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Waterstone's future "to be resolved in weeks"
01.01.70 | Katie Allen
The future of Waterstone's is expected to be resolved in the next four weeks, with speculation mounting that managing director Dominic Myers could lead a management buyout.
Parent HMV Group effectively put the business up for sale this morning after announcing it was seeking "strategic options" for both Waterstone's and HMV Canada.
City analysts said HMV Group's hand has been forced by the need to satisfy a bank covenant test by its year-end by the end of next month. HMV Group announced earlier this month it was likely to break its covenant tests. Nick Bubb, analyst at Arden Partners, said: "In terms of dealing with the debt, the HMV Group needs to either sell Waterstone's or 7 Digital as well, which is probably worth £10-20million, or raise a very big rights issue."
He added: "The year end is a month away which is why there has been speculation about a bank covenant test. In the next few weeks something has to happen—they will have to raise the money somehow."
Waterstone's has been valued at between £50m and £70m although one observer said he believed the final price of the chain could be much lower. He pointed out suggestions made when Borders UK was put up for sale in 2007 that the retailer could be bought for as much as £60m. It was finally bought by Luke Johnson's Risk Capital Partners for an initial £10m plus £10m based on sales performance.
Publishers contacted by The Bookseller were pessimistic about a possible bid by the chain's founder, Tim Waterstone, who is believed to be investigating a takeover with Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, who has a 6.1% stake in HMV Group. One said: "The market has moved on from the vision of the Tim Waterstone bookshop. The key thing is what this means for specialist bookshops. I hope someone sensible takes over to keep it going. It's massively important what they do for the book trade."
Instead, publishers said they believed Dominic Myers would launch a management buyout himself, pointing out the recent hire of Michael Neil as Waterstone's new commercial director. Neil previously worked with Myers when the latter was m.d. of Blackwell. One said: "Why would Michael leave his job at Bertrams unless he believed there was some m.b.o. activity potential?"
However, the observer was sceptical that a management buyout would be an easy answer for the chain. He said: "So much depends on the investor and their plans for the business. Waterstone's needs someone willing to invest in growth for the business, not asset strip."
If Myers was not to launch an m.b.o., publishers were keen for him and Neil to remain in charge of the book chain. One said: "Dominic is a good person to have at the top and Michael knows the UK retail environment, knows the publishers and suppliers. Not having continuity of senior management would not be helpful for the business."
Tim Hely-Hutchinson, c.e.o. of Hachette UK, said: "My colleagues and I very much hope that Waterstone's and particularly all the dedicated people who work for the company will find themselves in supportive ownership without an excessive period of uncertainty."
Publishers were sympathetic to Waterstone's current position, saying it had been dealt a poor hand by previous management. One publishing m.d. said: "There was no meaningful investment in an online offer when they could have carved out a niche for themselves. Under Gerry Johnson, they could have done more with digital reading, similar to what Barnes & Noble did with their Nook. There was a real opportunity for a mid-market e-book reader device, somewhere between the iPad and the Kindle."
If Waterstone's was to be taken over by new management, publishers said it was likely a more extensive store closure plan would follow, with suggestions it should shrink to around 200 stores from its existing portfolio of more than 300. One said: "Another question for them in the long term is who is their consumer and what sort of brand would appeal?
"Specialist booksellers are great at catering to their own customer but the same customers have been shopping there for years. The question is how do they get new ones in, because for a specialist that is the key challenge. It's a very hard task but not impossible. Waterstone's brand is strong but can be quite daunting for a lot of people outside of the book world or regular book readers/buyers."
Another publishing m.d. added: "Waterstone's is the shop window [for the whole trade]—we need a specialist chain on the high street— it'll be two or three years before digital takes up the slack."
Both Bubb at Arden Partners and Freddie George, analyst at Seymour Pierce, said the group was prompted to make its 9:30am announcement to the City after its share price rose following a story on Sky News last night in which reporter Mark Kleinman said that Hilco was interested in buying HMV Canada.
HMV timeline
30th June 2009
Total group sales growth of 4.4% for 2009
HMV UK & Ireland like for like sales up 1.9%.
