If you manage a showroom, I have advice.  Stock drinks. 

We called it quits after three hours in a tile showroom today.  I know my clients would have gone longer with a bottle of water.  To be fair, our very hardworking salesman, Martin, went to the employee lounge and dug up three Styrofoam cups and some leftover soda.  But large showrooms are dry and dusty, especially in the winter.  And looking at selection after selection is grueling work.  We had more to choose, but instead chose to do it another day.

My favorite retailer, Linda at Mr. Hydes in Canton, Ohio, always offers you a drink when you begin serious shopping.  She has some of the most loyal customers in the world, and she’s worked to get there.  When you are in her shop, the hours pass like minutes because you’re having so much fun and you are so…comfortable.  But then again, buying a few beads is certainly easier than thousands of square feet of tile.