Chapter Thirteen: The Final Chapter

I officially had my last week at the Phoenix store, meaning that my internship has come to a close. Here's how I spent my last week!

I spent most of my time helping out at front information, taking orders, putting books on hold, and just generally answering questions. I've definitely come a long way from when I was too afraid that I would answer the phone and not know how to help someone! Pro tip: never hesitate to put someone on hold if you're unsure about something. It saves you from sounding clueless and it gives you a little time to ask some of the other employees around you! The largest order I had to complete was when a man came in looking for 7 different books! We didn't have any of them so I had to order them all, and I even had to do and access order on a few of them, meaning that there were only a handful of copies in the warehouse and I had to hold one of them until the book buyers place an order. It was a very long process, ad luckily it was for a man who was right in front of me, not on the phone, so he was extremely patient while I filled out all of the order forms!

I also got to do some shelving. I definitely was able to become comfortable with the layout of the store in Phoenix a bit faster I did at the Tempe store, probably because it's a much smaller store. There was also much less shelving to do in Phoenix since there are fewer, smaller sections, and I was able to whip through shelving in Phoenix whereas in Tempe I had to spend a good chunk of time.

Additionally, just as I did at the Tempe store, I conducted a customer survey. Most of the questions I asked were the same as the Tempe, with just a couple that referenced thing unique to Phoenix. Also, one of the questions asked if the customer had ever been to the Tempe store. I asked this to try to see if the Phoenix store is its own independent entity or just an extension of the Tempe store. A lot of the customers I talked to had been to the Tempe store before, but a portion of those people only visited the Tempe store because they shopped at the Phoenix store and loved it.

Finally, my last day was pretty special. There were even cupcakes waiting for me when I arrived from a bakery down the street (which were delicious, by the way). Bill Walton was also having a book signing and I got to talk to him for a bit and even got a picture with him!

He's so tall that he told me to put my shoulder in front of him so I wouldn't disappear!

It was a really great end to a really great internship. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and would do it all over again if I could! Everyone at Changing Hands really did everything they could to make me feel at home. I'll be posting my final presentation soon, but until then, happy reading!