Waterstone's like for like sales down 3.8%
Profit before tax and exceptional items up 11.5% to £63.0m
11th December 2009
Total sales £797.0m (2008: £754.5m), up 5.6% for six month period
HMV UK & Ireland total sales up 12.8%, including like for like sales up 1.6%
Waterstone's total sales down 4.3%. Like for like sales down 5.1%
Underlying net debt increased by £14.5m to £88.1m (2008: £73.6m), primarily reflecting acquisition of 7digital.
14th January 2010
Myers appointed.
30th June 2010
Total group sales growth of 3.1%, resulting in record sales in excess of £2bn for 2010
HMV UK & Ireland like for like sales down 2.4% Waterstone's like for like sales down 6.2%
Net debt at £67.6m (2009: £6.5m), reflecting cost of acquisitions during the year
December 2010
Total sales £749.5m (2009: £797.0m), down 6.0% for six month period
HMV UK & Ireland total sales down 15.3%, including like for like sales down 16.1%
Waterstone's total sales down 2.4%. Like for like sales down 3.2%
Underlying net debt of £151.6m (2009: £88.1m)
5th January
Total group sales down 11.9% during Christmas
HMV UK and Ireland like-for-like down 13.6%. Waterstone's like-for-like and total sales down 0.4%
Group will close 60 stores – 40 HMV and 20 Waterstone's and added: “Compliance with the April covenant test under the group's bank facility will be tight" after trade was “significantly undermined by severe weather in the UK”.
6th January
HMV Group insists Waterstone's is “not for sale”.
19th January
Group forced to admit credit insurers are reviewing the level of cover they provide
20th January
Analysts renew call for break up of HMV Group
25th January
More than 1,000 jobs to go across HMV Group.
31st January
Waterstone's asks publishers to scale back March orders to reduce number of returns.
4th February
Russian tycoon Alexander Mamut hires Credit Suisse to advise him on options.
1st March
HMV Group says it expects to breach bank covenant test in April, net debt would be at least £130m and full-year profits will be below expected £45m.
25th March
HMV Group announces it is “pursuing strategic options” for Waterstone's.
30th April
Year-end results and covenant tests.
June 2011
Audited full-year results and bank covenant tests
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Hi concerned. I used to work at W head office until a couple of years ago (NOT in 'Operations', I hasten to add), and the mystery shop is a very useful tool for looking at the company as a whole (you really do see trends taking effect, results of campaigns and so on). However, most managers and RMs are statistically illiterate and don't see how unscientific and useless the reports are on a shop-by-shop level. The idea of using extrapolating a single customer experience - out of potentially thousands, depending on branch size - to be used as a performance indicator for something as nebulous as 'customer service' is really silly. Anyone with a bit of statistical nous can see this, but because it's the only measure available it is constantly used to hit branches over the head with. As with the linksaves, it diverts attention away from more important things like getting range right and focusing on better-margined books. Anyway, my advice is - leave and get a better job! I was a bookseller for many years too and it has become a genuinely unpleasant job.
I agree with the comment about senior visits. I was an Ottakar's manager and didn't want to be taken over by Waterstone's, but tried to be positive and open-minded about the change. However, a visit from a senior figure put paid to that.
He arrived late and proceeded to pull the shop to pieces, even though it was enjoying better like for like sales than most of the shops in the region. His boorish behaviour struck a stark contrast with James Heneage's morale-boosting visits.
My motivation vanished overnight. I didn't want to work for a company that employed people like him.
Management by fear and intimidation might appear to work in the short-term, but James Heneage got people to go the extra mile by treating his staff with respect. His intelligence, warmth and humour inspired great loyalty.
Heneage's final speech to the Ottakar's managers took place days after the takeover. The contrast between his charismatic style and the dull, grey personas of Alan Giles and Gerry Johnson was painful.
If James Heneage does resurface in the new Waterstone's, there will be a lot of very happy people out there.
