Boycott Borders?

Like, I've been boycotting them all my life.

Has more to do with there not being a Borders in town and less to do with politics, though.

Kitty's (insoniamaniac) boyfriend works at a Borders, and I believe she used to work at a Barnes and Noble. She says he's always being told he'll get a raise and it never comes through, things like that. I really wish the things that she's told me about it, and what you're saying, aren't true, though I know they probably are. I don't know, book buying and selling seems like it should be such a....soulful business. It's really sad that these establishments have to remain so incredibly cutthroat to stay ahead.

No offense, but I'm suprised people put up with that crap. They don't pay well and obviously they don't offer other advantages to compensate for the poor pay, so?

And I'm sorry about your particular experience but a lot of corporate jobs are the same.

Did you get paid for your accumulated personal leave with your last paycheck? You're entitld to it by federal law.

Yeah, the cutthroat thing really doesn't seem all that kosher, but there are some amazing bookstores out there that exist without that. Every person I worked with had heart and soul. We actually held highest numbers in the state of CA when I worked there for most Chuck books sold at our store. It was like a game. But I do miss the Ma'n'Pop feeling of it all, sort of like City Lights in San Fran, and a few other places like that.

No offense taken. Yeah, it is shocking what a person will put up with, too. One thing that often came up in discussion was that they paid us just enough to keep us there, but just enough to keep us unhappy at the same time. I'm not lookin' for pity... I think more for a venting ground, which isn't fair for everyone here, but.. hey, first amendment rights. I do understand though. Some of the other jobs I worked made me want to punch myself in the face, thanks to coporation. And yeah, I got paid out for my personal time. No worries there.

As it is, I found another job that pays me $4/hr more than Borders did, and it's a place that has proven to me over the past 7 months that they genuinely care for their employees. So, rock on.

Thank you for posting this, MSH. It's nice to know that there are other people that feel much the way I do. I worked at Borders Store #77 (Farmington Hills, MI) for about two and a half years. And while my time there was not particularly terrible, I know a number of people who went through much of the same crap that you did.

Don't know if you read Hal's response on the Borders Strike site (I can't find it offhand, but it's under the "employee testimonials" section), but he worked at Store #77, and he was a friend. And they fucked him over badly, so much so that he finally decided to pull up stakes - after just a whole bunch of years - and call it quits.

Mirkah, I appreciate your opinion, and I think it's just that mentality that keeps the Borders Company going - that being, that if you want to work at Borders, you're obviously going to work there because you fucking love books (and the deep discounts that come with them - although they're taking away, or have already taken away, the monthly $30 store credit for fulltime employees that was such a nice perk), that you'll be willing to put up with the bullshit of excessive bagchecks, personal prying, and total disrespect by those who are higher on the bookstore totem pole then you are (who are, in my experience, the most insecure motherfuckers this side of anywhere).

However, I'd suggest that the lowest common denominator thinking is no way to make actual progress. I mean... it says a lot about society, doesn't it? That there obviously isn't enough respect for books (save Oprah's picks and whatever else is hot, like LOTR and Harry Potter), so there obviously need be no respect for the people that sell them.

I'm supporting the ban; and will continue for as long as the current Borders workers continue fighting for Unionization and their right to organize. I'm planning on hitting the picket lines with them later this month, as well.

I've been blessed to have friendships with worker's rights scholars like Utah Phillips <[url]www.utahphillips.org[/url]>, and I've read a lot about workers rights to know in my heart that if the corporate people DON'T recognize their workers rights, and don't start making changes to accomadate them, bad, bad things will happen to those corperations, as the workers realize that, yeah. The power really IS in their hands.

Just as it's in ours. Where we spend our money is as much a part of our voice as what we say throughout the day. In many ways, where we spend our money is much MORE our voice, since that's what capitalism thrives on.

Would one of you Mods please move this topic over to the Politics and Current Events section, please? I don't want it to get lost in General Discussion. Thank you.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by MusicShapedHole [/i]
As it is, I found another job that pays me $4/hr more than Borders did, and it's a place that has proven to me over the past 7 months that they genuinely care for their employees. So, rock on. [/QUOTE]

See, you decide not to keep taking crap and as it turns out you don't have to. You can get another job with an employer that respects you and your time.

