Has any current employee heard anything about DM’s on the east coast being let go? Apparently the business development program/sales people are now reporting to the regional BDM and DMs were let go. Hearsay though - and I’m on the west coast. That’s not happening here that I know of
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This is a great site! It's everything we've been saying for years! I'm so glad people aren't afraid to tell the truth!
@XlSLl0F-9mou: If this is so, this might be the first good idea the suits in NYC have had in, like, fifteen years. Most DMs had oversight of around a dozen stores; they were well paid for this (I assume), but many of them did little to earn their money.
Everything is linked to metrics. Is the store doing better year-over-year? Check. Is the store increasing Membership numbers? Check. If a DM is overseeing a dozen stores, and is smart on who they assign as store managers, the metrics take care of themselves; naturally, the motivated DM would have to show up, once in a while, to each store, do a Store Visit, ask a few questions to ASMs and MMs and booksellers and provide the paperwork, along with their mileage reimbursements to show that they were doing their jobs, and wait for the paychecks and/or bonuses to flow in.
People (like myself) tend to rail against VPs, but middle management is the true bane of American business and, more importantly, American workers. They often get the impression that they're as important as VPs, who really aren't important at all. They tend to overuse business-speak terms like "the sharp edge" or "leaning forward" to describe themselves, when often all they are is seat-warmers. In reality, they do very little. I've said this once on this site, that a mediocre ASM is far less important to the company than a very good receiving manager, and I stand by this.
The idea that Area Managers is actually very good; by shrinking the responsibility, managers will be more responsible. I've known a few good DMs, but as a whole, they probably s---.
I’m also on the west coast. Haven’t heard about DMs being fired. In fact, in my district, they just made a SM an “area manager” in charge of 4 stores; so she’s a mini DM. There’s also another area manager starting in San Diego. Seems to be a trend, these area managers. They probably get paid less than a DM. Maybe the area managers are going to replace DMs!
@@XlSLl0F-5qrc: I really have no idea; I'm somewhat surprised that the company survived the holidays. If I saw some evidence that the company was trying something new to turn things around--like getting rid of the NOOK, for instance, which has been a money pit for years--I'd be a little more sanguine about BN's chances for survival.
Going to smaller format stores, I suppose, might help things out. It's easier to run a 14,000 square foot floor than a 25,000 square foot floor, particularly with the absurdly short staffing one now sees. However, it appears that BN is looking to get new spaces inside malls, which didn't work for them twenty years ago--try to find a B. Dalton today--and also relo's cost a lot of money, and it's not clear to me that the company has a lot of money laying around. Also, one of the reasons the company expanded so quickly was due to smart real estate decisions, like picking properties for new stores that were somewhat lower quality but cheap. By signing long leases and leaning on landlords for rebates on the rent, smaller and more marginal stores could still make a profit.
As I posted earlier here, I think that one day the company's line of credit (which is keeping the doors open) will dry up, but I have no idea when this tipping point is going to happen. It could be this coming Monday, or it might be six months from now. I really don't see BN surviving (at least in its present form) to make it through another holiday. For those still there, it's probably not a great idea to hold on and stay with the company for the ride--you don't want to be the last guy out of the building when they padlock the store.
Why aren't more people reporting their store's SALES here?
That doesn't make me feel very confident.
@Bronko - You seem to have a lot of knowledge about the company and you do have a history of working there which is evident by your posts. In your estimation, how long do you think the company has before it really downsizes and/or goes bankrupt?
Honestly, I'm somewhat surprised by this hatred of DMs--not that, I'm sure, there are some really bad DMs in the company; there are plenty of really bad people at BN to go around. I myself had been lucky with my DMs, and always felt they were good, professional people. I suppose that for most booksellers, the DM was the highest level person they usually saw in the store.
I would assume that most district managers are looking for a lifeboat, as everybody should at BN. Regarding that some DMs were getting fired, this should not be surprising. With a company in its death-throes like BN, plenty of disposable people will be getting the chop, including DMs,
I've written this plenty of times before on this site, but all those who are working at BN should also be looking for a way out. There are plenty of jobs out there for everybody; I don't care if you're a bookseller, or a MM, an ASM, a SM or a DM. Find something else, preferably something you might enjoy doing, and give your notice.
They must know their time is limited. Why bother at this point? I just wish they get screwed like we will.
I am in So Cal and our DM is poor performer at best. Honestly, he does not care about the worker, the store, the customer. He's in this for himself only. I've interacted with him for 5+ years now and it's been really bad.
Barnes and Noble will never allow unionization. They are bleeding money. Any unionizing will destroy them sooner than later.
I'm on the West Coast too - I haven't heard anything about it, but I agree, ours should be fired too. She leads by fear and has unrealistic expectations. She lies about her whereabouts and plays favorites. Our store has burned through 6 store managers in 4 years because of her. Truly evil!!
I've heard on another site people were talking about unionizing.
I know our disgusting DM should have been fired years ago. She does nothing to improve our store and tortures everyone who works here. We just had a receiving manager and a café manager quit within a month of each other because of her lying and harassment. I'm amazed Frank keeps her around. WORST DM EVER!