Hi concerned. I used to work at W head office until a couple of years ago (NOT in 'Operations', I hasten to add), and the mystery shop is a very useful tool for looking at the company as a whole (you really do see trends taking effect, results of campaigns and so on). However, most managers and RMs are statistically illiterate and don't see how unscientific and useless the reports are on a shop-by-shop level. The idea of using extrapolating a single customer experience - out of potentially thousands, depending on branch size - to be used as a performance indicator for something as nebulous as 'customer service' is really silly. Anyone with a bit of statistical nous can see this, but because it's the only measure available it is constantly used to hit branches over the head with. As with the linksaves, it diverts attention away from more important things like getting range right and focusing on better-margined books. Anyway, my advice is - leave and get a better job! I was a bookseller for many years too and it has become a genuinely unpleasant job.
I agree with the comment about senior visits. I was an Ottakar's manager and didn't want to be taken over by Waterstone's, but tried to be positive and open-minded about the change. However, a visit from a senior figure put paid to that.
He arrived late and proceeded to pull the shop to pieces, even though it was enjoying better like for like sales than most of the shops in the region. His boorish behaviour struck a stark contrast with James Heneage's morale-boosting visits.
My motivation vanished overnight. I didn't want to work for a company that employed people like him.
Management by fear and intimidation might appear to work in the short-term, but James Heneage got people to go the extra mile by treating his staff with respect. His intelligence, warmth and humour inspired great loyalty.
Heneage's final speech to the Ottakar's managers took place days after the takeover. The contrast between his charismatic style and the dull, grey personas of Alan Giles and Gerry Johnson was painful.
If James Heneage does resurface in the new Waterstone's, there will be a lot of very happy people out there.
Hi concerned. I used to work at W head office until a couple of years ago (NOT in 'Operations', I hasten to add), and the mystery shop is a very useful tool for looking at the company as a whole (you really do see trends taking effect, results of campaigns and so on). However, most managers and RMs are statistically illiterate and don't see how unscientific and useless the reports are on a shop-by-shop level. The idea of using extrapolating a single customer experience - out of potentially thousands, depending on branch size - to be used as a performance indicator for something as nebulous as 'customer service' is really silly. Anyone with a bit of statistical nous can see this, but because it's the only measure available it is constantly used to hit branches over the head with. As with the linksaves, it diverts attention away from more important things like getting range right and focusing on better-margined books. Anyway, my advice is - leave and get a better job! I was a bookseller for many years too and it has become a genuinely unpleasant job.
I wonder what will happen to the Irish shops (both in the Republic and Northern Ireland)? Everyone's talking about a more 'streamlined' operation, does this mean closing down whole regions that are (relatively) far away from the main operation? And if so, does this mean letting go of the Hodges Figgis in Dublin? I think until recently, maybe 2008, this shop was trading very profitably and probably could again. It would seem odd to let this shop (and many of the others in the region) go.
I work for waterstones and feel the joy of my job has gone!! we are put on all the time! under so much pressure to beat conversion, linksave targets, now 10% of customer orders target! Do you know how ever much I love my job and I do love it, after 27 years I feel
I have come to an end!!! so i wont be sad if my store closes!!!
Tim Waterstone may love books and kids' toys but where's the evidence that he can successfully run a business? Mr Mamut is an unknown quantity but Bookberry should sound alarm bells. James Heneage took the money and ran and no he never remembered every booksellers name.
There's no denying there are some silly edicts and targets floating around waterstones at the moment but all this back-biting bitterness just makes us look like a bunch of belligerent malcontents who don't deserve jobs. I know you all think you are amazing booksellers but sometimes rather than slagging the mystery shop you should take a long hard look at the service you do offer. I've seen some truly awful service in branches that has made me ashamed to be associated with these 'colleagues'. The targets are there to try and make sure we survive.
Some of us are not indulging in "back-biting bitterness", but see this period as an opportunity to voice concerns that may actually be taken on board by a new regime. I don't except the usual official line, (usually spouted by people who don't actually work in a store), that if you give good service you have nothing to fear from mystery shops. For example, you are judged on the warmth of your smile, body language and tone of voice or you could be helping another customer but be perceived by the mystery shopper as ignoring them. This stuff is open to interpretation. Yes, some staff are bad at their job but leave it to the store manager to deal with them. The mystery shop is creating a culture of fear as we are now under ultimate threat of the sack based just on this. It is preventing people happily and freely providing good customer service in a relaxed manner but instead they are doing it in blind terror of being disciplined or sacked. To base judgement of stores and staff on the mystery shop is not only destroying morale, it is just plain stupid.
