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CHARLESTON -- Anyone who thinks customer service is outdated might find a visit to Scruples in Kanawha City enlightening.
Scruples, which is owned by sisters Patricia Sherman-Lilly and Annette Sherman, is a women's clothing store that puts a big emphasis on personal customer service.
It is one of two businesses in Charleston owned by members of the Sherman family.
The other is Chesapeake Hagel Bakery, which is owned by Lisa and Carol Sherman, Patricia's and Annette's sisters.
A description of Scruples would include the words "somewhat upscale," Sherman-Lilly said.
"We cater to moderate to upscale pricing," she said. "Its not all upscale. You can get an outfit in here for 89, and you can get an outfit in here for $100. So we try to have a nice array of price ranges."
Scruples celebrated its fourth year in Charleston in April. One of the factors that makes the business unique is that the owners try not to have the same clothes everyone else is selling.
"Basically what we try to do is have things that are unique and women shop here because we have unique things," Sherman-Lilly said. "They don't come here a lot of times just to find something they might wear everyday to the grocery store or something like that.
"We have found that when we get off balance and we shop and we buy things that aren't unique, we don't sell them," she said.
"We do a lot of accessories," Sherman said. "We don't buy department store lines. We're just considered a specialty shop."
Scruples also stocks items in much smaller quantities so customers can be assured they won't walk out of the shop and see someone wearing exactly the same outfit.
"We buy lines that we can buy ones, twos and threes of," Sherman said.
Being a specialty shop, Scruples has to provide customers with something they can't find anywhere else, Sherman said. That was especially important early on, when the sisters started doing business in Charleston.
"We were basically unknowns here, so we've had to do a lot to promote this business," Sherman said. "For instance, we serve lunch every Thursday. I do the cooking. And it's gotten to be sort of a hangout...