store windows for fun, funky, and fabulous displays. It is also a little edgy. A little witchy, a little old goth, a little outlaw, a little high end, and a little tea cup ish.  It is also a cute shop in a tourist town.  We play concierge, fashion consultants, interior designers of interiors we've never seen, therapists, and take a lot of verbal abuse. We also get to be retailers between the bouts of entitlement,  audacity,  harassment,  and wtf moments.  One of the tees we stock from LA Arts sums up one side of what it takes to be a woman in business.  The grit. The harassment. The lip biting to close a deal that will cover the rent.  In the immoral words of Hank Williams Jr. So don't ask me Hank, why do you drink? Hank, why do roll smoke? Why must you live out the songs that you wrote? Stop and think it over Try...
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