But where is the evidence that these targets ARE helping to make sure we survive? Percentage increases for mystery shops etc may look nice on a spreadsheet but are they increasing spend or footfall?
Is anyone thinking of turning the Waterstone's brand into a franchise - local ownership, management and operation of the shops, but the buying and marketing power of the brand?
"James Heneage took the money and ran"? What else was he supposed to do?
He could have sat on his yacht and enjoyed a life of leisure, but instead he worked incredibly hard for Prince Charles's Amazon rainforest charity.
No, he didn't know everyone's name by the end - there were over 1000 employees - but he came closer than any other senior manager I've met.
That will never happen when branch managers are told to cut 10% of their payroll.
Franchise would require possibly dumping the hub and I think it would dilute the brand image too, as there would probably be patchy campaign implementations etc if there was less accountability than there currently is. Might be wrong tho!
All the proof of our excellent customer service is on the Mary Portas website- there's hundreds of reviews from members of the public and they've rated us as number 1 on the highstreet. That to me is more telling than the mystery shopper reports we get.
I ain't back biting or slagging the company off; I genuinely love my job and want my store (and all the others) to look and perform at its best. One of the basic lessons of business accounting tho is that there is always a story behind the numbers, and I think senior managers need to interpret the Linksaves figures etc better than they are now.
Drop the linksave... it doesn't work, and just puts extra pressure on store to offer it to every customer who qualifies and then worry if we don't hit the expected target.
Oh, and whoever decided to put paperchase into some stores needs a slap... the rent they pay does not make up for loss of space for books or the decrease in conversion (more people coming in the shop + less average spend = bad figures and we get blamed!).
Booksellers back bite here because if we dare speak up inside the company we get a black mark against us. In the last period of redundancies we weren't even allowed to question the process in our own forum.
Sometimes these comments can look like a drone moan fest, but when millions of pounds are wasted on hubs, POS, mystery shops, ribena t-shirts and payoffs for imbeciles like raynor and johnson...and now staff are being asked to take unpaid leave so that the labour costs look more appealing to russian oligarchs. Can you blame us?
Well said, Nullified Voice.
Unpaid leave?? Anyone know any more details? Doesn't sound good!
Unpaid leave?? when anyone finds out we need to know!! not good at all!
as far as i understand...managers are being asked to make savings where possible. this means no overtime, and if someone leaves they may not be replaced, or replaced on less hours. no-one is being TOLD to take unpaid leave, but if someone WANTS to they can! simples. haven't any of you guys got managers you can ask before frightening folk with this talk?
Despite the talks of being sold and the downward spiral of sales, these are sad times to be part of Waterstone's.
There are some senior managers in this business that are poisoning it from the inside.
There is very little praise or recognition on store visits and nothing in terms of motivation. These people are our leaders, surely they can muster up some positive words and maybe even something resembling a pep talk.
Last time we had an important visit our shop was left flat and demoralised, despite a team effort to make it great, there was nothing nice said. Nothing. At one point whilst talking to this person, they proceeded just to simply walk away.
The problem here is that this is happening in one form or another in every single branch this manager visits. It's very damaging.
There is a serious lack of respect for the staff and it's becoming serious.
I agree with the comment about senior visits. I was an Ottakar's manager and didn't want to be taken over by Waterstone's, but tried to be positive and open-minded about the change. However, a visit from a senior figure put paid to that.
He arrived late and proceeded to pull the shop to pieces, even though it was enjoying better like for like sales than most of the shops in the region. His boorish behaviour struck a stark contrast with James Heneage's morale-boosting visits.
My motivation vanished overnight. I didn't want to work for a company that employed people like him.
Management by fear and intimidation might appear to work in the short-term, but James Heneage got people to go the extra mile by treating his staff with respect. His intelligence, warmth and humour inspired great loyalty.
