It was business as usual at female accessories and intimate items shops Friday. A six-month deadline given to some 4,332 lingerie stores across the Kingdom to replace their male employees with saleswomen ended Thursday. “Many customers feel relieved when they see saleswomen at intimate items shops. For the first time it is not the merchandise that lures them but the presence of women behind the counters,” Amani Al-Ghamdi, Valege Lingerie's store manager at its Red Sea Mall branch, told the Saudi Gazette. Al-Ghamdi encourages young women to join this field. “It might not seem like much of a career, but for a high school graduate it is an awfuly good paying job in a comfortable environment where you are greatly appreciated by customers,” she says. “It's very exhausting to be working two shifts. But it is a great opportunity for me to be an active partner in the country's economic progress,” said Amal, who replaced a male manager at a Naomi branch in Jeddah. Rania, Amal's assistant, said that her family disapproved of her work for a while but finally gave in. “It's not easy to get people to accept what we do especially when in high seasons working hours are longer and we have to stay in the shop till 3 A.M,” she told the Saudi Gazette. Naturally security is a major concern. Many Jeddah malls such as Jareer Mall and Red Sea Mall have boosted security to prevent the new workers from being harassed or robbed. Strict regulations have also been put in place to protect these women. Stores have been fitted with specially tinted glass windows and curtains completely concealing the inside of the store. Security guards are posted outside these stores. Unlike other stores, in lingerie stores privacy concerns far outweigh those of theft, and security cameras are nonexistent. One of these customer service agents Fatimah Hawsawi said: “As Centrepoint has had female cashiers for almost a year so it was not hard to have someone staff the lingerie area. Female staff take turns every few hours to take care of the lingerie section. It's a nice change from staying in one spot all day.” Aziz Mall security guard Hamdan Hamid said there has not been any change in the security procedures. He said: “We've been doing our job as always and the existence of the women in lingerie stores hasn't brought any threats with it. Most husbands usually don't even enter with their wives and just stay outside or enter to pay and leave.” Some of the lingerie shops have requested security guards on their watch but Hamid admits they have not been provided yet. Hamid is glad that new opportunities have opened for females and now members of his own family work in the same mall as him. “I'm truly happy my wife and two sisters have found a job here and I don't have to worry about them because we both work in the same place which makes their transportation and security issues easier,” he said. Other large department stores such as Debenhams's and Centrepoint have restricted their lingerie areas to females only and appointed female customer service staff to insure no males enter. __
