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Fitting rooms and their service, as well as how to outfit and staff them, are passions of mine. That’s why I was excited to be included in the article in the Wall Street Journal about fitting rooms yesterday. As I was reading the story though, I had to re-check the date at the top of the page because it sure sounded like it was 1995 all over again. The writer focused once again on why making fitting rooms productive is so elusive for the brick and mortar apparel retailers.

Why is keeping the dressing room area free of dirt and dust too much for some, while others think a laser focus on tweaking paint colors, adding couches and posters will ‘seduce’ customers? All under the misnomer of service? Why wasn’t the importance of the fitting room in relation to sales and other performance metrics the true story in the WSJ rather than an episode of HGTV for dressing room chic?

The word on everyone’s lips today in retail is margin. From the gurus on Wall Street, to the management teams steering the ships of big retail, everyone’s preaching, ‘Enough with the cuts already!’ ‘We need top line growth and margin improvement!’ So why is it when I walk my local mall and enter almost any store I’m greeted with “Hi, welcome to fill-in-the-blank! Check out our buy-one, get-one stuff and our 40% off whatever!” Or my favorite, “…we just did a whole bunch of new markdowns, come check them out!”

I’m not speaking to discount self service retail here. They know who they are and they pay for their service model with margin. I’m talking about the retailers who preach that they do put customer service first and attempt to provide personal service to their customers in the name of adding value which translates to higher margin.

As a news junkie, blogger, tweeter, and purveyor of retail customer service technology I view the retail industry from several vantage points. Usually, there is a common thread that runs through all news and commentary about our industry with a twist here or an opinion there but most are supported by cold hard facts. This latest period of time, however, which seems like the past year or so, there is a different vibe running through the media and commentary which appears to depend on what agenda is being promoted, and the facts massaged to prove points. This agenda driven dialogue has been harmful and weighs on the consumer making them feel confused, nervous, and as a by-product unwilling to spend their money freely.