The Joy Of Leasing

 

For chief executive officers in search of the well-heeled corporate look, a number of leasing services are turning up across the country that will get you to the boardroom in style.

My mother the CEO. For the pregnant executive who shudders at the thought of pulling on the same dowdy maternity dress day after day, Donna Smith, president of Pro/Creations in Milwaukie, Ore., offers her own miracle of birth: rented executive maternity wardrobes.

For about $100 a month, corporate mothers-to-be can put life into their office looks with custom-made suits, jackets, blouses, and jumpers. Smith urges every expectant mother to consider the ill effect that nine months' worth of overworn chemises can have on a woman's office clout. "There've been studies done that indicate diminished respect from colleagues if a woman wears the same clothes over and over while she's pregnant," says Smith. Ah, the trials of motherhood.

High gear. If you work in New York City, you may never have to drive the family station wagon to toney business lunches again. Credit Car Leasing Inc., in New York City, founded by Elaine Litwer, specializes in choice automobiles that will wow clients and competitors alike. The company's lot is filled with everything from Rolls Royces to Maseratis and Excaliburs, available for the taxdeductible price of about $2,700 a month. The more expensive models, those that retail for over $25,000, are delivered to clients with a bottle of Dom Perignon and a bouquet of flowers in the driver's seat. The less expensive cars only rate a bottle of Moet & Chandon.

Rent-a-rug. For two years, Ron Patrois, president of Aristocrat Hair Replacement Specialists in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has been offering his customers the option of leasing their toupees. Under his Lease-a-Piece agreement, a customer pays a deposit of $250 and then $40 a month for a custom-made hairpiece that can he replaced after one year- Patrois complains that too often men wear toupees for up to three years with hardly a thought of turning them in for a new coif. "By that time" he says, "the thing looks like a dead animal. Patrois is now working out a franchise agreement in Los Angeles with other U.S. locations soon to follow: "I want to be the McDonald's of the hairpiece business," he says.