Heneage's final speech to the Ottakar's managers took place days after the takeover. The contrast between his charismatic style and the dull, grey personas of Alan Giles and Gerry Johnson was painful.
If James Heneage does resurface in the new Waterstone's, there will be a lot of very happy people out there.
I agree with the comment about senior visits. I was an Ottakar's manager and didn't want to be taken over by Waterstone's, but tried to be positive and open-minded about the change. However, a visit from a senior figure put paid to that.
He arrived late and proceeded to pull the shop to pieces, even though it was enjoying better like for like sales than most of the shops in the region. His boorish behaviour struck a stark contrast with James Heneage's morale-boosting visits.
My motivation vanished overnight. I didn't want to work for a company that employed people like him.
Management by fear and intimidation might appear to work in the short-term, but James Heneage got people to go the extra mile by treating his staff with respect. His intelligence, warmth and humour inspired great loyalty.
Heneage's final speech to the Ottakar's managers took place days after the takeover. The contrast between his charismatic style and the dull, grey personas of Alan Giles and Gerry Johnson was painful.
If James Heneage does resurface in the new Waterstone's, there will be a lot of very happy people out there.
Hear hear! This echoes my own experience. Unfortunately for Waterstones I think James has too much sense to get involved in the industry in the present climate, although I am sure he will be tempted just because he loves books and bookselling so much. There has been a seismic shift in the way people read and purchase books and Waterstones in its current form will not survive it. The whole bookselling and publishing industry has to rethink its business model if it wants to survive long term. Sad but true. But hopefully, if the right decisions are made, it can be a case of "the king is dead, long live the king", so to speak.
I agree with the comments about mystery shopping. I actually undertook one of those assignments myself so I know how they are constructed. There is little scope for the shopper to take account of the real issues (you are specifically told not to comment on avialability for instance) and the focus is very much on the bookseller having gone through a checklist of generic "customer friendly" responses. If Waterstones think that the attitude of their staff to customers is the big issue, they are seriously deluded. It's the proposition that is at fault. There are always a few porr staff, but my experience in Waterstones (and HMV for that matter) is that the staff care about what they are doing, but have a slightly hunted feel about them.
A note on the anonymous opinion survey: it is anonymous and last year it pointed out some serious problems in my store, some of which were resolved where they otherwise wouldn't have been. I'm glad the mystery shoppers have gone though, we did well at them but its horrible being so scared that the one book you couldn't find or order or whatever could lead to a really poor score. Good luck to whoever buys the little w (and preferably Dominic in my view) because I still love my job and want my store to remain open! (Probably despite my manager)
I wonder what will happen to the Irish shops (both in the Republic and Northern Ireland)? Everyone's talking about a more 'streamlined' operation, does this mean closing down whole regions that are (relatively) far away from the main operation? And if so, does this mean letting go of the Hodges Figgis in Dublin? I think until recently, maybe 2008, this shop was trading very profitably and probably could again. It would seem odd to let this shop (and many of the others in the region) go.
I work for waterstones and feel the joy of my job has gone!! we are put on all the time! under so much pressure to beat conversion, linksave targets, now 10% of customer orders target! Do you know how ever much I love my job and I do love it, after 27 years I feel
I have come to an end!!! so i wont be sad if my store closes!!!
Couldn't agree with you more, ALL of my colleagues feel the same way, they have had enough. The diktats from Dom and co are becoming more frequent and ridiculous- the purple monstrosities are the final insult.
It's all the booksellers fault, not selling enough linksaves, not taking enough customer orders, not stickering/destickering quickly enough...
The Big Idea ?
Do they ever take responsibility for the mess they have got us in to ? The entire board and senior management should be culled not the bookshops and the booksellers.
Tim Waterstone may love books and kids' toys but where's the evidence that he can successfully run a business? Mr Mamut is an unknown quantity but Bookberry should sound alarm bells. James Heneage took the money and ran and no he never remembered every booksellers name.
