I keep hearing how part timers are bringing down BN. Let’s get something straight here. The company itself is what’s bringing it down. BN was on a downward spiral for years and laying off all the formers was just the icing on the cake. How the he-l can you blame part time employees who have been there for less than 2 years for the condition the company is in? You can’t! Stop picking on the booksellers that are currently there, they are trying to make a living regardless of how they feel about BN.
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middle managers and lots of part timers this has created a big productivity gap
Productivity with the middle Mgrs has been a long standing problem.Lots of “delegation “ to part timers and no accountability since the Merch Mgrs didn’t do it.
Corporate tried to address the issue by changing the management structure. When the layoffs happened Barnes and Noble was left with all their experienced staff in management, it was the main reason why they wanted to reform the management structure, they called it flattening the field. They would would eliminate the department manager position in favor of like a new lead position, key holder or whatever this would put the experience back on the sales floor and get more productivity out of the managers. Well turns out they got a lot of push back for this plan from those managers and have since backed off those plans. Their is technically only supposed to be two managers per store now, store manager and asm everyone else is a Key holder, or a lead or just a part time bookseller. But if you work at a Barnes and Noble you know nothing has really changed, to many middle managers and lots of part timers this has created a big productivity gap
I left after the revolving door of part timers arrived. Pathetically lacking in social skills. Drive customers away with horrible service.
Our store manager's idea of reading is In Touch magazine, this is what B&N has become. It's just another cr-p store that just happens to also have books at unaffordable prices.
I've had booksellers ask me, the customer, how to spell a word in a book title. That is unacceptable in any part of society, as an adult. I also know a person with two Master's degrees, can't spell words correctly and does not know what a lot of very basic stuff means. Down with BN, Daunt, Riggio.
The Part timers they added after 2018 is a never ending revolving door. No body wants to work. Nobody stays.
ObamaCare passed benefits laws that required people with over 30 hours to get benefits. You can thank Democrats for the massive move to part time in all of retail.
I’ll ask a bookseller a question just to see the “ deer in the headlights” look.
I do that too !
I go into my old store. Don’t know any of the newbies and I ask questions. Usually about classic Authors and they have no clue.once u asked about Edgar Allen Poe & was led to Sci Fi/ Fantasy. I went along. She looked under P & said they had no books by that Author. Did I want to order a specific book ?
This guy saying it’s not part timers fault is funny. Their lack of knowledge is laughable. I like to go in my local BN to browse magazines & leave a mess, like most customers. I’ll ask a bookseller a question just to see the “ deer in the headlights” look.
Karma is a wicked bi--h like our RM and hopefully all of upper mgt will get exactly what they deserve
Part timers don’t care and it’s destroyed the customer/ knowledgeable seller bond.
Absolutely! If BN cared , yes they would’ve been selective about who they hired to represent them in their stores.
Customers aren’t fools. They can tell knowledge from couldn’t care less.
It’s driven customers away.
If that’s all BN has to offer customers, they can get no bookseller interaction and save much more money at Amazon.
My apologies that you didn’t understand the post
I read your post and totally understood what you were saying. The poster became disrespectful because he didn’t understand the obvious. Part timers don’t care and it’s destroyed the customer/ knowledgeable seller bond.
Kudos to you for offering your apology over his inability to get your point.
Dear Sir/ madam
I did NOT say I still worked for the company. The correct word I used was:
vet·er·an
noun
a person who has had long experience in a particular field.
HAD long experience.
I know all about monetary responsibility. I was clearly pointing out the Barnes’ lacking for their employees and hiring breathing , bodies off the street with no interest in staying or learning , was the obvious problem. Totally agreeing with your triggered response. My apologies that you didn’t understand the post.
don't blame the booksellers for being illiterate and incompetent; that's who they are.
My point is their inexperience and lack of motivation is doing nothing to secure customer loyalty.and you seem just as intelligent with you invitation to eat the part of you that you get your wisdom from.
