Whoever is in charge of this unique product placement should be commended, at least by Happy Tooth, for placing Reach toothbrushes right next to the boxes of couscous and dental floss dispensers beside Millstone Golden Oats.īut why is a value pack of balloons hanging near the tomato juice? (Is there some sick fraternity gag we don't know about where you have to feign busting a gut in front of impressionable children?) It's the zeal in which it displays those marginal items that hang off the shelves in the middle or end of an aisle, things like big salad forks or ice cream scoopers that can't sit on a shelf. We may not know feet like she does, but we've got Di Marco sized up. "Of course, the shoes won't fit they haven't looked at your feet. If someone lays three boxes at your feet and doesn't open them, take your shoe fetish elsewhere. Her advice for finding a good shoe salesperson? You want white sandals, low heel but "look at my red toenails" sexy? She can pluck the stockroom clean without even scanning the displays. She knows - even if you don't - whether you walk on the outside or inside of your foot, or have extra long toes (yuck) or have a pronated (forward-leaning) foot.įashionwise, same deal. So how does Di Marco do it? After fitting strangers' hoofs for five years at Dillard's and seven at a boutique in Boca Raton, Florida, she can judge your shoe size just by looking.
She's the best professional sole sister we've ever seen, and we've seen a lot. "A woman can spend three and a half hours upstairs and nothing's working, but they know they can come down and buy a new pair of shoes and they're happy," says Betty Di Marco, a sales associate at Dillard's in Paradise Valley Mall. That oughta be on his business card - "More Yakobuv, less yaks."įinally, someone who understands a woman's deep, biological need for a new pair of shoes. He'd probably tell you if you asked, but it's more fun seeing how few words you'll need to part with beyond "short back and sides." You could be a regular for years and still never know what former Soviet republic he's from.
He just lets you watch Ricki Lake or The Price Is Right or whatever's on his portable TV while he administers the comb dipped into blue antiseptic "Barbicide," the talcum on the neck, the hot foam shave, the razor around the ears, all the things you go to a barber for except conversation.
Show up with gum in your hair and he probably wouldn't bat an eye. Unlike snooty unisex salon stylists, this masterful mane man isn't interested in who cut your hair last. That's why the silent scissors of Yury Yakobuv are such a godsend.
Rule of thumb, if your mother doesn't know something, why should your hair stylist? Just because barbers spend on average three hours a year running their fingers through your hair doesn't mean they have to know how much you make or what you paid for your house.