Maggie Lane

The following multimedia package was produced for “Documentary Photojournalism” during my senior year. This piece was produced following the Woodall Weekend Workshop, a workshop where the students in the class spent a weekend in Greensboro, Georgia documenting life in Greene County. It includes a video package, a collection of still images, and a short feature story.

Elaine Vickery (left), 73, assistant manager of Maggie Lane, from Commerce, Georgia, and Margaret Merchant (right), 68, manager of Maggie Lane, from Waycross, Georgia, pose for a portrait in Maggie Lane in Downtown Greensboro, Georgia, on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Greene County, Georgia. Merchant has been the manager of this location for three years; previously, she worked in education for 35 years before retiring. Vickery has worked for Maggie Lane for one and a half years; previously, she worked in management before retiring. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Elaine Vickery, 73, assistant manager of Maggie Lane, from Commerce, Georgia, sweeps the floor of the store before it opens on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Greensboro, Georgia. She glances into the mirror in the dressing room. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Margaret Merchant, 68, manager of Maggie Lane, from Waycross, Georgia, tags an article of clothing on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Greensboro, Georgia. Merchant has been the manager of this location for three years, and some of her jobs include tagging clothes, steaming clothes and deciding where to arrange the merchandise around the store. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Elaine Vickery (left), 73, assistant manager of Maggie Lane, from Commerce, Georgia, and Margaret Merchant (right), 68, manager of Maggie Lane, from Waycross, Georgia, talk with one another before the store opens on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Greensboro, Georgia. The two have been working together for one and a half years. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Elaine Vickery, 73, assistant manager of Maggie Lane, from Commerce, Georgia, fills out a coupon card to send to frequent customers on Friday, March 23, 2018, in Greensboro, Georgia. She says the shoppers are very excited to recieve these in the mail, and it often brings them back to the store to shop. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Leanne Dellatorre (left), 54, fine wine consultant, from Watkinsville, Georgia, looks at a necklace with the help of Margaret Merchant (right), 68, manager of Maggie Lane, from Waycross, Georgia, on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Greensboro, Georgia. Dellatorre came to Maggie Lane to do some shopping before the Lake Oconee Food and Wine Festival. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Margaret Merchant, 68, manager of Maggie Lane, from Waycross, Georgia, helps Lucy Fambrough, 82, retired, from Watkinsville, Georgia, pick out an outfit on Friday, March, 23, 2018, in Maggie Lane in Greensboro, Georgia. The outfit happens to be the same one that is on the mannequin outside of her dressing room. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Patti Faulkner (left), 53, stay at home worker, from Watkinsville, Georgia, and Margaret Merchant (right), 68, manager of Maggie Lane, from Waycross, Georgia, help Lucy Fambrough, 82, retired, from Watkinsville, Georgia, pick out an outfit on Friday, March, 23, 2018, in Maggie Lane in Greensboro, Georgia. Lucy is a frequent customer of Maggie Lane and is also Pattie’s mother. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Linda Edmiston, 65, nurse anesthetist, from Greensboro, Georgia, looks at a scarf in Maggie Lane on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Greensboro, Georgia. She was just in the store the day before, and she returned the next day. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Elaine Vickery, 73, assistant manager of Maggie Lane, from Commerce, Georgia, hands a customer a bag after completing a transaction on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Greensboro, Georgia. The pink shopping bag is iconic at Maggie Lane. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Margaret Merchant, 68, manager of Maggie Lane, from Waycross, Georgia, helps two customers with a transaction on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Greensboro, Georgia,: Joy Simpson (left), 47, retired, from Gainesville, Georgia, and Haley Simpson (right), 21, office assistant manager at Simpson Trucking and Grading, from Gainesville, Georgia. The women have a hunting farm in Greene County, and they were shopping while Joy Simpson’s husband was turkey hunting. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Elaine Vickery (left), 73, assistant manager of Maggie Lane, from Commerce, Georgia, hands Sherrell Robbins (right), 52, Greene County school system employee and a server at Silver Moon, from Greensboro, Georgia, a bag after completing a transaction on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Greensboro, Georgia. The pink shopping bag is iconic at Maggie Lane. “This is the best place to shop for women’s clohing and acessories in Greene County,” says Robbins. “I wouldn’t shop anywhere else.” (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Bettye Scott, 59, an employee at Greene County High School, from Greensboro, Georgia, leaves the Maggie Lane Boutique in Downtown Greensboro, Georgia, with her shopping bag in hand on Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Greene County, Georgia. “Ms. Margaret is awesome. She makes the store, and without her there, it would be impossible,” says Scott. (Photo/Marlee A. Middlebrooks, mam94237@uga.edu)

Margaret and Elaine: The Faces Behind Greensboro’s Maggie Lane
By Marlee Middlebrooks

Maggie Lane, a boutique offering clothing and accessories to the women of Greene County Georgia, specifically Downtown Greensboro, is known for its outstanding customer service. Margaret Merchant, manager, from Waycross, Georgia and Elaine Vickery, assistant manager, from Commerce, Georgia connect with nearly every woman that walks through the front doors.

“Customer service is paramount at Maggie Lane because we like to have our customers know that whenever they need something, they can think of us,” says Merchant. “In an effort to build a relationship with the customer and to earn their trust, Elaine [Vickery] and I both focus on remembering who the customer is and remembering details about their life that they tell us through their shopping experience here at Maggie Lane.”

Maggie Lane has two locations, one in Eatonton, Georgia and one in Greensboro, Georgia. Merchant and Vickery are the only two full-time employees at the Greensboro location; therefore, they get to know the customers well. The store is open Monday through Saturday, and the women see many of the same customers.

“Getting to know all of your customers and getting to know something personal about them gives you a better base as to what you need to do to help them when they come in,” says Vickery. “You know what their selections would be, and they have confidence in you.”

Merchant and Vickery believe that in their time working at Maggie Lane, they have created bonds with the residents and shoppers of Greene County, and the feeling is mutual. Kita Battle-Bryant, a domestic engineer, from Greensboro, Georgia says when referencing Merchant and Vickery, that she “comes in all the time to check on the young ladies.”

Another frequent Maggie Lane shopper and Greene County High School employee Bettye Scott says, “I’m here every day…every weekend it looks like. Ms. Margaret [Merchant] is awesome. She makes the store, and without her there, it would be impossible.”

Merchant and Vickery work together well to complete everything that it takes to manage the boutique from exemplary customer service to finishing behind the scenes tasks such as tagging and steaming clothes, arranging merchandise and creating displays.

They have built a comrade with one another and with their clientele that is important to maintain and uphold. Merchant says the two of them have so much fun with one another and with their customers.

“The women in Greensboro—they depend on us. We’ve got them through a lot of experiences,” says Vickery. “I just enjoy coming to work because I know it’s going to be a good experience—the day is going to be a good day. I wouldn’t trade it for anything right now.”

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