Who knew Queer Eye for the Straight Guy would be the TV hit of the year -- making it a perfect advertising vehicle for any retailer eager to sell fashionable clothes, gourmet food, upscale liquor and tasteful home furnishings? The owners of Stuff certainly didn't. In their Brookside store, sisters Sloane and Casey Simmons sell very cool artwork, jewelry, home accessories and other knickknacks, much of it made by locals. So when we saw their ad on Queer Eye -- the one announcing that Stuff celebrates individuality and embraces diversity -- we cheered like Carson wielding a Jiffy Steamer. We were proud that an independently owned hometown business was supporting the whole Queer Eye phenomenon. Sloane Simmons, who says she doesn't watch TV, tells us the Queer Eye ad had already been running on Time-Warner Cable programs for a year. "About mid-July, we just kept hearing little snippets here and there from friends about the show. At my own birthday party in late July, I kept hearing people saying, CEOh, my God -- did you see this show? It's hysterical: Five gay guys tell these straight guys what to do.'" A couple of days later, Sloane says, Stuff got a note from its Time-Warner ad rep suggesting they buy some time on the program. This was, Sloane says, "before it just went crackers." The response has been unbelievable. "People stop us in the parking lot of the bank telling us they saw it," she says of Stuff's ad. "We didn't go out looking to hit a particular market with a particular show -- we're not that fancy. Before we knew it, by the first of August it was the hottest thing in pants. I don't know if we've noticed an increase in business, but we've noticed people mentioning it. People talk to us about it, and that's amazing." Hey, we're not surprised. Hot show, hot Stuff.