WHEN Mrs Tan Boon Hwa needs help in a department store, she does not crane her neck for a young, trendy salesman.
Instead, she looks out for silver-haired sales staff who are more 'approachable, courteous and friendly', she says.
A regular at Metro Paragon, the 52-year- old housewife often shops at the Joan Allen and Ann Kelly sections for clothes.
The sales staff there, she says, are around her age and know her so well that they take note of her tastes and even inform her when new designs arrive.
It is this warm, personal level of service that is giving older sales workers a good name in the competitive retail industry.
LifeStyle found that a large number of workers in four out of five major department stores here are aged above 40.
Robinsons and Takashimaya each has 60 per cent of its retail staff in their 40s and above. Metro and Isetan each has more than 40 per cent, while Tangs has 20 per cent.
Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.