As for the rest, post what you want, vent etc. I was just giving my opinion. I certainly didn't mean to imply you had no right to post your vent

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by willtupper [/i]
Mirkah, I appreciate your opinion, and I think it's just that mentality that keeps the Borders Company going - that being, that if you want to work at Borders, you're obviously going to work there because you fucking love books (and the deep discounts that come with them - although they're taking away, or have already taken away, the monthly $30 store credit for fulltime employees that was such a nice perk), that you'll be willing to put up with the bullshit of excessive bagchecks, personal prying, and total disrespect by those who are higher on the bookstore totem pole then you are (who are, in my experience, the most insecure motherfuckers this side of anywhere). [/QUOTE]

No, my point was that they don't pay well and don't compensate in any way for the poor pay so why bother. I have lots of friends that work in the $8 dollar range in shit jobs because it means they can get time off and go on tour or whatever it is they need to do.

I've refused jobs that required me to take a urine test and I'm clean as a whistle. I just refuse to consider a job that requires a urine sample. From what I've read, people are sitting around on their lunch breaks waiting to have their bags checked. Hello? Labor board anyone?

I support unions and the right to strike. I just don't equate an employee discount with health insurance cuts. If these people are striking just to protect their employee discount, no I don't give a shit. If they're striking for their right to create a union, I support it.

Well, it's definitely far more the later (the right to Unionize) than the former (the deep discounts). But I definitely think you're right: if people aren't happy and aren't given the opportunity to air their grievances and get results (i.e. Unionize), then they should just walk away. See how well the company does without anyone working the gears and doing the "grunt work" of booksales.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by willtupper [/i]
[B]Well, it's definitely far more the later (the right to Unionize) than the former (the deep discounts). But I definitely think you're right: if people aren't happy and aren't given the opportunity to air their grievances and get results (i.e. Unionize), then they should just walk away. See how well the company does without anyone working the gears and doing the "grunt work" of booksales. [/B][/QUOTE]

I haven't done a ton of research, I was just responding to the original post (originally) Like I said if the goal is to unionize, then I support it. Because there are two choices in a crappy job:
1) quit and
2) ORGANIZE and teach the bastards what your time is worth.

Dear Michigan State Music Shaped Hole,

Hey. Could you please do me a favor, and ask Moderator Mirkah to move this thread to the Politics and Current Events section? I'd really appreciate it, because this is a cause and issue that I care very much about, and I don't want it lost in the "Taco Vs. Burrito" type of diatribes that frequently flood the General Discussion section.

Thanks much for your consideation. We appreciate you!

Best,

Will Tupper, Inc.

By all means, move it on over.

See, my big thing with just upping and walking out from Borders is that the people who work there choose to be there. It wasn't like the job was just thrown at me. I had to fight my way through a stack of applications just to get a position as a cashier, and somehow I did.

I think I'm arguing more for the morals of the strike rather than the actual benefits and whatnot. It's hard to see a company that so many people actually care for, and to get nothing in return. The father that was never there. How many more carbon copies of these corporations are we going to see pop up? The majority of employees are young people just starting out in the working world. It's sad that it has to be such a negative experience... so much tension and drama. We all should just..... makeout. ::nods::

Pickets cross Borders

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – “We will stay on strike until Borders [bookstores] bargains in good faith,” say striking workers affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 876 on the picket line at Borders’ number one corporate bookstore here. The workers have been on strike since Nov. 8 after 11 months of negotiations for a first contract fight with the storeowners.

Borders workers are asking customers not to purchase books at Borders, Waldenbooks, or Borders.com for the duration of the strike. They are also asking consumers to call the store at (734) 477-1100 to express their support for the workers. Union members are asked to encourage their leaders to support this campaign actively.

A starting wage of $6.50 an hour, very high health insurance premiums and deductibles, and retirement packages that are generally unaffordable: these are some of the current economic conditions that bookstore workers face today. Workers have seen very little increase in wages over time, and management reserves the right to arbitrarily withdraw the few benefits they offer.

The striking workers have received a wide range of support from the local community. The Graduate Employees Organization, which represents graduate students at the nearby University of Michigan, has extended its support for the strikers. Other student organizations from the University of Michigan have frequented the picket lines, local peace organizations have encouraged their members to buy books elsewhere, and Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice given support. Other union members and religious and community groups can also be seen on the picket line regularly.

“The community support has been invaluable,” said the union spokesperson.

I can't go to B&N because it has Starbucks....I can't go to Borders because they're evil....I can't go to independent bookstores because ours suck.....

You COULD go to the independent bookstores that DO suck, and ask them to order you things that DON'T suck, love. Let them know what you're interested in, what you want to read, and then back up your words with actions, and buy those things from those stores. That would maybe help get the ball rolling, in terms of supporting indie stores, and just making them cooler.

Just a thought.

I love you.

xoxoxoxoxo, WT

I don't think we even have any! Bookstores are far away from me! I'm stuck in the wilderness! My leg hurts!! These jellybeans are good!! At least we have independent record stores!!

I love you too.

