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posted by janrinok on Wednesday February 14 2018, @05:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the almost-there-now dept.

On Monday, February 12th, Barnes & Noble fired a number of employees.

From CNBC:

Barnes & Noble is trimming its staff, laying off lead cashiers, digital leads and other experienced workers in a company-wide clearing, CNBC has learned from sources familiar with the matter.

The news came abruptly for many workers who showed up Monday morning at various Barnes & Noble locations to be notified that they no longer had a job, the people said. The number of affected workers couldn't immediately be determined. As of April 29 of last year, Barnes & Noble employed about 26,000 people.

"[Barnes & Noble] has been reviewing all aspects of the business, including our labor model," a spokeswoman told CNBC about the layoffs. "Given our sales decline this holiday, we're adjusting staffing so that it meets the needs of our existing business and our customers. As the business improves, we'll adjust accordingly."

From The Digital Reader:

The initial report said B&N had fired "lead cashiers, digital leads, and other experienced workers", but what that report missed - and why this was worth bringing up a day later - was that B&N also fired nearly all of its receiving managers in what current and ex-employees are calling Bloody Monday.

[...] When B&N fires a digital sales lead, it means they'll sell fewer Nooks. This is no big deal given how B&N's digital revenues have fallen since 2013. When B&N fires a head cashier, it means you're in for longer waits at the register.

But when B&N fires its receiving managers, it means that B&N won't have the merchandise to sell you because the person who was responsible for making sure shelves get stocked does not work there any more.

Previously: Barnes & Noble Reports Holiday Revenues Down
Barnes & Noble Pivots to Books


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:41PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:41PM (#637859)

    My favorite was Tower Books back during its heyday of weirdly shaped blue bookshelves (It was like two rows of regular shelves with an angled section at the bottom.

    They weren't always the cheapest, but they regularly had selections of books you couldn't often find anywhere else. Ironically their big failures came as a result of expansion into Japan, which they subsidized with their American stores, Borders coming in and undercutting them by 25 percent on everything until they were gone (then jacking their prices up to retail and then beyond retail), and their decision to damage their book stock and replace it with a Borders-like venue.

    Most people didn't go to Tower for a borers-like experience. They went there for a new-book library-like experience. While there were some issues with it, the only real issue during the borders invasion was pricing (in part due to the expansion above decimating their cash reserves) and later cutbacks in their magazine supplies, which were a major pull for customers. Tower literally stocked rare magazines from all over the world, and oftentimes if you couldn't find something, they could special order it if you know what you were looking for. Sometimes even a single issue of a rare magazine someone normally special ordered, just in case it piqued someone else's interest.

    I had a friend who was into J-Rock/Pop around '99 who got all her magazines from there.

    Nowadays in their former hometown the only options are Dimple Records/Book stores, Barnes & Noble, and a few independent used bookstores that pop up and disappear every couple of years.

  • (Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Wednesday February 14 2018, @09:32PM (1 child)

    by nobu_the_bard (6373) on Wednesday February 14 2018, @09:32PM (#637889)

    There's still one bookstore in town. It's run out of an old warehouse. You'd think I'd have been in there, but...

    There's a huge sign outside. Two stories tall. "WE SHIP TO PRISONS FOR FREE"

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @05:04PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @05:04PM (#638298)

      Anti-shoplifting sign?

      I mean book welding shoplifters are the biggest danger to America, because THEY STEAL KNOWLEDGE! JUST LIKE THE CHINESE!

      IN FACT THEY MUST ALL BE CHINESE SPIES!!! (Or is that 'classical American Patriots'... it is hard to tell the difference anymore.)