Reeds Jewelers know they were loved and appreciated." By 1979, Reeds Jewelers maintained two dozen retail outlets. Alan Zimmer joined Reeds Jewelers as executive vice president in 1981 and took charge of merchandising. He officially became president and CEO in 1985. In December 1986 Reeds Jewelers held its initial public offering on The NASDAQ Stock Market, trading under the symbol REEDS. Over the next decade Reeds acquired Dreifus Jewelry Company of Memphis, a nineteen store chain in the Southeast and Midwest, and Gray's Jewelers, Inc., a five store chain based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1995 Reeds Jewelers purchased Melart Jewelers, a mid-Atlantic
How Many Licks? and a bling accessary". Lil' Kim and Sisqó also exchange pick-up lines during the song. The chorus refers to the advertising slogan for Tootsie Pops ("How many licks does it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll centre of a Tootsie Pop?"), and ties sexuality to consumerism according to media studies professor Scott Wilson. For the track's remix, Lil' Kim associates her rapping abilities with oral sex: "Ya neva seen this stroke of genius / [I] put tha cleanest, meanest lips on ya penis!" She is also noted to popularize the word "gangstress" which she had previously used in "Spend