In that case (and it hurts me to say this), I would go to Barnes & Noble and just ignore the Starbucks that's there. I've been finding, especially with my friends who work there, especially lately, that B&N actually treats their workers decently, and they're mostly pleased to be there.

Plus, going to B&N stabs Borders and Amazon.com in the back, and at the moment, you know I'm all for that .

But sometimes....when I go in there....the coffee, it looks at me. And I know I'm not supposed to drink coffee anyway, and I know it's not going to taste good, but then it's like, "Jaannnneee....drink us!" and then I'm all like, "NO YOU'RE EVIL!" and I try to lose it by going around to the children's section and hiding in there, you know? But it doesn't work!!!!

Um. I should stop eating sugar now.

Yeah, maybe you should.

By which I mean, yes. Definitely!

Sigh.

Dammit. Now the jellybeans are calling to me. I can't win, can I.

There's a story in there, somewhere. Something about the girl who had the food talk to her.

But, I want to get back on topic. So I'll have to go look for more stories about the Borders Boycott, soon.

It's too late, I already ate them all.

When you write the story, please let me know, hugs and kisses, back on topic.

This article's a few days old, now. But it's really good (and really long), and seems to cover most of the important and salient topics about the strike far better than's been done before.

And they interviewed my old coworker Hal in it. Yay, Hal!

Stakes high for Borders, strikers as talks resume

Walkout is also being watched by competitors, unions, customers

Sunday, November 30, 2003

BY CATHERINE O'DONNELL
News Business Reporter

On Monday, Borders Group and its local unionized workers return to the bargaining table, three weeks into a strike at the downtown Ann Arbor store and almost a year since workers voted to unionize. The stakes are high for both groups, each facing significant economic pressure.

But this strike - the first ever at a Borders store - affects a broader community as well. Competitors, other retailers and unions are watching closely. So are customers who face the picket line and the deep division it represents.

The strikers

Borders employs about 32,000 people worldwide, but the number of striking workers is quite small. According to Borders, the East Liberty Street store - one of 436 around the country - employs 43 nonmanagement workers, 15 of whom are on strike. United Food & Commercial Workers Local 876, based in Madison Heights, represents them in contract negotiations. They are asking for a two-year contract that includes higher wages, better benefits and more say in how the store is run.

Senior workers like Hal Brannan - a training supervisor - average $12 to $14 per hour, but many Borders employees make far less. According to the company, local store workers start at $6.50 per hour but average $8.58 per hour. Borders cites National Retail Federation averages - about $7.63 per hour in the Detroit area, $7.99 per hour around the country - as proof that they're paying fair wages.

The store does pay more than the federally mandated minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, an amount that's remained unchanged since 1997. It pays less than the living wage passed by the city of Ann Arbor several years ago. That ordinance requires that firms doing business with the city pay their employees $9.09 an hour with medical benefits, or $10.66 an hour without benefits.

According to October data from the U.S. Department of Labor, retail workers statewide earn an average hourly wage of $10.92. Mean compensation for sales workers in southeast Michigan with some degree of product knowledge is $12.88 per hour. For cashiers, the mean amount is $9.89.

The union is asking for a 25-cent raise in starting pay, with milestone increases that would lead to $8 per hour after two years. It also asks that health insurance premiums, deductibles and co-pays be held firm during the life of the contract.

As manufacturing has increasingly departed for developing countries, labor unions have eyed national retailers, hoping to regain membership lost as traditional union jobs disappear. Along with UFCW, the Borders strikers are supported by the AFL-CIO and loosely organized regional, nonunion groups such as Jobs for Justice, Borders Readers United and Raging Grannies Without Borders.

But unlike their supporters, the strikers take financial hits to make their case.

For Brannan's family, the strike is difficult. "It's been pretty darn tough," said the 47-year-old Brannan. "We're risking financial ruin."

An Eastern Michigan University graduate in labor studies and an 18-year Borders employee, Brannan serves as a negotiator at the bargaining table. He and his wife, Laurie Brannan, have children ages 11, 17 and 20. They live on the northwest side of Ann Arbor in a three-bedroom ranch - a purchase made possible by Borders stock options.

Laurie Brannan makes about $31,000 working full-time as an administrative assistant at the University of Michigan Law School, and the Brannans regard themselves as solidly middle class. Now, however, Hal Brannan worries about making mortgage payments if the strike drags out.

As a striker walking the picket line at least 40 hours per week, he's eligible for strike pay of $150 per week, issued by UFCW. Brannan has also signed with a temp agency, hoping for about four hours' work each day - enough to bring home some cash but leave time for both family and the picket line.

"I know this (strike) can ruin a family," he said. "I also want to go back to work."

But he says he's willing to take the risk for a cause he believes in strongly.

