Thank you Claudia!

That’s about all I have to say after having recently come out of the Sport Check in Vancouver’s Pacific Centre Mall on a Christmas shopping spree that is going to make someone very, very happy.

I’ve been in-an-out of Sport Chek Pacific Centre a couple of times over the past two years.  I go in determined and with a pretty good idea of what I want.

And what I’ve wanted over the past few times have all been related to my participating in (read: living through) Hadj’s plyometrics class.

Not this time!

I strolled into Sport Chek Pacific Centre around 12:30pm…on a Thursday.  It was cold, there were lots of people, and a great deal of 30% sales going on (who knew)?

What I’ve found with busy retail stores around Christmas time (and this isn’t new news to anyone, I’m sure)  is that there is usually a scarcity of staff around to help you.  If you are lucky enough to find someone who is able to help, however, the question isn’t ‘if’ they are able to help; it’s more like ‘if they feel like’ being able to help.  Honestly, it’s an invese relationship that I have never really understood.  Must be the stress…

In any event, and back to the opening three words of this post…Claudia is the reason why my particular Christmas retail experience with Sport Chek Pacific Centre was enjoyable.  Here’s why Claudia broke the mold:

• she was proactive in making suggestions (i.e., took me over to the Reebok section from the Adidas section as there were more items on sale that were very similar to what I was looking for)

• she managed to track down the last Under Armour bag in the store (wasn’t easy, and I noticed the extra effort)

• she was actually nice (imagine that)

• she ushered me to the front of the line (rockstar)

• she said thank you, made eye contact, and wished me a Happy Holiday season

How about them apples?!

With a little effort, a little ‘time for her customer’, and genuine nice personality, she’s changed my opinion of the typical ‘retail sales clerk’ around Christmas.

As sure as a hummingbird is drawn to a bowl of sugar water, I’ll be back…smiling.

darren