It was a good thing, explained Deborah Gibson, sales associate at the new Barbra Boutique, that the design people came last week to spruce up the shelves. Because since Barbra “got rid of her laryngitis or whatever it was she had and came out of hiding,” demand for items in the Marshall Field’s boutique had risen 50 percent.
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“It was a beautiful display, but it’s all messy now,” said Gibson as she restacked $20 blocks of notepad paper with Streisand’s likeness on the sides. Two gentlemen interested in the $15 Barbra mugs interrupted her, but they decided against purchasing and Gibson continued: “In the beginning I figured, ‘Oh, this is just another trend.’ But it’s doing much better than I expected. Yesterday we sold 600 dollars’ worth. After her concert in Detroit, I think it was, we just kept getting phone orders. Lotsa phone orders.”
I’d had trouble the night before locating the Barbra Boutique. The sales associate in women’s stockings said she heard about it but didn’t know where it was. And the woman at the information counter had to make a call to find out that she should send me to cards. “But I’m just sitting here temporarily,” she apologized.
“Her nose looks so cute,” said Gibson, pointing to the shirt. “And her eyes look so pretty.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Cynthia Howe.
