Sometimes, just a spoonful of sweetness helps the bad news go down.
If that's true, then employees at a soon-to-be-closed Target store in Ajax, Ont. received three spoonfuls of it this week, when three "princesses" came by to comfort them ahead of its closure.
Simone Barnard runs Princess Parties By Simone, a business in which she dresses up as a number of characters and performs at kids' parties.
She and two co-workers brought a little happiness to Target workers when they visited the chain's Kingston Road location in full princess costumes on Thursday.
Check out photos of the princesses' visit to a Target store in Ajax, Ont.:
"Princesses" Comfort Target Employees At Soon-To-Be-Closed Store
Barnard came up with the idea after seeing a post on a Facebook group that talked about the difficulties that employees were facing as the store underwent a liquidation sale, she told The Huffington Post Canada.
Users posted photos of a messy store and relayed incidents in which employees were being treated poorly by frustrated customers.
"I thought, wouldn't it be awesome if a bunch of us went in and cleaned together," Barnard told HuffPost.
But then she had another idea: why not come dressed as one of the princess characters she plays at parties?
Barnard, business co-owner Lauren Sears and one of their employees dressed up as princesses and visited the store, in an effort to "return some hope to the staff and community," she said in a Facebook post.
She also encouraged people to come by and bring thank you cards or gifts addressed to the staff.
Barnard said she and her fellow princesses were greeted with "lots of smiles," some teary eyes and a "couple of hugs" when they came to visit on Thursday.
"Management didn't look too happy, but the workers were very happy," she said.
Target is closing up shop in Canada after an unsuccessful foray into the Great White North. Liquidation sales at stores are seeing discounts of up to 60 per cent.
The Ajax location, along with several others, is set to close on April 2.
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