The Discreet Ghosts of Tiffany

This jewelry and silverware company was founded in New York City in 1837. Death has not prevented the Astors, the Vanderbilts, the Posts, the Huttons and the Morgans from patronizing this store on their new ethereal plane. The clerks are too discreet to mention that their old customers are now ghosts. How they pay for this jewelry remains an unsolved mystery! The store at 259 Worth Avenue east of Hibiscus Avenue N is no different.

The month of December accounts for 80% of most stores’ revenue for the entire year. People are shopping in store or online to find the perfect gift, and hoping that the items they ordered arrive on time. The holidays are hectic everywhere, and it’s no different on the Island. Stores often hire additional staff to assist in the December rush, and Tiffany’s is no different. It is also expected that occasionally no matter how much customer service you are trying to provide, some people still aren’t happy. And that’s where our story begins…..

Every December 20th at 4 pm, a lady arrives at Tiffany’s to pick up a locket. She is dressed to the nines in a vintage Chanel suit. She is swept up in an updo, and she is on a mission. She is here to pick up a locket she ordered that has arrived. She picks a temporary sales associate and sends on a mission of futility. There is no locket. The sales associate will spend quite a few minutes looking through all the packages trying to find the locket. He or she will sheepishly walk out and inform the lady that they are unable to find what she is describing, and to be honest, no one under the name she shared has placed an order.

Chaos then ensues. This particular customer doesn’t like being told no and she definitely doesn’t the inference that maybe she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. The woman then proceeds to berate the poor temporary Tiffany’s sales staff member into checking again. When the sales associate who has spent even more time checking for the “lost” holiday gift finally emerges from back with their hung low expecting another verbal lashing, she is gone.

The manager gently informs the associate who is clearly shaken by this experience and fearful of losing their position that the lady has been coming into the store for over 50 years at the same time. The permanent long term staff assumes that she must have died right before she picked up the gift. This is her “unfinished” business. The management has tried to intervene on the associates behalf but the spirit doesn’t seem to see them. She tends to set her sights on the lowly part time holiday help to do her bidding.

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