Shopping Remembered

A very long time ago, Roanoke sported stores called Lazarus, Heironimous, and Leggett. Leggett eventually became what is now called Belk.

Heironimous was located downtown and Lazarus at Towers, though it might have been downtown as well. Both stores might have been at Crossroads Mall at one time, too - I am sure Leggett's was there. I cannot recall if either store made the move to Valley View Mall when it opened in the mid-1980s.

Heironimous, apparently, opened in Roanoke around 1890 and the downtown store closed in 1996. The store was located at the corner of Jefferson and Church Street.

I enjoyed shopping for women's clothes at these stores because you actually were helped. Twenty-five years ago, the clerks appeared to me to be little ol' ladies who wore pearls and dressed elegantly, but I feel sure that is faulty memory. Most likely they were ladies about the age I am now.

However, these clerks actually helped you pick out clothes.  When I worked downtown, I could visit Lazarus or Heironimous and all I need do was tell the clerk what I needed. "Something for work," or "something to wear to a wedding" or "something to wear to a play," and poof . . . the appropriate item appeared magically in their hands, usually in the right size, too. And if not, then I could go in a dressing room and they would fetch and carry, ooh and ahh if I stepped out of the dressing room (or tell me, "no dear, that really doesn't flatter you, let's try something else,") and I generally left with a great purchase that fit well and looked good on me.

These days, I'm lucky if I can find someone at a cash register to check me out of the store. And help in picking out clothes? Better bring a friend, because the clerk's are useless. Only once in the last ten years have I been helped out by a clerk who went beyond the call of duty and helped me with my purchases. If I remember right, I ended up spending several hundred dollars that day because she was able to find the right clothes for me. That was at Belk at Valley View, and might have been while it was still Leggett.

My point? A clerk who helps me out when I need it is a huge asset to the company. I bet, though, the company does not consider this particular selling point at all anymore. People are so expendable, you know.

I'm not sure why I'm feeling nostalgic for a decent shopping experience, except perhaps it is because I really need to go buy clothes again and I dread it. I wonder if others feel the same way.