"Starting wages have not kept up with inflation, so each new batch of people I train are poorer than the previous batch. ...It's a case of corporate greed versus workers' need," Brannan said. "We think this is very important for the future of bookselling, this company and this country."

The company

The strikers work at a shop known internally as No. 1 - the store Tom and Louis Borders opened in 1971 that eventually multiplied, becoming the nation's No. 2 bookselling chain.

Now Borders is a Fortune 500 company trading its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Executives no longer call the downtown store the chain's flagship, saying sales at other Borders stores have been higher.

The strike happens as Borders enters the holiday season, when it and many other retailers count on many of their sales for the year. Borders also faces paper-thin profit margins - about 3 percent in the bookselling industry - and confronts head-on competition from Barnes & Noble, the country's No. 1 bookseller, which is not unionized. The Ann Arbor firm also competes against a huge variety of nontraditional rivals, ranging from corner convenience stores to mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart as well as online retailers like Amazon.com.

The strike is limited to the East Liberty Street store, but a store in Minneapolis unionized last year as well. Its next negotiation with the company begins Wednesday.

So far, Borders management has taken a hard line. The firm recently took out full-page ads in The News and The Michigan Daily, running an open letter from Borders President Tami Heim - a letter previously circulated to customers who subscribe to the company's e-mail newsletter.

"The union is asking that the employees at this one store in Ann Arbor receive compensation and benefits that exceed those offered by retailers of our kind nationwide," Heim stated in the letter. She said it demands more than employees at other Borders stores receive, more than offered in the industry and more than the company can afford. "It would be irresponsible on our part to meet these demands," she said.

The bookselling industry is closely watching the outcome of the negotiations. If the union makes significant gains in a first contract, employees at Borders' other 435 stores might follow suit, forcing the company to spend significantly more on labor.

"The strike is important because winning decent wages and benefits would signal to other Borders stores that it's possible to organize a union," said Roland Zullo, a research scientist at the Institute for Labor & Industrial Relations at the University of Michigan.

For its part, Borders wants to demonstrate that nothing good will come of such organizing.

"It's a quite typical strategy for a first contract," Zullo said.

The strike comes as Borders recovers from losses last year and earlier in 2003. But it recorded a slight profit of $500,000 in the third quarter, and will pay its first regular dividend of 8 cents, starting in January. Its outlook for the fourth quarter is optimistic. Executives expect profits to range from $1.45 to $1.50 per share, a 10 to 14 percent increase over fourth quarter 2002.

The company reported sales of $807.9 million in its third quarter, a 7.7 percent increase over third quarter 2002. However, according to the Book Industry Study Group, a trade organization, projections for unit sales of books remain flat industrywide.

Borders does not report sales of individual stores, but spokeswoman Anne Roman said performance of the East Liberty Street store will not significantly affect the company's bottom line.

The watchers

Underneath all the financial focus on wages and benefits is the issue of control.

"Any kind of struggle like this is as much about control as economics," said Zullo. Very often, management will resist sharing company decisions, even at economic expense. Zullo cited the strike against General Motors Corp. in the 1940s that resulted in large pay gains for workers instead of chairs at the management table.

And while strikers face what could be a long winter on the picket line, the company has to reckon with fallout beyond the East Liberty Street store. Strikers have turned up not only at Borders' other Ann Arbor store, in Arborland - which is not unionized - but also at stores in Taylor, Troy, Detroit, Birmingham, Rochester and Farmington. If the strike continues more deeply into the holiday season, Borders may see customers go elsewhere rather than deal with picketers.

But shoppers do cross the picket line at the downtown store, and are showing up at other Borders stores as well. Borders has canceled special events at the Ann Arbor store, but a book-signing at the Arborland store earlier this month by the celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse brought out more than 1,000 people - despite strikers who were picketing nearby.

"If the employees think they're qualified for higher pay, they're free to go (find other jobs). Nobody's holding them back," said Steve Zhang, a customer shopping recently in the East Liberty Street store.

Another customer, Thomas Wharry, simply wanted to shop in peace. He filed a police report Nov. 12, alleging a Borders picketer shoved and blocked him from entering the store, calling him a foul name. The picketer countered that while there had been an argument, physical contact was an accident.

Regardless of the choices that individual shoppers make, downtown Ann Arbor has a stake in the strike, too. Borders is downtown's largest retail store and a regional draw. It occupies the building Jacobson's emptied 10 years ago.

The first two weeks of the strike, sales at Shaman Drum Bookshop, around the corner from Borders' East Liberty Street store, increased 50 percent. Owner Karl Pohrt sells both popular and scholarly books, some of which are sold at Borders as well.