Dear Mr. 18 years - don't blame the booksellers for being illiterate and incompetent; that's who they are. Fine. Blame the stupid-A management for hiring them and NOT training them. It's the managements responsibility to make sure the booksellers know their jobs. If you hire illiterate and incompetent people - teach them or take whatever you get! And as far as these people leaving when a better opportunity comes along, I say good for them; they're not so stupid after all. You, sir/madam, may pride yourself for working at a job that pays you substandard wages (or maybe you are independently wealthy), but most of us, especially bookseller at BN must have money to live. That includes food to eat; a roof over one's head; car payments/insurance and all the rest. So eat my bu-t with you holier than thou, self righteous BS. Life is hard and BN does NOTHING to make it easier for their employees!!!!!!!!
so blaming everything on some part time hires, people who have always been a part of the store, is misguided.
The part timers today have no book knowledge, no sense of alphabet or no work ethic. Talk about in it for a paycheck ! And as soon as another barely afloat retailer offers .25 cents more, they jump there to make more money. BN WAS a place of book loving comradeship with book loving customers. Not anymore. Yes. The SMS lied and continue lying. But, the part timers ,lacking book store skills, have broken that bond with customers. Customers. The bread and butter of retail success.
Your ode to part timers is admirable but severely flawed.
( I’m an 18 year Barnes veteran)
the company was in terrible shape before 2018. it is in very slightly better shape now. prior to daunt taking over, barnes and noble was definitely less than one year away from bankruptcy. now it has some level of financial stability because of elliott management's deep pockets. you can complain about how unfair that is but it's an indisputable fact. this company was circling the drain in 2018. this was due to terrible decision after terrible decision from the revolving door of CEOS and an unclear path forward from riggio. i have been with the company for fifteen years. i've seen it at its height, some time in 2006, and its low point, in 2018-2019. i'm not sure how much longer it has. blaming the problems on part timers, many of whom have worked for the company for years and are as knowledgeable as the full time staff we lost, is id--tic. this is a corporate issue, always. every bad decision i've seen at BN was because of corporate policy. the management culture has always been corrupt. i've seen many good store managers come and go because corporate, in the form of DMs and RMs, destroy any ability they have to make decisions that will better their store and protect their staff. i've also seen some horrible SMs, people who are only in it for a paycheck, and those people lied to you in 2018 and told you your job was secure. your ire should be focused on them. the part timers are the bulk of retail. BN is partially a college age, part time job. the leadership positions are the full time ones. i expect everyone to have some expertise and knowledge of books but in this era i see less and less of that and more of a focus on sales metrics and shoving YA and whatever is big on tik tok down the throats of customers. this company has been rudderless and lacking vision of at least a decade, so blaming everything on some part time hires, people who have always been a part of the store, is misguided.
It’s quite easy. The company was still doing well when the experienced Booksellers were there. The bad decision to save money and fire the thousands with benefits and replace them with the inexperienced, uninvested part timers ,lost tons of business with loyal customers.
FACTS S !
Get your FACTS right.
BN:Used to be relevant.
Fired dedicated Booksellers.
Hired part timers.
BN: no longer matters.
FACTS.
Yes. Facts are facts !
How the he-l can you blame part time employees who have been there for less than 2 years for the condition the company is in?
It’s quite easy. The company was still doing well when the experienced Booksellers were there. The bad decision to save money and fire the thousands with benefits and replace them with the inexperienced, uninvested part timers ,lost tons of business with loyal customers.
Get your FACTS right.
BN:Used to be relevant.
Fired dedicated Booksellers.
Hired part timers.
BN: no longer matters.
FACTS.
FACTS
Whenever you hire just part timers off the street who just want a paycheck, not a career ( there is no career to build at BN anymore) quality will go down. The company was in much better shape before the current part timers. So, spin it however you like. It used to be good and now it isn’t. FACTS.
AMEN!