I'm writing a scene at a mall in Washington state in 1999, and the main character has an associate named Owen who can always tell when he's being lied to, in any sense of the word. This includes lying by omission or even just speaking falsehoods with no intention of deception (acting, singing song lyrics that don't apply to you, or even in some cases hyperbole). Owen hates the main character (mostly because he has immunity to Owen's lie detection and thus Owen has serious trust issues with him), and I had the idea that maybe my main character would be trying to curry favor with Owen by getting him something from a place at the mall he likes the stuff from, but can't stand shopping at, because all of the employees of the place are constantly in-character in accordance with the theme of the place. I know tons of themed shops and restaurants and the like exist, but I'm drawing a blank on any specific ones, especially ones that would be found in Washington in 1999. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
I wouldn't expect Washington to be special in this regard. You could probably make up a shop. I've never heard of retail stores where the employees are always in character; even in Leavenworth they don't pretend to be Bavarians. You might be able to go with the gift shop of a living history museum, or something like that. I think I'm the only active member of this forum from Washington so you might not get many specific answers.
