"How many of you are in the Sparkle Department?"

At Recovery's Dawn
Behind the Numbers and the Euphemisms Lie Some Messy Realities
(snip)
First, Kmart said no. Then Old Navy. Then Fashion Bug. Then Sally's Beauty Supply. On it went, month after month, as companies kept shedding workers. Even the dollar stores said no. And then, in November, when the economy added 57,000 jobs, Bronner's said yes, and here Hill is, in an information session for new employees, being reintroduced to the working world.

In comes the personnel director, who says to Hill and 13 other new hires that Bronner's received 2,000 applications this year. "You are definitely the cream of the crop," she says. "You are top-notch."

In comes the marketing director to emphasize what's expected of them. "All of you are walking, talking commercials for Bronner's," she says. "Are the bathrooms clean? Is the building clean? Whatever they see, that's their impression of Bronner's."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62464-2003Dec13.html