About once a year, I end up writing a column about staffing problems at antiques malls. Most antique mall operators rely upon sweat equity from the vendors in order to be open regularly. Every dealer in the mall is expected to take a turn working the counter one or more days a week. The issue with this approach is how they are trained. In retail, a well trained staff is a primary goal. Customer service is what turns the dime. All of us can reflect upon a great store employee who perhaps coaxed us to buy something above and beyond what we were thinking. The flip side is the poorly trained employee who has no clue about their job and especially about how to handle the public. The results can be disastrous and, more to the point, can reputationally hurt a mall. My two stories, no names given, are both true and were witnessed by me in the last two months. First was the mall in southern New Jersey, where two employees (both male) stood at the counter and started playing with and talking loudly about items that customers had brought up to set there while they were still shopping. One item, an electric light, they actually set up and plugged in while the unknowing customer continued to look around. The mall was full and while no one was at the counter at that moment, I would respectfully suggest that having someone on the floor offering to help guests would have been a better use of their time. No damage was done, but folksits bad manners to play with someones stuff. I am not sure they would have liked two grocery store employees coming up and picking up their loaf of bread out of the cart and playing with and talking about it before checking out. The second story is a bit more insidious and one that sets my teeth on edge every time it happens. Our family was visiting a small co-op in Lancaster County, Pa., and we were the only people in the mall. Two employees were working that day, and they both followed us, never speaking, through our visit. They were not subtle as they stood in other booths with arms crossed staring at us. They followed us through the empty mall until we made our purchases. To add insult to injury, another mall dealer came in while we were waiting to leave and proceeded to grill my youngest daughter as to what she was doing there--tacky, unneeded and clearly the result of an owner or manager whose paranoia has infected the mall. I certainly respect the need by mall owners to protect against theft, but this was over the top. If the mall wants to welcome younger buyers, perhaps it needs to stop assuming they are all crooks. And, as an aside, I would be incredibly curious to know what the malls security protocol was if they actually saw someone stealing. Were they going to go physically tackle the offender? I somehow doubt that was covered. So here is my spring rant to the antiques mall owners. Train and supervise your staff. Its your name and reputation that is at stake! Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth of antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.