Safe? Or not?
6 replies (most recent on top)
There were hints in January some layoffs were coming, via attrition, including perhaps ASM, corporate wide. I also heard a few weeks ago before the layoffs that our SM (who in October suddenly out of the blue quit) was one of 3 SM who quit at the same time, then the DM was fired which I learned sometime after the fact. It seemed that my SM manager and perhaps the others saw the handwriting on the wall in the face of the Amazon juggernaut. My SM was one of the best, if not the best our store ever had, a pleasure to work for him.
Another irony is the past 3 years, I noticed the quality of the staff and management rise to a very high level -- far better/higher than in my earlier years when the quality of the hires was very uneven with some toxic personalities thrown in -- although that said, in those years BN was more robust, meaning prior to about 2010. In those year years, even though a smaller store, we could rack up gross sales of 60-90K per day during the peak Holiday season. Those numbers were out of reach late last year and have been for some time. But my store is a small foot-print store the kind that BN now says it wants to move to and may do that in the near future after closing a lot of stores which have a higher overhead. I would suppose the strategy of opening stores with restaurants/wine/beer will be put on hold or abandoned. How could they continue to be that ambitious in the current situation?
Also the music departments generate few sales and many have wondered if they would be eliminated which might happen now. Perhaps the expanded product line will be severely contracted in favor of more books as promised -- but will that be enough to make a difference?
One other irony is that in our District, landlords asking for more money or seeking more money with other tenants already had forced the closure of 5 stores in our district. If your store has signed a lease recently you may be safe. 10 year leases are frequently the case, but there might be a wide variation. I have heard one nearby store pay zero rent and I am inclined to believe it because it is enormous but with very poor foot traffic.
As for the layoffs which stunned me, my view which is shared by other PTers is that it is hard to see how our store which has a smaller than usual receiving area can cope with big shipments --without an RM. I suppose one of the ASM is the most vulnerable now. The plan is to now hire more PTers -- but with a booming economy and no promise (as someone has noted) of advancement to FT or a career, this corporate decision has put the store managers in a tough position when trying to find better hires. The fact that we are a smaller store with a smaller overhead. which makes it easier to reach targets, we might survive for as long BN survives. Time will tell.
I am a PT and content with the few hours I am given, and probably can hang on for a time. The work load will increase unless they follow through with a new wave of hiring. I doubt if the 3 FT persons let go will seek to come back for far fewer hours, and one was a CW Lead who racked up a lot of memberships.
It is probable as some have speculated that a wave of store closings is likely in the coming months.
This will be a huge blow to the book industry which depends on BN -- the last place now to show case books and give publishers/authors to arrange book signings etc. -- As for the magazine industry BN is just about the last place (given the closure of old-style newsstands which are virtually extinct in many cities) where you can find an impressive array of magazines.
I have been lucky to work PT for many years, and grow intellectually in the midst of so many books that I would never have known about otherwise, but I am a much older person - like two of the three persons we lost. And it is not just persons being lost it is the spirit of a bookstore because of the decision to try other product lines in the stores which once again the current BN leadership has said will be contracted to refocus on books. I have seen no evidence of that so far, but hope for the best.
All in all, the layoffs are a sign that more broadly in our nation, the Dark Age Deepens. Anonymous
I'm a shelver and for now it seems like I am safe. That may or may not mean anything but it does seem that this move has actually helped us shelvers out a bit because (a) the merch managers now are stuck doing the recieiving (in addition to all the projects) so that means stuff still needs to be shelved and (b) most of us shelvers are also the back up receiver so that means we pick up the slack when the merch folks can't keep up. That said, I figure that I am safe (along with other part timers) until stores start to close which means more layoffs but even then, I'm feeling somewhat confident b/c I figure the next round hits the children's and café leads and probably forces stores to go to one ASM. of course, I am updating my resume and getting it out as I write this but take it for what it is.
one of the previous posts had a SM talking about it. the quarterly calls have included a lot of information about the real estate of the stores and leases, and laying people off in the 4th quarter coupled with taking inventory of all the stores is apparently a standard practice when preparing for closures. as the new fiscal year starts they'll probably be closing a lot of 'underperforming' stores (not that anyone can perform well when their staff and operations are gutted by layoffs)
Hey @byp when you say stores will close in April or May - how do you know that?
safe until stores start closing, probably in april or may. look for new jobs now.
safe until stores start closing, probably in april or may. look for new jobs now.
I think we are OK - PT anyway