The magazine stand in my store is embarrassing. No one wants to help customers because old issues are there, it’s disorganized and frankly most of us know nothing about the section. Steady, loyal customers are disappearing from our store, fed up with the mess we’ve become. Morale here is non existent.... lots of booksellers call out because they just can’t take the disaster that our store has become. Sad to say,I’ve got an interview this coming week with Amazon. After 3 and a half years here I just can’t do it anymore.
4 replies (most recent on top)
Every store is different, and so is every story. The OP's cri de Coeur sounds very familiar to me, and I can well believe him/her. At my final store, we had extremely bad quality of life issues (many homeless coming in, d--g use in the restrooms, a couple of OD's, theft and vandalism in the parking lot, actual assaults occurring inside the store), to the point where I honestly felt fear, not so much for myself (although I certainly didn't want to end up with a shank in the ribs) but for my booksellers and customers. The stress just from that was enough to push me over the edge--compounding on that was pulling private security officers by the company to save money, short-staffing to a point of absurdity, and then finally Black Monday.
I certainly hope the OP's interview with Amazon goes well. I'll keep a good thought for you.
How can the management be good when the Café manager who had a glowing review from the DM walked out on the job, another Merch Manager left even more quickly and the receiving manager who has been with the company for years quit before the holidays and told no one why she really left.
And everyone there complains constantly about the stress and abuse.
Such a great place to work, huh?
This store goes through more employees than the restrooms go through toilet paper.
Sales are pretty solid in Boston, and we have a large footprint.
Management is good, and they do hire "book" people, which always
impresses me (staff get's along well, younger & older).
I felt like Christmas did better than expected, and i think a lot of it has to do
with expanding "Gift" and pushing Nook/Digital out of our big, front window
spot.
Expanding "Gift" was a savvy move, imo.
People love trinkets and things, i guess.
I feel like we have a strong team (management to staff), with creative ideas, i just
hope it's enough to sustain us a bit longer.
Where are you located? How is your store doing?