The Smile behind the Sales Counter: Soviet Shop Assistants on the Road to Full Communism

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the role of sales assistants in Soviet retail trade in the 1960s, who were overwhelmingly female. It investigates the causes of and remedies for what was widely perceived to be rude and grudging service. Soviet customers and officials felt entitled to a positive consumer experience, and managers and trade union officials agonized over the ways to promote and incentivize “service with a smile.” In addition to the poor performance of Soviet manufacturing, which produced goods that were difficult to sell, other factors included poor training and minimal education, low prestige, and low pay. This article also highlights the continuities in retail sales culture from the 1920s to the 1960s but emphasizes the increasing role assigned to “emotional labor” as important and necessary work by sales workers.