As a territory account manager, I frequent the Woodlands Mall. I go around to all of the major cellphone carriers to check compliance and Merchandising. I also train retail sales professionals on products, and ways for them to have customer interactions that help promote the products that my company has to offer. Walking past Talbots on multiple occasions, I noticed they have a small selection of jewellery. Being a person who doesn't have a real need for this kind of thing, and having a spouse that doesn't really wear jewelry, I stored the information for the future as a "just in case".
Fast forward to today. Knowing in a couple of days my spouse and I are heading out to Austin to see a music group called Muse. I was heading into the mall when I noticed a customer going directly into Talbots from the parking lot, instead of going through the mall. I thought that this would be an opportunity to find a more efficient way to go through the mall, as well as pick up some jewelry for my spouse for this special event. The foot traffic was light to moderate, all of the employees were busy with customers. An employee at the counter who was dealing with a customer, seem to go out of her way to see if I needed assistance with anything. I let her know that I was looking to find a more efficient way to go to the mall. After a short pause, she stated a request, "Next time you come to the mall can you go through the mall instead of through the store?" I was sure that she was referring to her conversion rate. Further conversation confirmed thoughts. After that confirmation I told her that I was also going to look around and check things out. I asked if there was an entrance to the mall (pointing to another direction), and she said that there was. On my way to the entrance I notice the jewelry. As I was about to video chat my spouse to see if she was interested in any of what the store had to offer, I felt uneasy. I felt as if the person that was speaking to me previously, was only concerned about people who are willing to purchase items, to basically help her with her overall sales metrics. That experience lead me to feel that big Hispanic guys in Talbots, could seem out of place. Looking around while pulling my phone out to show my spouse what I found, I felt maybe they thought I was up to no good. I felt as if I didn't match their clientele, so I put my phone away and left.
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