Model needed on Aisle 3

A Parisian remedy to Wal-Mart's sagging sales?

PARIS (Reuters Life!) - Male models wearing nothing but red underpants try on clothes for you . . . .

Male models in different heights, weights and shapes, clad in nothing but underwear, are offering to try on clothes for females instead of their shopping-averse husbands.

"It was a bit of a crazy idea," said Romain Martin, the founder of the Shoppenboys service, but he added that the half-naked models had helped spark sales at Celio shops.

"When people see the boys in their underwear, they want to make them try something on," he said, adding that some 2,000 men had applied to become such husband-replacement models since the service was launched last year.

Consumer spending in France is solid compared to many of the country's European neighbors. - Boys in briefs perk up Paris shopping

Umm, not necessarily the American solution we want to see if this is the model pool . . . .

(Best Syndication) Despite public health efforts to help Americans lose weight, the obesity rate rose in 31 states last year, according to the “Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America” report by Trust for America's Health (TFAH), a non-profit health information organization. For 21 of the states, it was the second year in a row that the obesity rate increased, and none of the states saw a decline. - Obesity rates in the US rising - Complete list by state