As all card retailers know, getting the right staff to provide a top level of customer service is key. Shop in the Square, a card and gift shop in Wolverhampton clinched a team member with a few extra talents – as Hollywood actress Beanie Feldstein got behind the counter with a different motivation to most shop assistants. The reason being she needed to perfect a Black Country accent to take a lead role in a new film, How To Build A Girl, based on a semi-autobiographical novel written by columnist Caitlin Moran.
Beanie spent two weeks working in the Wolverhampton’s store as a sales assistant, where she was tasked with speaking in a Black Country accent to serve customers, as The news was picked up by the media. As well as appearing in The Times (of which Caitlin Moran is a columnist), it also featured on the most recent BBC Radio 4 Sunday morning news magazine programme, Broadcasting House hosted by Paddy O’Connell which saw the Shop in the Square’s Rebecca Forster appear on air.
As Rebecca revealed: “The first week Beanie could not fool anyone, but by the end of of the second week she was really getting it. We told her a few key phrases, such as calling people ‘Bab’ and ‘cock’ and ensuring her voice goes down at the end of the sentence.” As Caitlin Moran, commented: “She’s done an absolutely ‘bostin’ – amazing – job!”
Shop in the Square, which first opened its doors in 2013 as a pop up shop, with funding from the Portas Pilot and High Street Innovation Funds, is a community interest, not for profit company. It supports a wide range of 30 local micro businesses in the creative industries sector, all of whom create unique handmade gifts and cards.
Top: Shop in the Square in Wolverhampton.
