Experiences at BARNES & NOBLE BOOKSELLERS

Part of the internal consulting team that implemented strategic projects and technology spanning across all departments of the company.

Honed skills in customer service, inventory management, and retail operations in general. At the end of my tenure I spent three months as an interim Department Manager, and revisited my previous store management skills.

Presently I receive books part time. I have also previously worked on the shop floor both operating the cash register, at customer information, and shelving books.

I learned how to work in every department of the store. These departments were information, music, kids, cafe, cash line and some receiving. I have stocked (at least once) every section in the store.

Customer service; cashiering; maintainig sales floor

At our B&N, our biggest challenge was space. Our customer base was much larger than the original design for the store. There were times where we literally hid the overstock under displays and inbetween walls because there was no other room for it. It made the 80s children feel like the hours spent playing tetris were finally worth something, but we were always scratching our heads with each new shipment....

Fiction Queen, Fiction Girl, oh-thank-god-Erin's-here: These are some of the labels I earned after taking the fiction lead position. When I arrived at New Hampshire's alpha store, it looked like a going-out-of-business used bookstore. Two weeks and a LOT of alphabatizing, inventory, and general stock maintenance put the fiction department back into its spot as the number one selling section. After the initial mess had been tamed, I kept the sales up by switching promotional displays once a month as well as rotating a healthy stock of staff recommends. Both myself and Barnes & Noble Corporate HQ were responsible for store lists on promotional displays....

Don't even walk into a B&N without having your favorite authors, publishers, editions, etc. We are book lovers to the max (and some of us like music and lattes as well), and we love to talk about it. You don't have to be an expert at sales, the books sell themselves; however you have to be ready to wow your manager with your vast knowledge of Jane Austen's Bargain Hardcovers or Anita Shreve's Publisher's markdown paperbacks....