I got out 3 years ago. Saw the writing on the wall years before, went back to school and moved on to a new industry.
When I gave notice, I was treated horribly and told I was not eligible for rehire. I had 15 years experience. I had been a Cafe Manager and a Receiving Manager. I had opened 2 new stores.
The new labor model has me perplexed after reading a story where the CEO is quoted as saying that customers enjoy the human interaction with booksellers.
In my last few years, I could see that the upkeep of the stores was being sacrificed, it was increasingly difficult to find and keep good employees, our starting wage wasn’t competitive.
Bookselling is a different kind of retail. It’s not like The Gap or Target. I can’t walk into The Gap and get that hot blue shirt that was popular back in the summer of 2006. Selling books requires a knowledge and skill that is vastly different from selling black t-shirts.
I don’t see how BN survives without that knowledgeable sales force.
That being said, this layoff hit me like a ton of bricks. Multiple friends with DECADES of experience and loyalty - poof! Gone! Had I stayed, I would have been gone too.
There’s a message that corporate America is missing here. The shareholders got their bits. Most of the big holders have never shelved a book in their lives. Most of them aren’t wondering how they’re going to feed or insure their families.
BN sold out the heart of the company to satisfy its shareholders.
Maybe a message needs to be sent. I don’t know. Maybe a mass “zoning” war on all the stores? Plan a day where former employees go into stores and cause some havoc. Not trashing the stores but y’all know what you can do to those shelves that will cause some havoc. A little “re-alphabetizing” here, some “reshelving” there. A bit of re-merching.
I know what you’re thinking: why punish the ones who are left? But let’s just say it was a coordinated event on a specific day in as many stores as possible.
What if say, 80-85% of SMs reported the need for massive recovery at the same time?