Pohrt himself feels squeezed between profit margins and a desire to pay employees more. Starting wages for hourly workers at his store are $7.50 an hour, and average hourly wages are about $8.50, he says. He acknowledges that raising wages significantly would be difficult, given that the retail industry, particularly independent bookselling, continues to struggle.

"The book business may be a business model that doesn't work for anybody very well because the profits are so slim," said Pohrt, a director of the American Booksellers Association, a trade group for independent bookstores nationwide.

Pohrt also is a former president of the State Street Area Association and former chairman of the Downtown Development Authority. At the same time his sales increase, he said he worries about Borders and its impact on the downtown area.

"It's very important," he said, "that Borders stays healthy."

Catherine O'Donnell can be reached at [email]codonnell@annarbornews.com[/email] or (734) 994-6831.

© 2003 Ann Arbor News. Used with permission

My sister is a manager at a Borders on Long Island. Though I've heard some of the upper management is pretty empty between the ears, she seems to be making her way pretty well. Though her pay as an assistant manager before her bump up was only like 10 bucks an hour, she now pulls down a decent salary with the possibility for decent advancement.

I like shopping at Borders because the little bookstores on Long Island have gone almost extinct, and where they do exist, their selection is terribly weak. As an avid reader, I feel I have little choice.

Hopefully the corporate trend in America will remember that people have feelings.

"boycott Borders."
"don't shop at Barnes & Nobles."
Jesus.
i'm all for supporting small businesses and not feeding the corporate monster, bla bla bla, but i don't have a credit card so i can't order online (if i did someone would give me shit about using Amazon) and if i want a book, i want a book. i don't care if the book store has a big sign out front showing customers sprinklikng cash in front of the feet of some executive.... i go in, buy it, and walk out, and i don't feel guilty. it's bad enough these companies are all corrupt or whatever, but what's worse, them overcharging and making tons off of you, or them keeping you from reading because you refuse to buy from them? i think the latter is much worse. i just want to read.
i know.... people who worked at these places know how bad they are, etc, and i have no problem with that, but.... jesus. If i didn't shop at stores that i had some sort of mild beef against i wouldn't be able to shop anywhere in America.

I'm sure there are exceptions to every rule, owenwarland. And I'm glad to hear that your sister is doing well. I do feel, however, that I'm hearing the same thing from you that I'm hearing from my dearest Jane; that being, the idea that you have "little choice." I'd like to suggest (and I might be wrong about this, and it is a little pretensious of me to suggest this, since I don't know you from Adam) that you DO have choices. And that you're just not choosing to see (or look) for them because they're not as easy as heading down to your local Borders store.

And while your sister has it good now, how did she far when she first entered the company, and was making the measely $6.25 or whatever it is they start out at?

I think that's more where the problems are at. For those who are still low on the totem pole. Not the folks who've "made it."

And PS - I have to sound cynical, but I don't think the corporate trend in America has ever know that people have feelings. Ever.

izen, have you ever heard of your community library? Or, like I just said, seeking out the alternative places (like local and independent stores) to get your books? Because yeah, on the surface it just looks like one guy going in to buy one book and then leaving. And that's that. But nothing is that simple. Your purchase affects the people working at that store, the people working at the stores you didn't buy from, the people who make the books, the people who market the books... when you get right down to it, every dollar you spend probably affects as many people as you've ever met in your life anytime ever.

So, some people choose to take responsibility of that power. And it is a power. Me and some other people are choosing to use our spending dollar differently. That's all. And I really don't think anyone here is badmouthing you (or anyone else) if you choose to go on buying where you buy, and what you buy.

It's just an open, honest debate. That's all.

I'm so glad I discovered this thread and see other people would rather support smaller independent bookstores as well. I've never stepped into a Borders and the one time I walked into a B&N, my skin started to crawl...probably because of the double whammy of the Starbucks, whose coffee I also refuse to drink. It may take weeks longer to get a book ordering it through an independent place, but I would much rather wait than give my money to a blood-suckin' corporation. Now if I could only get my friends not to be such Borders' 'hos...

The story of Hal is rather interesting, and a bit disheartening. I don't think I've ever worked for a company that's more fake. It has such potential to be awesome, if all it would do is treat it's employees a bit more like humans. Hell, do anything to show that you genuinely appreciate them. As pathetic as it sounds, I bet if you gave them a warm, honest smile and told each person "I like you...", it could make things a bit better.

Before I joined up at Borders, I had thought that it was the type of company that really took care of their employees. Everyone who worked at the store where I applied, #470, seemed honestly happy and content with what they had. Maybe it's because it had only been open for two months, and the newness of it all was still abundant.

