Mini-Brazil

I went around to Flo’s house last night to watch a recording of old episode of Inspector Morse before she taped over it. For you Morse fans out there it was the one with a double murder at a brewery; if you remember how it ended let me know – it was a 90 minute tape and a two hour episode.

Kirsty was there and, I think to take the heat off her mother as the Morse post mortem and recriminations began, she started talking about children’s clothing.

“There’s a real gap in the market, Doris,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked, because she’d said this completely out of the blue.

 “Children’s clothing. There’s nowhere really in Appleton Marsh that caters for children.”

“There’s Dancing in the Street,” I reminded her.

“Yes, but that’s dance wear,” she said. “I meant, there’s nowhere to go for normal clothing. You have to travel into Bovey or Tiverton and by the time you’ve got in your car you might as well go to Exeter.”

She was right. Appleton Marsh is not child-friendly. There are families with kids of course but the age demographic is skewed to the more mature.

“There used to be a children’s clothing shop, where C’est Cheese is, next to Tea Hees,” she reminded me.

“It was owned by a friend of Beryl’s; it was only open six months. She moved away.”

“You’re missing a trick, Doris,” said Kirsty. “Section a bit of your shop off for a few children’s key essentials and I bet you’d do well.”

“I don’t suppose there’s any harm in giving it a try,” chirped up Flo.

“Children’s clothing is not our core competency,” I told them both. “You have to stick to what you’re good at or, in our case, stick to what we’re very good at.”

“Just stock one or two items is all I’m saying Doris,” said Kirsty. “See how it goes. You never know, a customer comes in to buy some girl’s stockings, sees what else you have in the shop, one thing leads to another and…”

I cut her short by laughing over her.

“Kirsty, you’re just showing your inexperience,” I said. Leave fashion retail to the experts,” I said. “The day I decide to stock a Mini-Brazil range I promise, I will consult you,” I said.

“I’ve got an old episode of Two’s Company here,” said Flo, kneeling up from the video cabinet.

“Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden!” I said. “I used to love that.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” admitted Kirsty.

“Two’s Company was hilarious,” I told her. “It was like Fawlty Towers but much, much funnier.”

So that’s what we did. The three of us settled down to a Two’s Company-thon and the night was very enjoyable. I’ve never seen Kirsty laugh so much.