On St. Patrick Day that the Borders I worked at was notified it would be a part of the second round of closings. Here is a quick how to for Borders employees and customers
How to Work at a Liquidated Borders
The free Wi-Fi should already be off. If its not do it NOW
Once the cafe is no more, I highly recommend closing the bathrooms as soon as possible. Unfortunately a few nasty people ruin it for all. Our bathrooms closed after a customer thought they were Jackson Pollack. The bathroom walls was the canvas and their feces was their medium of choice.
Get the chairs off the floor as soon as you can.
Enjoy not having to sell BR+, ereaders or make items anymore. Work will be fun and stress free again.
Avoid anyone with a list. Stay far away from the vultures. They are easy to spot. 1. You've never seen them before 2. They don't know where anything is. 3. They ask when will the next mark down be.
Though helping customers is optional, do still be kind to your regulars and the nice customers. They should see your best one last time.
Treat customers with the respect they give you.
Make up fun games with your co-workers to pass the time.
One our games was find the stash. When the store closed, while doing our best to clean up we'd remove the books that were hidden away, to be purchased at the next mark down. In it's place went a nice note, like try again. Good times.
Don't work too hard
How to Shop at a Liquidated Borders
Do not try to engage employees in a long conversation about what happened to Borders
Do not ask employees what will they be doing next. It's a very rude, intrusive and none of your business.
Do not ask when the next mark down will be. The employees don't know and even if they did they wouldn't tell you.
If the discount isn't high enough don't tell the employees because they won't care.
Be prepared to help yourself
Do not call to check on an item
If you want the employees to be nice you must be nice in return. No more of that I can be rude because I am customer spending money. Those days are over.
Do not poke the bear or the soon to be umemployed because they will happily return the favor.
Do not ask when the last day will be.
10 comments:
That's so sad :-(
I'm not even sure if I'll go to one of the sales, but I will miss browsing the romance section of borders without shame. In my local Borders I never felt like a second class citizen like I do at my local indie.
I worked at Borders many years ago. I was a trainer back in the days when they would send teams of salesclerks out to open the new stores. Many of my co-workers were there for the long-term, and if I didn't live 2,000 miles away now, I would be stopping by to give them all my best wishes. I hope they will all bounce back quickly.
I seriously was DEVASTATED when I heard about the final shut down. MY Borders (not the *my* that I worked there, but the MY that I frequented there for ten years) shut down at the first go around. I would just stand up by the line talking to the workers because it felt like a second home. My partner is not a reader and what she loved the most about Borders was its non pretentious atmosphere and welcoming spirit for a non-reader. Boo. :(
I worked for Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble but drew the line at Borders because I wanted to have one place where I could just be a customer/reader. My store closed down in the first round and I miss it terribly. The folklore/mythology section was always so much better at Borders. I can't imagine having to work through a closing like they have to. My B&N staff was a disfunctional and over-educated family and I miss them, even though several still remain with B&N.
Oh sorry your store is closing. We miss Borders in the UK too :(
If they'd let borders.com have the sale too perhaps it would be easier for everyone. The books I want are not in my Borders unless they order them. I've worked with a local Borders here in town for a couple of years and have always been impressed by their professionalism and customer service. I'll miss working with them. It's too bad that the mismanagement you previously mentioned is hurting so many people who really could have helped the chain.
Our Borders closed in the first round. Our B&N is now in the mall and their planogram has them facing out those paranormals while the contemporaries are in a dark corner. The "new" books were out last year. I rarely go book shopping in person anymore.
This is a great post, Doret - and I'm thinking about you!!
I'm sure I'll be hitting one of the Borders sales... and employing all of the model behavior you list here. It's common sense! Why make a bad situation worse by being a boor about it?
Sad to say, I know the customers will probably do every last thing on your list, and drive everyone crazy. Gotta love working with the public. :\
This is great!
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