And slowly, I saw the store shatter. The GM left, another manager had left for B'n'N, and they really didn't give any of us explanations. Slowly, people started taking off. Then, quickly. New people came and went, and I was starting to feel like I was stuck in the middle of something not-so-good. I got zilch in the appreciation department, which I think is very important in any work environment. Now, I'm not saying that I need somebody to follow me around and tell me "I like you", but there are things a company can do. I honestly believe that if you go above and beyond to show your employees that you care, in turn they'll turn around make the magic happen. They'll be happier about upselling. They'll take pride in the organization of the store. And in turn, will increase revenue. I'm not any sort of retail income researcher, but it's just a thought.

Since I worked the shipping/receiving side of things, and we didn't have an inventory supervisor (joy....), I was often in contact with many other stores, including BGI HQ. I had the chore of having to learn everything on my own, pretty much, and I actually had to write up my own manual for my job because the one that Borders had in their files simply could not be applied. I kept mine on hand so I could debate with the auditor on why things were the way they were without the store being docked on points, which we still often times were, thanks to bureaucracy. I read all the store documentation each week, and took out the pages that applied to me, highlighted them, took quotes from management, and highlighted that... because I was often times told to do one thing, then they'd turn and try to place the blame on me for doing it that way. Does that make sense? I hope it does. It was rediculous though. I bet you the lil blue folder I had is still tucked away in the receiving desk....

Then there were all the lovely times that we had to prep the store because somebody important was showing up. The number of things I did that I could've been fired for soley for the sake of making everyone look good, at request of management, was nuts.

"Dan, can you hide these stripped covers somewhere out of site so that they don't see them just laying out in the open?" says the manager.

And I say "But aren't you the one that stripped them?"

"Yeah, but, I have other things I need to do."

"Say, couldn't I be fired for hiding these?" I'd ask.

Chuckling, the response, "No, of course not.. hahaha... fired, honestly... oh, and can you scan in those RPL's? Thanks."

I'd typically go along with it because I really did care for the store, and wasn't out to get people in trouble. I figured refusing would cause more problems. And I'd flip through the BGI issued procedure for the stripping of covers (for the unknowing, it's cheaper for us to send back only the covers of mass market books and get credit for them that way, while the rest of the book gets trashed.) and RPL's. RPL's, or returns, are to be done by supervisors only, yet here they were asking me to do them. And to hide them, nonetheless. ::shrugs::

Procedure was a big problem, I think. It should've been totally restructured. Bag checking (which could often take in in excess of 10 minutes, meaning it cut into your off-the-clock time), having a supervisor open the cage for you so you could look for a CD or DVD for a customer, etc. Waste was a big problem. Time and product. I tossed so many perfectly good books in the dumpster, tons of gift products, one time I threw out about 150 rolls of wrapping paper. Can anybody say "Donate"? Or hell, even take it home, but noooooo.... that would be stealing. ::nods:: And you would be fired. Immediately.

I believed in letting the store remain how it always was so that the higher-ups could see what we were really going through so that they could fix any problems that we had. But did the store managers think that way? No. Of course they wanted everyone to see that they were the Best store. I appreciate that thought, but shouldn't the only group of people we should be out to impress be.. well, the customers?

Anyway, it was another rant and rave. Sorry. I mean well, though. I take pride in knowing that, less than a year later, I work at a job where I make more than the managers of my old store. But it's still like an open wound.

sounds pretty crappy, of course, it also sounds like just about every other retail chain out there...

I like Borders. I mean it's not the best book store in the world, but it's the closest. They have a decent selection and the people there are usually fairly informed as book store people go. Why am I boycotting them again? Poor management? Shitty pay? Try another type of work, maybe something humbling then. Go work at Taco Bell or any fast food place. Join the Army. Actually work a shit job. Man, I've had so many shit jobs, I'm used to it. I won't be boycotting anybody. You don't like it? Work somewhere else. I'd kill to work at a bookstore. To me that'd be the greatest job in the world. You know what too? STARBUCKS MAKES GOOD FUCKING COFFEE! How high is your horse? Really? Where's the NAFTA thread, huh? People from a state known for the BIG THREE bitching about BOOKSTORES. What about the auto industry? Huh? What about what keeps this state moving? People bitch about high school/ college student jobs here and no one cares about FAMILIES. I hope to God each and everyone of you drives an AMERICAN car or your case (in my eyes) is moot.

Michael Moore was up here a couple years ago showing parts of the then unfinished 'Bowling for Columbine', and talking about shit, including boycotting Borders, I forget why, strike stuff, refusal to carry one of his books etc. I don't shop there anyway cause I prefer funneling money back into the community by supporting loacally owned busines, besides up here only homely lesbians work there.

