Fun fact: I’ve been wearing the same two bras for 8 years. Why? I hate shopping for clothes (except for thrift store clothing. Love thrift stores!) and I REALLY hate bra shopping.
I have nightmares about being lost in the racks of shiny fabric with or without a wire that I have no idea where to start for they all look alike and the salesperson is on their iPhone, probably laughing at the maze of stock white fabric on plastic hooks I entered into without a map and will be stuck in for hours.
Ahem.
So, yeah, eight years.
It would have been more, but I discovered a little undergarment shop next to a grocery store in my town that changed everything.
Cherry Tree Boutique is a ladies under garment shop on the Sunshine Coast, BC that specializes in bras.
They want to talk to you about fit and function of the bra, while making it fun to shop. They want to see you in it (back of store) to make sure it’s going to do its job. That it fits. That its the right size. They have the basics and the ones with an added dose of sexy. They can chat about underarm fat.
(Not so fun fact: I was told I am on the “cups” of a larger cup. Fanfreakingtastic. It has been 8 years and I am 40.)
But mostly, when you walk out of that store with a bra in hand, you say to yourself, “Hey, I can go bra shopping every day.”
Yeah, shocked the hell out of me too.
But it got me thinking about the difference and why a small shop in the mall by the grocery store could change my life on undergarment shopping.
No, shopping in general.
This isn’t the first time.
A couple of years ago, as part of a cooking class I took in France, we went to a butcher. The man was in his early thirties and had previously made a living in advertising. He woke up one morning and decided to become a butcher.
Great story, but where the heart of it lies is how he talks about his products. The process of curing, the finesse in the cuts and the best way to prepare the selection. It wasn’t the sale he was after but the pleasure in educating and finding the perfect one for the person on the other side of the glass case.
He was talking to me in broken English and I was responding in lopsided French, but I left that shop knowing more about the butcher profession and the differences in meat cuts than any infographic could demonstrate.
It made sense. He made sense.
I’ve had this experience with people starting their first brewery, working out of their first food truck, an engineer who picked up photography or even a realtor transitioning into a life coach.
It’s more than a purchase but an experience. It’s more than shopping, but a greater understanding. It’s more than just a paycheck, but an investment in a dream.
Want better customer service? Stop buying items at big chains and make investments in the passions of your neighbours and fellow community members.
Shop local. Connect with people about their passions. Invest in their dreams.
Weegee Sachtjen 