There's no denying there are some silly edicts and targets floating around waterstones at the moment but all this back-biting bitterness just makes us look like a bunch of belligerent malcontents who don't deserve jobs. I know you all think you are amazing booksellers but sometimes rather than slagging the mystery shop you should take a long hard look at the service you do offer. I've seen some truly awful service in branches that has made me ashamed to be associated with these 'colleagues'. The targets are there to try and make sure we survive.
But where is the evidence that these targets ARE helping to make sure we survive? Percentage increases for mystery shops etc may look nice on a spreadsheet but are they increasing spend or footfall?
"James Heneage took the money and ran"? What else was he supposed to do?
He could have sat on his yacht and enjoyed a life of leisure, but instead he worked incredibly hard for Prince Charles's Amazon rainforest charity.
No, he didn't know everyone's name by the end - there were over 1000 employees - but he came closer than any other senior manager I've met.
Trying to avoid the takeover by going to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission actually cost James millions and he made sure to visit as many shops as he could before he left, so to say he "took the money and ran" is nothing short of slanderous if you ask me.
Some of us are not indulging in "back-biting bitterness", but see this period as an opportunity to voice concerns that may actually be taken on board by a new regime. I don't except the usual official line, (usually spouted by people who don't actually work in a store), that if you give good service you have nothing to fear from mystery shops. For example, you are judged on the warmth of your smile, body language and tone of voice or you could be helping another customer but be perceived by the mystery shopper as ignoring them. This stuff is open to interpretation. Yes, some staff are bad at their job but leave it to the store manager to deal with them. The mystery shop is creating a culture of fear as we are now under ultimate threat of the sack based just on this. It is preventing people happily and freely providing good customer service in a relaxed manner but instead they are doing it in blind terror of being disciplined or sacked. To base judgement of stores and staff on the mystery shop is not only destroying morale, it is just plain stupid.
Is anyone thinking of turning the Waterstone's brand into a franchise - local ownership, management and operation of the shops, but the buying and marketing power of the brand?
I mentioned this the other day at work and there were some mildly interested nods - it makes sense, local markets and community etc but could a bookshop seriously sustain the cashflow needed to keep franchises going, like in phone shops and fast food chains? thats the thing, books are a slower product (and rightly so) and may not be able to produce the income to make a franchise worth it - i would seriously consider the prospect though if it became an option...
Franchise would require possibly dumping the hub and I think it would dilute the brand image too, as there would probably be patchy campaign implementations etc if there was less accountability than there currently is. Might be wrong tho!
All the proof of our excellent customer service is on the Mary Portas website- there's hundreds of reviews from members of the public and they've rated us as number 1 on the highstreet. That to me is more telling than the mystery shopper reports we get.
I ain't back biting or slagging the company off; I genuinely love my job and want my store (and all the others) to look and perform at its best. One of the basic lessons of business accounting tho is that there is always a story behind the numbers, and I think senior managers need to interpret the Linksaves figures etc better than they are now.
Drop the linksave... it doesn't work, and just puts extra pressure on store to offer it to every customer who qualifies and then worry if we don't hit the expected target.
Oh, and whoever decided to put paperchase into some stores needs a slap... the rent they pay does not make up for loss of space for books or the decrease in conversion (more people coming in the shop + less average spend = bad figures and we get blamed!).
...
not in my store? it works rather well actually, but hey ho, thats the thing - there isn't a 'one size fits all' solution and thats the problem with HO, repeatedly hammering in 'fixes' that don't fit in all cases. Perhaps if they stepped back for a moment and actually paid attention to local markets and specifically tailored 342's and FOS offers, you'd get more people in and more money through the tills
but what do i know? i'm merely a bookseller of 5 years and several stores experience, but because i'm weekend only, there's no opportunities for me to take up because 2 days a week isnt enough time apparently to take on any of the work thats crippling my colleagues and leaving them unable to actually sell the dratted books they put out in their sections. cheers, regional manager...
grr, bad night...
REally - linksaves don't work?!!
We took and extra £500 in my store due to linksaves last week. thats £500 we would have taken.
the main problem with the company is it's full of stale booksellers who wish it was still 1960, and books will aact people who will just buy with ut the staff putting some effort in.
Retail has changed in the last 18 months (all retail not just books) the staff on the front line need to be willing to change, adapt and try new things...sure some stuff won't work and some stuff will.