Yow. Maybe a thread like that should be started for such bitching because I, for one, am all for families. I also think it would be cool to work in a bookstore, but I would prefer a cool used one. In fact, one of my little pipe dreams is to one day open my own used bookstore and call it Second-Hand Prose…no matter how much a groaner that name is.

I always TRY to support the little guy. If I have to go an extra half hour of my way to do so then I won't. There's a cool used book store I go to in East Lansing, but if I'm not already there, I won't go out of my way.

Yeah, I've worked my share of shit jobs as well. And, as it is, I have an awesome job presently, so Borders doesn't directly affect me anymore, other than having to hear all the BS that I'm currently complaing about coming from my friends. But it's a bonding thing, really, I think. But I'm insisting boycotting them for the reasons you listed. And you bring up a good point, too. They do have a decent selection, and the people there, at least at my store, were extremely well informed. They had an awesome working knowledge of books, old and new, music, and movies. So many things these days are based on knowledge.. required by many corporations. Take a Taco Bell worker, for instance. They might make $7.00 hr to push a button on a cash register that looks like a taco. They squirt their rehydrated meat onto a tortilla. Ooo, impressive.

Take a Borders worker. They have to know what is hot and best-selling, histories on authors, cross-reference several computer databases, know about distribution companies, how publishing works, know plots, know genre, be able to recommend other titles worth suggesting for people who are pretty clueless as to what they'd like. They read personalities, and cater to each person on an individual basis. Know how much they make? $7.00/hr, maybe $7.50/hr. And that's in San Diego, CA. A place where the average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment is $800/mo.

How fair, eh?

I'm not debating the quality of the product (I firmly believe that Borders is an awesome store... hence why I worked there), I'm debating the quality of the work environment. All they're looking for is a lil' consumer support. And if the auto industry has issues that you're concerned about, start a thread. NAFTA? Start it up. I don't think it's a rite of passage to have everyone work a shitty job and to work in an industry in which you constantly have to fight to survive. There's potential for change here for one company, so I'm supporting it. I appreciate your opinion, but I guess we agree to disagree.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by MusicShapedHole [/i]
[B]Take a Taco Bell worker, for instance. They might make $7.00 hr to push a button on a cash register that looks like a taco. They squirt their rehydrated meat onto a tortilla. Ooo, impressive. [/B][/QUOTE]

No. You miss my point with this. I said it's a humbling job. THose kids in there bust their asses. Do you have to be a rocket scientist? Nope. Is it boring, fast paced, monotonous work? Sure the fuck is. Do people treat you like a total idoit for working there? Yup. I"ve worked fast food chief, it sucks. It's long days and all you can do is look at the clock and want to go home. Wait, maybe we should boycott Wendy's until they give crew members health insurance!

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Lazlosdead [/i]
[B]No. You miss my point with this. I said it's a humbling job. THose kids in there bust their asses. Wait, maybe we should boycott Wendy's until they give crew members health insurance! [/B][/QUOTE]

For the record, I've been boycotting Wendy's since March. And it's a shame, because I love their food so much, but the boycott means more to me than the taste of a hamburger.

But do I really miss your point? I don't think so. All my jobs have been humbling, including my present, but I appreciate my current job so much more than any prior job thanks to the experiences I've had with all my previous employers. What I see is a company where I potentially can make a difference in the name of something better, even if it's only a matter of a few hundred dollars or the loss of a knowledgeable employee, just to let them know that I'm less-than-pleased. And I'm succeeding.

On a side note, I'd like to state how much I hate Ann Arbor. I missed that in the story the first time but now I"m going to drive out of my way to go to THAT Borders and overdraft my bank account so I can buy from there. Seriously. I hate Ann Arbor THAT MUCH.

its just a fucking bookstore.

GENERAL PANTS!

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by everyone's hero willtupper [/i]
[B]I hope you sleep well. I'm really happy to see that this section (MOSTLY, ahem) is turning into what I hoped it would: a place where the educated (MOSTLY again, ahem ahem) could come and get into some open, honest debate that might cast some further enlightenment on the people reading it.[/B][/QUOTE]

Hell, I boycott them on a daily basis, so this will be no problem for me.

Something was recently brought to my attention. I was talking to Brian, my best bud, former coworker, and present Borders employee, and he made me aware of something called "Category Management", a program that Borders is now adopting and endorsing.

Basically, in exchange for huge sums of money, Borders will carry more copies of mainstream books from large publishers, as if they don't carry enough already, thereby taking up more shelf space, causing the bottom 50 or so sellers to flat out be carried "no more" by Borders, hence... fucking with smaller publishers. They're turning into the Walmart of book sales. Borders was once known as having a fabulous selection, carrying books that you wouldn't expect to find. But Brian said he's noticed a major change.. You could say "They're selling out." And well, I was aware of category management going on in the DVD and CD sections, however the sections continued to grow.... we still kept the smaller stuff, but with books, no, Borders is actually making it policy to not deal with smaller publishers anymore in the stocking sense.

