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Waterstone's is trialling a new personal shopper service in its new Liverpool One store, the biggest branch the retailer has opened in nearly 10 years. The 22,000 sq ft store, which is in the city's new 42-acre shopping and restaurant complex, held its official opening on Saturday (December 6th) after beginning trading the previous week.
The shop, split between two floors, employs 57 staff with a 70/30 split between part time and full-time booksellers. Three members of staff on each floor work as personal shoppers between 12-3pm and 4-6pm daily. The staff wear special green shirts and do not have any till duties during this time. The booksellers do not carry any money nor work on a commission basis.
"All people have to do is tell us a little about who they need to get a present for, and the personal shopper will select the perfect gift," said the store's manager Ian Critchley. "Given we have over 60,000 books, as well as everything else we sell, we think this will be the perfect service for those who are spoilt for choice and pushed for time."
In the run-up to the store's opening, staff went through the retailer's six-week Get Selling training programme with placements in local stores to learn skills.
The shop has 3.1km of bookshelves across the two floors including a 36-bay fiction section apart from romance books. The branch runs its teenage titles into the science fiction area because, noted Critchley, "there's a lot of crossover between the two sections". There is also a selection of anime DVDs alongside the branch's selection of manga.
On the ground floor there is a 10-bay local interest section, with the likes of books on footballers from both Everton and Liverpool as well as titles on the Beatles. "We're very proud of our roots and heritage here so it makes sense," said Critchley. "We are also asking people to write about their favourite local books and other titles and placing those cards on the shelves." The branch also carries store specific non-book content such as Beatles mugs.
The store is the biggest new branch since Waterstone's Piccadilly branch was opened in 1999. "This is the bookshop the Capital of Culture deserves," said m.d. Gerry Johnson. "It's a vibrant, exciting shop that will be at the heart of Liverpool's cultural life."
Poet Roger McGough held a talk at the branch on Friday with appearances by comedian Alexei Sayle and World Superbike sportsman James Toseland to come on December 10th and 14th.