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Waterstone's "understocked" claims Daunt
20.05.11 | Roger Tagholm
In words that will be possibly be pinned up in sales directors’ offices up and down the land, Waterstone’s in-coming chief James Daunt said he believes current stock levels are too low throughout the chain. “There are simply not enough books in the shops. Having a well capitalised business means we can address that.”
He had good news for the 4,000-odd staff too. Contrary to widespread expectation, he said he does not want to close branches. He said: “The intention is to keep the shops open and make them vibrant, prosperous places. In an ideal world one would not be closing shops. It may be that some prove irredeemable—the real question is: is there room on our high streets for 300 stores and I believe there is. I believe that Waterstone’s should be an integral part of the community and part of the cultural life of the nation. I wouldn’t be taking this on if I didn’t think it was a worthwhile thing to be doing, and though it is by no means an easy task, I am very excited.”
He stressed he isn’t actually in situ yet and the first priority is to learn from those in Waterstone’s how the business is run. But shopfloor staff should feel reassured that Daunt has been a sleeves-rolled-up bookseller for more than 20 years and knows, as he put it, “the difference between a Marston box and an NBN one”.
He has huge respect for booksellers and believes the Waterstone’s staff in the branches are absolutely key to the chain’s success. “As a bookseller you have a number of stakeholders to satisfy, and a very important one is your employees. That is one of my principles at Daunts.”
The one charge some people lay against Waterstone’s today is that it has become boring—"homogenous" is the word frequently used. No one makes the same criticism of Daunts. How much Daunt can transfer that philosophy of branch individuality to a nationwide chain is a key question. It could mean there will be fewer chain-wide campaigns in the future.
In essence, Daunt’s approach to bookselling is simple: “Bookshops should reflect their communities, and that’s obviously going to vary from place to place.” His own shops respond rapidly to the market and he believes strongly in empowering his staff to be able to do that.
Daunt’s involvement has been a well-kept secret and has surprised everyone. He said he was introduced to Mamut at the Westminster house of a mutual friend around 18 months ago. “We got on extremely well. Alexander is a genuine booklover—bookshops are a world he feels great affinity with.”
Interestingly, both are extremely private men who like to operate quietly in the background. How does Daunt feel about the enormity of the job? “I have zero-motivation for the public glory of it. I don’t subscribe to the cult of the c.e.o.. I’m there to provide the strategy, the tempo, the morals of the company, but it’s down to the individuals in the 300 shops to make this work. It’s all about giving them the tools to meet the challenge.”
Daunt - no role for Waterstone in chain's new era
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He's right! Shops have been understocked with only crap, 342s and linksaves left for ages. Hope Daunt does turn things around, but he is probably a bit naive regarding there being a place for over 300 shops on the high street in the 21st century. He needs to streamline and develop a strong chain once again.
Fantastic news! :)
Very encouraging.
I work in a branch that is underperforming on sales, BUT all our sales are either from our local interest section (which is one of the best in the region), shop chosen titles (if we're allowed to order them) and most of all from the mass market titles that the general public wants, a copy of Madeleine sold is just as important as a copy of Jerusalem. I am still very worried about my job.
Waterstone's is literally the only place on most high streets where you can buy the Madeleine McCann book, an expensive achitecture book, a graphic novel or a travel guide.
You don't get that range in Sainsburys.
Improving the range and being able to stock the books customers want is great news....my only concern is that at the moment many branches won't actually have enough staff members to put the stock out and will face massive back-logs of totes...
I do welcome Mr Daunt's appointment,his attitude towards Waterstones being more in touch with their local communities is a vast improvement over the "one size fits all" philosophy of late,and I feel encouraged by his attitude towards the shopfloor staff,we've been left feeling under-valued for far too long now...
A part of me does feel sad at Dominic's departure,I feel if H.M.V had given him more freedom then the good start we had under him would have kept improving
but here's to looking forward,let's not expect radical changes immediately,and let's all give Mr Daunt the time to make the changes that are needed.