As much BS as I think the whole "selling out" gripe is, they legitimately are goin' downhill in the quality department. Brian told me to stop by for just 5 minutes and actually take a look at the shelves, and that I, a former bookstore insider, would notice a dramatic change. Whereas, the public probably wouldn't take a second glance.

Anyway, sorry.

What in the world are you sorry for? You should never have to appologize for what's your opinion or feeling on ANYTHING. And what you said about "Category Management" in NO way surprises me at all... Borders will be carrying more of Oprah's books now, more Harry Potter (if that's possible), and more whatever the larger publishers want to shove down our throats. And that means cool independent book publishers will be getting the economic shaft.

Don't know if you saw it, but I guess Borders laid off closer to 20 of their corporate people, including their two buyers in just the last week or two. And MSH - you might remember this - but one of the first signs my friends and I saw of Borders demise was when the adopted a "commisioned endcap" policy. For those of you not in the know, endcaps are the shelves at the end of shelves, where books can be faced out, and thus given more exposure. And for YEARS they were given to the employees, letting the workers pick what they wanted on them. And the workers would create themes (i.e. all swimming books, if there was somone who was a huge swimmer or something) and just get the word about books they liked. And it was nice. It gave each store a kind of sepeate identity, an individual personality reflecting the tastes and views of the staff there.

Only now, those endcaps - ALL of them - are bought and paid for by larger publishers. And it's their books that get the extra exposure. And it's the "little guy's" books that are getting the shaft.

The only (and I do mean ONLY) good thing I'm able to cull out of all this shit that's going down with Borders and Amazon and everything else is, when the structures fall (and they're bound to fall, I think, if all this keeps up), something better will have to take it's place. And that better, I bet, will benefit true book lovers everywhere. Lord, I sound like a politician. Time to get off the soapbox...

I was kinda forced into Boarders and couple of months back because Chuck did a signing at the one in Leeds (UK). It was the only time I would get to see him, so it was one of necessity rather than choice. In saying that, and reading the few posts to this thread that my eyes could read without descending to my septum, Boarders wasn’t that bad…. Actually, when I say wasn’t all that bad, I really mean it was terrible; actually when I say terrible, I actually mean it was a den of inequity for corporate sharers and students that can’t afford their heating bills. They had like no decent hardback copies of anything worth reading, the lighting was way too primary school, the staff looked like they’d all come straight from some Student Union bar (which isn’t a bad thing I guess), and the chairs they made us all sit on when waiting for his royal Chuckness were as uncomfortable as the atmosphere.
Even Chuck express how much of a corporate whore he had become when questioned by a suit why someone who wrote Fight Club would do a signing at Boarders.

As for all the other points, like boycotting, well I’m all for the minority groups in this world, so yeah, I’m in…. Let me just order my Christmas gifts from Amazon first.

what i like about borders is the selection of adult reading and erotica

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by framstedt [/i]
[B]what i like about borders is the selection of adult reading and erotica [/B][/QUOTE]

A short, and mostly non-entertaining story about that...

There was no other section in the Borders where I worked that had a more "used" feeling to it. The spines on all the erotica books were shot to hell, pages were dog-eared, books and magazines were found in the guys bathroom, complete chapters ripped out and it was 100% worthless trying to put it in order. On average, we had to discard 50% of the books directly into the dumpster because we couldn't get credit for them, nor could we sell them. The chairs had to be removed from the Erotica section to try and discourage middle to late aged men from going back there, grabbing a book, sitting down and reading for a couple hours, while saying hi in that subtly pervy way to all the upset and frustrated housewives who had to pickup the latest Self-Help book. The Self-Help section was right next to Sex and Erotica. Hmm...

you know, i couldn't figure out why i could find don't sweat the small stuff and doris kloster's photographs of women bound in the same rack.

There's a little store (really a dilapidated shack) by Lake Ronkonkoma on Long Island that sells used books-- some of them ancient, dust-ridden copies-- for a low sum, sometimes a quarter or 10 cents. I fell in love with this place before I was ten, and it was probably influential in my loving reading and becoming an English teacher.

I remember, I could get 8 books for 5 bucks. The place was only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Real Mom and Pop business run by a really personable lady and her venerable father-in-law. The smell of books.... ahh.

Yeah, I love that place.

is it still there?

Yeah, actually it is. I moved about 2 months ago, but I'm raring to pop in on a Saturday afternoon and wade through worlds of words.