(no subject)

[oyceter]

Wow! LJ is getting rid of invite codes! This makes me happy (and a little jealous that I paid for two months to get mine).

Plus, I like the idea of getting paid time for my unused codes.

So I suggested something to R (the guy who started the bookstore) about staff recs. And he said they had had it in the past, but the problem was that they'd generally run out of the recced book too fast, being unsure of supply and all. But then, I was thinking more of a general list of recs, like "Oyce reads fantasy with a tendency toward YA and fairy tales" and a list of liked authors and books. And he liked the idea! So what might actually happen now is it could be a special display -- each employee could get a certain amount of time with two shelves and just stick whatever they liked on it, with a list on the side for more recs. Yay! I feel all good, like I am effecting good change and who knows what. Plus, it's an idea I've always liked because I never know what to get in a bookstore (or I know too much) so I used to stock up on recs online and on Amazon and then go to a real-life store to browse.

And it makes me happy because if I ever had a bookstore, it's something I desperately want to do.

Comments

[thewildmole.livejournal.com]

You so smart :). That was one thing I hated about doing recs at SuperBookstore (First word starts with "B" and second word starts with "N"). We had staff recs but we had very specific guidelines: we could only rec trade paper or hardback - no mass market paperback - and there had to be a certain number on the shelves so we could pull the rec and be able to do a faceout in the front of the store. Drove me nuts 'cause a lot of the stuff I wanted to rec we only had in mass market pb.

I think your idea is great :).

[oyceter]

Hee hee! How was working at SuperBookstore? I plan on trying to work at some new bookstore (as opposed to used) to kind of figure out how the system there works for ordering books and etc. Want to go indy if possible, but one should always check out the competition!

[thewildmole.livejournal.com]

Ah, working at SuperBookstore! There was the dress code for starts (business casual).

A lot of our shelving was determined by what was read in our area. We had a fairly large computer/business section but those did not sell well and, often times we were, trying desperately to find new shelf room when more would come in.

We stocked large quantities of popular authors - in advance if we could. They were also very big on no empty space being seen, hence the faceouts (facing a book so that the front is toward the customer instead of the spine) to take up the extra space.

The thing with Huge!Store is that we couldn't be nearly as responsive to customers as I would have liked to be. I would have preferred to do away with some of the sections and stock more in the "generalized" areas of fiction and nonfiction, and special order Java or Unix books or things like that, keeping just a few on hand.

One of the things I thought our manager did *very* well was hire people who knew their stuff. When I interviewed, she asked me a lot of questions about what I read and had me describe books to her. That's one thing I always look for when I go into a bookstore - an employee who is knowledgeable about the kinds of books I read. I mark that down as a place to come back to.

[oyceter]

Eek... so not used to dress codes now!

Sounds a bit like our operations -- our "specialties" are the metaphysical books and chess books. For some reason, lots of people like chess books. And cookbooks, but I get that a bit more. I'm in charge of our business section and the computer section and they completely piss me off! Esp. the business books, which mostly look like stupid bullet points of doom to me. It's always stuffed to the gills.

Got the no empty space thing here too -- we've got little display stands we're supposed to use all the time if there is empty space.

Unfortunately small store isn't that customer responsive either =(. We're a browsing store, so our stock isn't inventoried on a computer, which can be a pain if you're looking for something specific. Plus, being used, it's hard to tell someone when we'll get something in. But I figure most people who know UBSs should kind of know that it's always hit or miss. Funnily, we get quite a few people who come and don't realize it's a used bookstore! (*dramatic whisper* "Do you know some of these books look used?" Us: "Errrr... actually, it's some of these books look new! All of them are used....")

That's pretty cool! What sections did you get? I'm rather irked being in business and computers, which are probably the two sections I have the least interest in (with the possible exception of hard science). I think because we have so few people, it's hard to get people shelving the sections they read, sadly. Which is something I hope having employee recs remedy... because I would love to get into booktalk with customers, hee.

[thewildmole.livejournal.com]

That's pretty cool! What sections did you get? I'm rather irked being in business and computers, which are probably the two sections I have the least interest in (with the possible exception of hard science). I think because we have so few people, it's hard to get people shelving the sections they read, sadly. Which is something I hope having employee recs remedy... because I would love to get into booktalk with customers, hee.

I did mostly what was called "Section 1" which was the general fiction/scifi-fantasy/poetry/drama and romance fiction (although I couldn't talk about romance fiction other than to say "It's over there.").

And having someone there who knows the category I'm looking in is something that will make me come back (just for your reference as a future bookstore owner *g*). Another place may have a better selection but the conversation I had will stick in my mind, and I've been much more inclined to order something from someone like you and come into the store on a more regular basis simply because of the personal and personable feeling I get.

Oh, true story! I had a kid come into the store for King Lear off his high school reading list. I showed him the various versions - modern English, standard, footnoted, et cetera. He looked at me and said, "Which one is the shortest?"

*headdesk*

[oyceter]

OOo lucky you! I desperately want the scifi/fantasy section. Actually, I'll take anything. I like my language/writing/foreign languages section quite a bit, but business and computers, so not my thing.

If I ever get my own bookstore, I definitely want employees who know what they're talking about. I mean, one, it'll be a genre bookstore, so if they are fans, I figure shoppers will be more comfortable, because there's nothing worse than being made fun of for reading genre in a bookstore. Plus, employee recs! I figure I should have employees with varying tastes, with some people who like Jordan and RPG type stuff so they can talk to those people, since I would probably get a headbang reaction, etc.

I've never actually had a conversation with a bookstore person -- I think I'm too shy! I've overheard some at Books Inc. which made me really want to go back.

Jeez! Probably should have just handed him the Cliff Notes, heh.