Keeps Getting Better
I’m grateful for all the responses and emails that I’ve already gotten! It’s been barely a day! Thank you all so much! I’ll add again that I’m not stopping the Bookseller comic. The purpose of this story line is to take you through what it was like closing a store. I had to the unfortunate experience of such an ordeal one year ago closing the real Westgate store. I’m incredibly appreciative of the stories I’ve been sent so far and I welcome more. I’m sure with what I’ve plotted out I’m missing certain aspects of closing a bookstore and I’d love to hear from you all. I also hope that this can bring out some catharsis for those in similar circumstances. Thanks!
So, here’s a comic on a Tuesday inspired by an email from Jason:
“Hi, my name is Jason. The store I worked at (Richmond, CA)closed a few years ago but
since I read your last update I wanted to share what happened. Plain and simple out
of roughly 25 employees, including managers, only one was transferred to other
locations, but one in particular stuck out. The assistant manager who was with the
company for 20+ years and the last employee to basically work any hours in the location
had to be the one to let herself go. The district manager kept hemming and hawing
and stalling looking around the empty store when she finally said “Look, you
got a life and I got a life so just tell me I’m done.” And her quote to me
personally was, “20 years and poof”. I think its stinks only one person got
transferred but really kinda sad that they wouldn’t or couldn’t find a spot for such
a tenured employee.”
We had a lot of that happen. The worst part, the thing that turned a sad situation into a giant cluster-cuss was not only the closing of my store, but our neighboring store, The Pruneyard, was getting shuttered too. If people were in a panic before, the floodgates opened after that announcement.
Jason, thanks for the email! Sometimes the best thing to do in a bad situation is just move forward.
