DKSuddeth
Senior Member
victorian attitude
HARTSVILLE Since February, they stood proud along Highway 25, their bottoms bare and chests showing, well, a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
Then, about three weeks ago, two people, one of them a customer, phoned the G&L Garden Center to say it was way too much and asked the owners to please move them around back.
But the statues weigh as much as 500 pounds each and are an ordeal to move. So owners Angie Langford and Pam Gregory came up with a different approach to customer service.
Nearly a dozen concrete statues are sporting crimson velvet two-piece sarongs as if Santa had a bikini team.
It's no joke or sarcastic statement.
''We didn't want to offend anyone, and we covered them up,'' said Langford, a resident of Hartsville.
She said she couldn't afford to ignore customers, even if she isn't exactly sure who they are.
Now, the attempt at maintaining the girls' roadside modesty is stopping traffic. And yes, some customers are peeking.
''They are pulling the tops and looking underneath,'' Langford said. ''They wonder what we're hiding.''
It's hard to find people who are offended in Hartsville.
Across the street from the garden center, workers at Hartsville Gas have full view of the garden center, including the statues.
''I guess some people just don't appreciate art,'' said gas technician Brad Smith, shaking his head.
HARTSVILLE Since February, they stood proud along Highway 25, their bottoms bare and chests showing, well, a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
Then, about three weeks ago, two people, one of them a customer, phoned the G&L Garden Center to say it was way too much and asked the owners to please move them around back.
But the statues weigh as much as 500 pounds each and are an ordeal to move. So owners Angie Langford and Pam Gregory came up with a different approach to customer service.
Nearly a dozen concrete statues are sporting crimson velvet two-piece sarongs as if Santa had a bikini team.
It's no joke or sarcastic statement.
''We didn't want to offend anyone, and we covered them up,'' said Langford, a resident of Hartsville.
She said she couldn't afford to ignore customers, even if she isn't exactly sure who they are.
Now, the attempt at maintaining the girls' roadside modesty is stopping traffic. And yes, some customers are peeking.
''They are pulling the tops and looking underneath,'' Langford said. ''They wonder what we're hiding.''
It's hard to find people who are offended in Hartsville.
Across the street from the garden center, workers at Hartsville Gas have full view of the garden center, including the statues.
''I guess some people just don't appreciate art,'' said gas technician Brad Smith, shaking his head.
