Day One
Today I spent all day at back info helping customers with the other trainees. They especially made an effort to let me help most of the customers that came up to us since I had spent less time training then they had. This helped me get more accustomed to using the inventory search function of Booklog as well as more comfortable in general with talking with customers. The most rewarding customer interaction was when a woman came to the back info station asking for help finding a book that she had read in German but didn't know the name of. She was able to tell me enough about the premise of the book that finally, after many far-fetched Google searches later, I was able to identify the book and find the one we had on hand for her to purchase. It was truly an experience unique to an indie bookstore purely based on the amount of personalized attention that I was able to give the customer. She was extremely excited when we found the book and left a satisfied customer, which is everything a bookseller could ever ask for.
Today I also spent some time doing shelf maintenance on the science and fantasy & science fiction sections, which was fun because I got to see some new books that I want to read, including A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab and Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. I read one of V. E. Schwab's other books, Vicious, about a year ago and loved it, darkness and all, and can't wait to pick up this one!
Day Two
Today I was again working at back info, this time with just a couple of the trainees. I again got to help a bunch of customers, which was again super satisfying. When things got a bit slow, I completely organized the yoga and body section. Here's what my finished product looked like:
Day Three
Today I worked on a little bit of shelving and then for the rest of the day I worked on entering used books--two carts worth! However, today I also got to see another aspect of retail: shoplifting. This kind of thing happens very rarely, but is still sadly something that comes along with running a store. After all of the excitement died down, my time at the store this week was over.
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Thanks for checking out my blog this week, and a special thanks to everyone who nominated my blog post for blog of the week last week!! That's all for now, folks, and until next week, happy reading!
Hi Elizabeth! How fun to celebrate Changing Hands' birthday! I didn't realize that the store had had a presence in our community for so long.
ReplyDeleteI am eager to hear more about the unfortunate shoplifting incident. Are books coded in such a way that an alarm rings when unpurchased merchandise leaves the store? Is a police report required or are these losses otherwise noted? What is the formal process?
The store's original location was actually on Mill Avenue, and some of the customers I've encountered have been shopping at the store since it was there!
DeleteThis particular instance involved someone swiping books from the sale carts outside. A police officer did come and talk to some of the employees that watched it all go down.
Hey Elizabeth, after hearing your blog was blog of the week I thought it was about time to check it out. I have never been an avid reader, but I am a big fan of small businesses and bonding with the community. Do you find that there is a lot more customer loyalty in a smaller business like this?
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking it out! I've definitely come across some people who have been shopping at the store for over 20 years, and even the new customers say that they love the store and enjoy shopping local. It's pretty great to see that people care about their community!
DeleteWhat is Vicious about?
ReplyDeleteVicious follows the story of two college friends who become obsessed with people with superhuman abilities and even go as far as to learn how to obtain them. It's a pretty dark book but I found it riveting and especially enjoyed how although the subject matter is something typically associated with fantasy, the story felt really genuine and real. You should definitely check it out!
DeleteThat's pretty neat how you're able to help folks find books they've been searching for all their lives! Really shows the value of small local bookstores to the community at large. I guess what I wonder is how did you set about finding that book? What did you search? What terms did you use specifically?
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the exact terms I used to find it, but the book the customer was looking for was Mobile Library by David Whitehouse. As the customer provided me with details, I kept adding them into an amalgamated mess of a Google search that thankfully turned out to ultimately be successful! I think the first thing the customer told me was that the book was about a bookmobile, so I used that as a starting point and went from there.
DeleteDo you ever get bored working there?
ReplyDeleteThere are some slow moments, but overall I really enjoy everything that goes into it!
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