Stuff It's wants them, Serendipity asks for them, and Emack and Bolio's will take them "dead or alive".

And, ironically enough, it's not customers these stores are seeking urgently--it's employees.

At a time when Massachusetts unemployment rates are the lowest in the country, standing at 3.9 percent as compared with the national rate of 7 percent, such stores in Harvard Square as Brigham's, Store 24, Pennsylvania Clothes, Wild Tops, Crimson and Clover Florists, and Herrell's Ice Cream are desperate to find workers.

Try The Crimson Next Time

Complains David Malekpour, manager of Emack and Bolio's ice cream store, "This is the time of year when people already have jobs."

Malekpour said the shop has had a help wanted sign up for the past two weeks and that he had advertised in the Boston Globe and the Phoenix with no success.

"The people we do get applications from are the kind of people with no references or stable work backgrounds," he said, adding that hiring has been lagging for the past three months.

Suzanne Engels, manager of The Cambridge Shop, agreed, saying "We've been short-staffed since August. This is worse than it's ever been. We get lots of students working nights and weekends, but we need a full time salesperson."

The Llama Shop, on the other hand, desperately needs part-time employees, said owner Edgar Thompson. According to Thompson, "We always need part time help, but this year it's more extreme. In the past we had a few applications, but now we have none."

Thompson said that at a recent meeting of the Harvard Square Business Association "everybody reported having difficulties getting help--forget good help."

Thompson and Bert Gillman, owner of the Stock Pot, expressed basically the same opinion, saying that the high school, college, and graduate students they usually employ are "working in high-tech areas or are getting higher allowances."

Peter Johnston, manager of the Galeria mall's Janus Cinema, also reported hiring difficulty. He said he has advertised in the Globe and the Phoenix as well, but is having trouble because he cannot offer more than minimum wage.