Read the text below, a ccording to the writer, Smithson's profits started rising three years ago because of ________________________ Department Store Magic For most of the 20 th century Smithson's was one of Britain's most successful department stores , but by the mid -1990 s , it had become dull . Still profitable , thanks largely to a series of successful advertising campaigns , but decidedly boring . The famous were careful not to be seen there , and its sales staff didn't seem to have changed since the store opened in 1908. Worst of all , its customers were buying fewer and fewer of its own - brand products , the major part of its business , and showing a preference for more fashionable brands . But now all this has changed , thanks to Rowena Baker , who became Smithson's first woman Chief Executive three years ago . Since then , while most major retailers in Britain have been losing money , Smithson's profits have been rising steadily . When Baker started , a lot of improvements had just been made to the building , without having any effect on sales , and she took the bold decision to invite one of Europe's most exciting interior designers to develop the fashion area , the heart of the store . This very quickly led to rising sales , even before the goods on display were changed . And as sales grew , so did profits . Baker had ambitious plans for the store from the start . 'We're playing a big game , to prove we're up there with the leaders in our sector , and we have to make sure people get that message . Smithson's had fallen behind the competition . It provided a traditional service targeted at middle - aged , middle - income customers , who'd been shopping there for years , and the customer base was gradually contracting . Our idea is to sell such an exciting variety of goods that everyone will want to come in , whether they plan to spend a little or a lot . ' Baker's vision for the store is clear , but achieving it is far from simple . At first , many employees resisted her improvements because they just wouldn't be persuaded that there was anything wrong with the way they'd always done things , even if they accepted that the store had to overtake its competitors . It took many long meetings , involving the entire workforce , to win their support . It helped when they realised that Baker was a very different kind of manager from the ones they had known . Baker's staff policies contained more surprises . The uniform that had hardly changed since day one has now disappeared . Moreover , teenagers now get young shop assistants , and staff in the sports departments are themselves sports fans in trainers . As Baker explains , 'How can you sell jeans if you're wearing a black suit ? Smithson's has a new identity , and this needs to be made clear to the customers . ' She's also given every sales assistant responsibility for ensuring customer satisfaction , even if it means occasionally breaking company rules in the hope that this will help company profits . Rowena Baker is proving successful , but the City's big investors haven't been persuaded . According to retail analyst , John Matthews , 'Money had already been invested in refurbishment of the store and in fact that led to the boost in sales . She took the credit , but hadn't done anything to achieve it . And in my view the company's shareholders are not convinced . The fact is that unless she opens several more stores pretty soon , Smithson's profits will start to fall because turnover at the existing store will inevitably start to decline .