January 20, 2011
Days Like This...
...make me wonder why I enjoy working retail so much.
See, we're in the middle of Rush Week at the Duck U. Bookstore. Classes started on Tuesday, and while we expected to be busy, we didn't expect to be this busy. As in, "we've never done this amount of business during the Spring before, ever" busy. Which is good. Exhausting and painful on the knees and feet, but good.
And then, we got the phone call.
The one from the PR department at the Home Office. At 2pm on Wednesday. The one that told us that the CEO of the company was going to be in town to be interviewed by a local TV station, and the interview was going to take place in the Duck U. Bookstore. At 2pm on Thursday.
During the third day of Rush.
Cue panic PANIC!!!
We had to a) help the customers; 2) prettify the store; III) keep the store prettified. During Rush Week, a time when it's hard enough to find the time to refold a t-shirt. Now we had to:
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See, we're in the middle of Rush Week at the Duck U. Bookstore. Classes started on Tuesday, and while we expected to be busy, we didn't expect to be this busy. As in, "we've never done this amount of business during the Spring before, ever" busy. Which is good. Exhausting and painful on the knees and feet, but good.
And then, we got the phone call.
The one from the PR department at the Home Office. At 2pm on Wednesday. The one that told us that the CEO of the company was going to be in town to be interviewed by a local TV station, and the interview was going to take place in the Duck U. Bookstore. At 2pm on Thursday.
During the third day of Rush.
Cue panic PANIC!!!
We had to a) help the customers; 2) prettify the store; III) keep the store prettified. During Rush Week, a time when it's hard enough to find the time to refold a t-shirt. Now we had to:
change four track lighting lamps
redo the front window displays
focus said lamps onto said displays
move two shelves full of sweatshirts without messing up the folds of said sweatshirts
dust everything into oblivion
unpack, check in and receive 15 boxes of books, without making a mess
vacuum the floor within an inch of its life
clean the back room, including my desk (cue moans of despair)
...oh, and help the customers too.
all while wearing a dress shirt and tie
and keep the shirt clean.
redo the front window displays
focus said lamps onto said displays
move two shelves full of sweatshirts without messing up the folds of said sweatshirts
dust everything into oblivion
unpack, check in and receive 15 boxes of books, without making a mess
vacuum the floor within an inch of its life
clean the back room, including my desk (cue moans of despair)
...oh, and help the customers too.
all while wearing a dress shirt and tie
and keep the shirt clean.
For the record, the whole thing went off without a hitch; the CEO was in the store for just over an hour, thought the place looked okay, and away he went. Leaving yours truly and the Duck U Bookstore Manager looking like frazzled noodles.
Yeah. Love retail.
Yeah. Love retail.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:53 PM
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1
So you're not an employee of the university?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 21, 2011 12:19 AM (+rSRq)
2
That's correct. We are part of the community, but I don't get my checks from Duck U. It's actually quite common these days for colleges and universities to outsource their bookstores. The company I work for runs over 800 college bookstores for example, and our main competition handles around 300, more or less.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 21, 2011 07:28 AM (W8Men)
3
My alma mater, Penn State's bookstore got sold to Barnes & Noble about ten years ago; since then the other bookstores in the county went out of business or turned into "recycle your textbooks" place-holders with sports memorabilia as their main line of sales, and at this point there's only the real big-box B&N out by the mall & the university B&N. We're essentially a B&N monopoly county.
If I actually bought books at bricks-and-mortar storefronts anymore I'd be cheesed off.
If I actually bought books at bricks-and-mortar storefronts anymore I'd be cheesed off.
Posted by: Mitch H. at January 21, 2011 10:07 AM (jwKxK)
4
So if you're not a university employee, how did you manage to become the faculty advisor to the anime club?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 21, 2011 11:54 AM (+rSRq)
5
Technically, I was a "Staff Advisor." While we might not be employees of Duck U., we ARE considered part of the community. I've got a Duck U staff ID, get the staff discount in the cafeteria, can take advantage of many of the discounts available to employees at other retail shops (like Office Depot, for example), and so on...
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 21, 2011 02:48 PM (OS+Cr)
6
Fair enough, and that's pretty cool.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 21, 2011 03:34 PM (+rSRq)
7
On the off chance that the CEO wasn't okay with how the store looked, were there duck-commandos standing by just out of sight?
Posted by: Siergen at January 21, 2011 06:17 PM (Gqqsw)
8
Just one, but he was hidden in plain sight, Siergen. The store mascot, a purple devil duckie, sits on top of the decorative scrollwork above and behind the cash register stations, silently watching, silently waiting.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 21, 2011 06:34 PM (W8Men)
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