A Christmas window display featuring naked female mannequins draped with garland has not filled everybody with holiday cheer.
"I find the display of undressed mannequins neither funny nor tasteful, not even creative; instead I find it disturbing and degrading," Murray resident Meralee Stallings wrote in a letter of complaint to Wasatch Furniture, 623 S. State. The store specializes in used and antique items.
Although she hesitated to call the display pornographic, Stallings did say during an interview with the Deseret News that such seemingly harmless displays can desensitize people.
"We sit back and titillate like it's light-hearted," she said. "This can lead to something else and then something else, until we have somebody molesting a 9-year-old."
Stallings said she sent the letter only because she wanted to make the furniture company consider its displays. She does not plan any additional action, such as picket lines or phone trees, to try to cover the mannequins.
Lou Barrett, the owner of Wasatch Furniture, has received two additional complaints about the display, although both of those came after he posted the letter inside his store and asked for customer comment. He never intended to offend anyone, he said. He only wanted to advertise that he had new items for sale: the mannequins.
"We bought the mannequins with a whole load of furniture, and we decided to market them as part of our Christmas display," Barrett said.
As with any Christmas display, Barrett said, he does not plan to take it down until after the yuletide season has ended. Unless, of course, all of the $50 mannequins sell, which is a distinct possibility. Already, two of the five mannequins have sold, and Barrett expects the remaining ones to move quickly.
Using a theme for the window display is not uncommon for the store. Last year the store featured movie-related items during the Sundance Film Festival, and it recently had a TV-oriented display after acquiring about 50 TV trays in an estate sale.
"It's usually a little weird or off-the-wall, depending on what we have in the store," he said. "It's meant to draw attention to the business."
The complaint about the mannequins is a first for Barrett, although not entirely out of the ordinary for businesses that use the plastic models. At The Limited, a women's clothing store in Crossroads Mall, families have complained about having to pass by the store while a mannequin — the abstract black armless variety — has gone full monty.
"It doesn't happen often, but we do get complaints," manager Melanie Bennett said. "Generally, we dress them in the morning, before the crowds, but sometimes a customer will want something off a mannequin, and that's when people will complain."
E-MAIL: jloftin@desnews.com