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always had.
Booksellers back bite here because if we dare speak up inside the company we get a black mark against us. In the last period of redundancies we weren't even allowed to question the process in our own forum.
Sometimes these comments can look like a drone moan fest, but when millions of pounds are wasted on hubs, POS, mystery shops, ribena t-shirts and payoffs for imbeciles like raynor and johnson...and now staff are being asked to take unpaid leave so that the labour costs look more appealing to russian oligarchs. Can you blame us?
Well said, Nullified Voice.
Unpaid leave?? Anyone know any more details? Doesn't sound good!
as far as i understand...managers are being asked to make savings where possible. this means no overtime, and if someone leaves they may not be replaced, or replaced on less hours. no-one is being TOLD to take unpaid leave, but if someone WANTS to they can! simples. haven't any of you guys got managers you can ask before frightening folk with this talk?
OK I am amanager and I will confirm NO ONE has been told to take unpaid leave.
Yes we have been asked to make a 5% saving on payoll - through "natural wastage" (to coin a phrase) if someone leaves we have been asked to reduce the hours by the cost of 5%.
would people please stop moaning about the t-shirts. please get over it. It's a t-shirt, hardly worth quitting over!
best to talk to your managers on a one-to-one basis (or read compass!)
Well as the saving wanted on payroll is 10% NOT 5% I wouldn't be happy about your level of knowledge as a manager.
As for the t-shirts my staff love the colour as it really does help you stand out to customers but many female staff take objection to customers staring at their breasts reading the wording, many feel very uncomfortable with this and in these times of minimal staffing levels worry about unsavoury characters and sexual comments and Waterstone's should also worry about this and the possible sexual harrassment or descrimination cases that could arise.
My mind is taken back to a rather awful christmas t-shirt that did the exact same thhing but was much more suggestive: 'can i help you find the perfect present?' - it wasn't worn more than once.
Unpaid leave?? when anyone finds out we need to know!! not good at all!
perhaps asking the staff to work for a month without pay would help the company out a bit?
Perhaps not paying Simon Fox nearly £1 million would of helped the company out a bit. If he weren't at the helm would HMV have actually done any worse?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1310959/Investor-rebellion-HMV-...
god mavis, i hope you aren't as ugly as your posts. and the point of that was?
The whole comment on management visits, I can see why they are openly critical, the majority of branches of Waterstone's are absolutely dire and resemble something closer to WHS than a bookshop and are still trying to follow Gerry's message so no wonder people then go around pulling them to pieces.
The stores that are given praise and held up to the rest estate as goode examples are the ones that are doing well and also show signs of individuality rather than lumping 3for2 everywhere and piling books high.
So rather than coming on here slagging off the company or via other forms of social media maybe more booksellers should be getting their hands dirty and putting that bit of extra work in, because times are tough on the high street at the moment and if people want a job they are gonna have to work hard. Because as a publisher the stores that I see that are doing that are a lot more successful than the rest.
This is probably the most ridiculous thing I've read on here. By 'publisher' I guess you mean rep. To say that stores look a bit on the WHS side is a fair comment but as the post below says, this is what we've been told to do. And understaffing (in small/medium stores) means that these constant changes take up time that could be spent 'getting our hands dirty' and making the shop look good! The stores you cite as 'examples' are no doubt large stores who have enough staff and have established (unsackable) managers who can stand up to to the retail divs when they come and ask why they arent doing what theyre told.
Euch... The Daily Mail. Scum.
mavis_rimmel - What a ridiculous comment. Why even participate in commenting in this discussion when you can't suggest anything sensible? Who in their right mind could go without pay for a month let alone a week?
latest anonymous person - Stores are looking dire at the moment because we are following what Head Office says down to the very last book. We even have to print off pictures of how a 3for2 table looks and organise our tables exactly like the pictures demonstrates. Never mind the fact we might have different stock levels or table sizes. I think to say booksellers need to 'get their hands dirty' is just immature and you're obviously provoking all the bookseller commenters on here for a response. I come home everyday literally covered in dust, absolutely exhausted because we are extremely short staffed and are moving the store round all the time. We know it's tough and believe me, we are all very grateful to have a job still when millions in the UK don't. This should never mean we become complacent with our working situation and never speak out. This is merely what people are doing and if The Bookseller is the chosen avenue to talk about our issues then so be it...because our forum certainly isn't the place for it.