I'd be happy if we don't have to constantly change POS because "the shade of colour was wrong"...and if we could lose the "I know you've spent loads of money but please spend another fiver" linksave and had time to do what we're meant to do,i.e.SELL BOOKS.....
Jeepers, the monumental waste of time and money spent with the constant POS! Let's hope Mr Daunt has the sense not to spend money on it and on idiot consultants that obviously convinced Dominic & Co that pink and purple colours would sell more books... what a relief it will be to have our lovely range back! Roll on July.
Welcome to the team Mr Daunt, working for you you will find a bunch of ragged tagged, intellegent, funny, passionate, motivated, team-playing, (sometimes) nutty induviduals. If you give them the power to do what they do best you will have a winner on your hands!!
Personally I'm looking forward to the changes. BRING IT ON!!
you don't get it at waterstone's either since they have stopped buying.
Fantastic news! I left Waterstones 18 months ago after 13 years as a bookseller/lead bookseller. I loved my job but the lack of staff, stock, management, support, or really any resources at all was just too stressful! I hope Mr. Daunt manages to address all these issues, as well as stock levels/variety, pos, the ridiculous amount of offers, use of front of store space, LINK SAVES (boo!) and the hub! He's got lot of work on his hands, but a heck of a good team behind him! Waterstones really does have the people needed to make branches individual and locally responsive- as it was when I started there more than a decade ago, but of course with a more modern slant (you are competing with the internet, after all!). Just listen to your staff, and you can't go far wrong... Good luck!
The stock issue is a no brainer, all levels of branches I'm sure and the internet side of the business as well will and do need an injection. With any luck away from HMV our stock holding will be in Waterstones hands again and not getting used to prop up the group as a whole. I can understand why they did it , but it really shot ourselves in the foot a little.
I don't envisage a massive change regarding other stuff any time soon, 3 for 2's are a huge and profitable chunk of most stores, as are competitive pricing offers. My branch has a decent "local" section but for us it's not as massive a seller as the campaign or other specialised sections can be and are.
The POS thing is irritating yes, but unless it's left to pile up it's not actually a massive job for any branch to deal with. With modern digital printing , it's a far cry from what it used to cost, I would still love to see a price comparison , but POS is really a small thing for people to keep banging on about.
Every Waterstones Bookseller who today moans about (1) T-shirts (2) Linksaves (3) POS changeovers (4)Anything else really - should be sacked this coming Monday.
This is genuinely great news for Waterstones and for your shop - stop moaning and start working - Daunt will need positive and enthusiastic staff to make this work - not the vocal minority we've got used to on here.....
Moaning about those things IS positive.
And the 'start working' quip is pretty offensive.
Other than that I'm in complete agreement with you. Great news indeed.
@hairy mamut. So what your saying is we should all tell James Daunt that everythings fine even though it clearly isn't. This is the chance to tell him what we really think has gone wrong, and in interviews he has said he wants to talk to the staff. One of the problems is the kind of attitude you have expressed - the Waterstones way of saying shut up or you're sacked. That has been the motivational tool for the past few years and it does not do much for my motivation. I used to put myself out and work over for nothing sometimes, but not any more. If the bullying culture ends, only then will I be positive and enthusiastic.
Can I burn my purple Tshirt now, please?
The Daunt model of bookselling is never to discount a book and yet have a wide range. It is interesting that all 6 daunt bookshops are in affluent catchment areas, where this model of bookselling may work.
But it's not going to work in 300 branches. Reason tells you that branches have to close, so that you are left with the larger stores and those that are in affluent areas, where this model of bookselling is more likely to work.
Everyone who loves books should be excited by this news and will be right behind you Mr Daunt and that includes independent booksellers / shops.
Also... we really need to get a proper recycling incentive going on. I don't know about other stores, but the amount of paper and card we throw away is disgusting.
Dear Hairy Mamut,
For someone to say ' get working' is inappropriate (I'm being really, really polite to you here). We, the booksellers have worked incredibly hard against all the obstacles put in out way (hub, phoenix, terrible management, and yes, stupid T-shirts). If you say that this isn't so, than I imagine you're talking about what you have been NOT doing till now - er...work hard???
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