She tried to imagine what it would be like to have worked fifteen years in Frankenberg's department store and found that she was unable to.
-- Narrator (In the head of Therese) (chapter 1 paragraph 3)

Importance: Readers see Therese's dissatisfaction with her current station in life as soon as they meet her. Working in the department store is a dead-end job that can turn into a dead-in life for some if they never marry and have to support themselves. Such women work at such stores until they got married. They work there forever if they never do. Therese wants something more for herself.

This was she, not the girl in the dull plaid skirt and the beige sweater, not the girl who worked in the doll department at Frankenberg's.
-- Narrator (in the head of Therese) (chapter 1 paragraph 5)

Importance: This quote points to how Therese sees herself and shows how disappointed she is working at the department store. She feels that her identity is not to be someone who blends in...