The Hard Sell

Like any savvy shopper, Joan Williams doesn't walk through the mall without a plan.

She may take an out-of-the-way path to a store or fake left then go right around obstacles. She'll even pretend to talk on her cell phone, which makes her feel a little crazy, but whatever it takes to avoid an ambush.

Evasive maneuvers, duck and cover, ambush: Since when did a trip to the mall take on the tinge of a combat operation?

Since encountering a pushy -- or persistent, depending on your viewpoint -- kiosk salesperson, she says. Once a rare feature that popped up during the holidays, kiosks have become a fixture at malls everywhere -- and not always a welcome one.

"They drive me crazy," Williams says. She was walking through the Galleria at Sunset mall with her daughter, Katie, recently when a young man selling a beauty product approached her. She didn't even break stride.

"I'm in a hurry," she said to him, which was only partly true. Williams just wasn't interested and didn't want to stop to explain.

"I don't want to show them my hands or buy some lotion that's going to make me break out," she says. "The Dippin' Dot guy is not chasing you down to sell you ice cream. Store salespeople don't bother me. Why should I be harassed by kiosk (salespeople)? I don't think they belong here in the middle of the mall. They belong in a swap meet."

That may be a little extreme, says shopper Kathleen Rodriguez. She doesn't like the aggressive salespeople at kiosks, but finds that those are rare. Most are polite and she says she likes having the option of shopping at them. She has purchased sunglasses from a kiosk while her husband bought cologne.

The more assertive salespeople tend to be at carts that have a demonstration, says Joe Snipes, assistant general manager of the Galleria at Sunset mall. And they often work off of commission; when money's involved, people can get aggressive, he says.

The mall doesn't allow the "hard sell" as Snipes calls it, because customers don't like it. When faced with such pushy behavior, they might even avoid stores in the area of those kiosks.

It can be a touchy subject for some; several kiosk workers who approached customers refused to talk about their jobs. Representatives for the Fashion Show and Meadows malls wouldn't comment for this story.

Unfortunately, a few overly assertive kiosk workers have tainted the reputation of all kiosks, Snipes says.

Some shoppers have other fears regarding kiosks, he adds. They may think that the merchandise isn't good quality or that the cart is a fly-by-night operation and there will be no one to handle a complaint if there's a problem with the product.

But, that's not true, Snipes says. Many cart owners have gone on to open stores in the Galleria; some have had a presence in the mall for years.

Young Lee has operated her three kiosks in the Galleria for about two years. As a retailer, she doesn't like the assertive approach. Instead, she prefers to let the customers come to her jewelry and purse carts.

Kiosks can offer goods for lower prices than a store because their operating costs are lower, Lee notes.

Peggy Turner and Lourdes Pneda, saleswomen at Dillard's in the Galleria, both say they frequently shop at kiosks. On a recent Thursday, they looked over a cart full of curling irons during their break.

Turner says she likes kiosks because she finds things she has never seen elsewhere, and the merchandise is cheaper. The fact that she doesn't have to walk into a store is what draws Pneda to kiosks.

Rarely do they encounter a hard sell, both say, but it doesn't bother them when they do. They say they realize the salespeople are only trying to earn a living.