Beauty by Louise Mensch

Author:Louise Mensch
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Contemporary Women, General
ISBN: 9780755358991
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2014-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Dina was in heaven.

Torch was humming. Every day the beauty department got a little bigger, expanded its floor space. Workmen mixed with the shoppers; there was yellow tape around the construction as she moved her territory forwards, and nobody seemed to mind.

New brands. Bigger stands. New products. More lights, mirrors and more blond wood.

She planned her days carefully: product selection, stock review, staff observations, new hirings, press releases – and at least three hours on the phone and email, working every girl in town.

The beauty bloggers were just the start.

Dina hit the editors, the beauty writers on magazines and the segment producers on local TV shows. She sent samples to personal shoppers for some of the biggest players in town. And she wrote all the press releases herself.

The result was a steady stream of good news. Once the blogs had moved on, Dina sent thank-you gifts. Torch’s name was posted on internet forums. There was a snippet in the Daily News, two minutes on ‘colours of spring’ for NY1 at breakfast and then small items appeared in the magazines. Suddenly Torch was a hot ticket.

Ludo was thrilled, and Dina finally had a boss who was backing her all the way.

‘These results are terrific,’ he said, after the first month. ‘I think you should take over the handbag space.’

‘Move into sunglasses. They can go upstairs.’

‘We don’t need jewellery on the ground floor.’

With every expansion, her stock rose. And Dina loved it. Ludo treated her with respect, paid her compliments, came and talked to her team. He gave her carte blanche on hirings and backed her to the hilt. As the cash registers rang and the shoppers poured in, he asked her to come up to his office, every morning.

‘You’re doing wonders.’

‘Thank you.’ She smiled at him, confidently.

‘I want to leverage the success for Torch. You’re right. I’m going to make a series of announcements in the business press. My name should be on the end of all press releases – let them come from the MD.’

Dina’s smile widened. ‘That’s great! Thank you, Ludo.’

‘You can draft them, just send them up to me and my office will sign them off and put them out. Emails to bloggers you can do yourself. I’m thinking about a social-media campaign, too.’

‘That would be incredible. We need to be all over Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr . . .’

‘It’s Torch, though – so your photo will be in there, along with the other department heads.’

Dina rolled her eyes a little; the other department heads seemed as wooden as planks to her. Whatever. The beauty department was making all the strides. Her team was hot, and the other store sectors wanted some of the magic they were creating. Dina understood reflected glory. Plus, at the moment they were jealous that the spotlight was on one person. Maybe she should share it around, soothe some wounded egos.

Looking on the bright side, if Ludo wanted all his senior people featured together, maybe they would bitch about her a little less.

‘Sure. Why not?’

‘I also want detailed notes on everything you’re doing.

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