The way I see it currently, we have gone back to the Gerry Johnson scheme of things. Whereas a few months ago we could choose what books are displayed where and how they are displayed, we are now very disciplined and have no scope or artistic integrity in the work that we do.
who made you the big chief master anonymous (posted 17:26), why don't you let people let off some steam.
Am I alone in thinking that this is going to drag on for all us poor men and women in Black (sorry - Grape)? I love our company, will do anything and everything asked of me to keep it going. I also ensure everyday that my team continue to give 110% but without the ridiculous fear attached. These managers who you all list as "bullying" you all need to wake up and smell the coffee. We are all in this together, like it or lump it.
Also, having met and listened to the senior management team, I believe they are doing the right things in a controlled HMV straight jacket. I live in hope, but could do without the uncertainty for me and my team-mates.
There's a rumour that Gerry Johnson and Stuart 'the brand' Baggs have teamed up...
When will people face the fact that the business models of HMV and Waterstones no longer work? Why do they not work... because people aren't buying like they used to. Especially at places like HMV where the product they sell is moribund. OK, so Waterstones has a chance to prolong the inevitable by securing new investment/ownership but ultimately the high street book 'superstore' is just not going to cut it anymore. No matter how they try to reinvent it.
If I were Tim Waterstone I'd start up a new business with the capital he would be wasting on buying a dead in the water retailer. If he truly wants to return to the 'local bookshop' values then open some new stores in smaller premises just on the fringes of the main city centres where rent and rates are much cheaper. He could at least take some staff with him then. This would enable individual shops to tailor their offer to the local market (of which the booksellers have the knowledge) rather than have to push ghastly non-book products and try and compete on chart titles with supermarkets and Amazon. Which they will never be able to do.
I am very sad to hear this news, of course. I fell victim to Borders collapse but am I suprised by it? Not a bit. I just hope it's not another Luke Johnson-type that snaps the business up only to leave it to rot into oblivion. I'd like to at least see it go down with a fight.
It could be worse though... Hilco are interested in HMV Canada... if I was working there I would be getting my CV at the ready. They will asset strip that business and, rightly or wrongly in my opinion, it will be the end of HMV in Canada. So, Waterstones employees, the writing isn't on the wall yet but I'd be seriously considering your future in the next six months or so. Do yourselves a favour and get redundancy cover, I buried my head in the sand, didn't sign up and I've kicked myself ever since.
I honestly wish you all the best and I do hope to still be buying books on the high street at some point in the future. Whether that's at Waterstones or not, only time will tell.
Peace.
It seems many members of staff have already thrown in the towel and have no drive or passion for the job. That's certainly the case in my store and I'm fed up with picking up the slack but if I don't the store will look even worse than it does now.
I hope we find a buyer soon and that they put some real energy back into the stores... otherwise Waterstone's is over on the High Street.
FAO Button. Yes indeed, we were asked today whether we would consider taking unpaid leave! According to an e-mail I saw, it's nothing to worry about :)
Hmmm....this franchise thing...how's that work again?
I'm a LPA at Waterstones and i have now been told that i am going to be made redundant at the end of April in a polite way!!
This in my opinion is to unfortunatly cook the books i think to future buyers. I have have been there is over thirty of us losing our positions.
LPA? Loss prevention?
LPA = Loss Prevention Assistant.
LPA = loss profit and audit. So more good news then :)
cheer up guys - look it's a cute kittie!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8
How true is it that the mystery shops have been canned?
No Waterstone's gift cards in our store BECAUSE ... they have run out and aren't making any before the end of the finacial year. What can it all mean?
that the end of the financial year is tight considering we're still part of HMV group, who've already said they might breach some banking covenants they have the banks on the loans they took out?
no surprises that they're waiting till the new loans come on in before spending any more money - considered transferring some in from a branch that has too many?