Books!

A trip to Borders almost always does me in. I could be completely broke and have lots of money invested (yes, books are an investment) in books.

Hmm, the last book I read was by Max Lucado, Six Hours one Friday. I'm going to start on Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen next, and have to finish The Success Principles by Jack Canfield by the end of August.

I found three more I'd like at Borders last night: Queen Noor; My Life with the Shah; and the 2005 Guide to the Tour de France by Bob Roll . . . it's pretty hard to get out of there without buying anything, but it happened last night - maybe only because I paid bills yesterday.

Did I mention that I've decided I like Borders better than Barnes & Nobles? It might have something to do with the fact that my favorite professor, Rich Flanagan, used to be the CEO of Borders and had a little something to do with putting a Borders in Winston-Salem - and lots of other places for that matter. He's credited with growing the business from about 40 to about 400 stores - and, on top of that, he was a pretty upstanding guy who was always very gracious and geniuine. (Borders has even named an award after him - look here.)

Now, that's not to say they could lose that coveted status. They've done away with the music department desk and the whole section is littler now (not to mention I couldn't find the Maroon 5 cd that I was looking for last night); they're selling a bunch o'yoga mats and pilates balls, which might be ok, except that they're not a fitness store; and, it seems that they're doing away with stationing a 'help desk' in the middle of the store. Why you would get rid of the main points of customer service, I don't know. I don't think it will make them any more competitive, and I'd bet that the new CEO thinks they need to cut costs. However, their largest costs aren't in their people; they're in the inventory. (They are a retail store; if the inventory doesn't turn, there's a problem.)

Think about it: If one slot of CDs holds 10 CDs, there are 10 slots per row, and six rows per CD stand, that's 600 CDs in one CD stand. Multiply that by 10 stands, 10 sections, that's about 60,000 CDs in one store. At an average of $12 a pop, that's $720,000 that could be sold. Of course, the company spent less than that to get the CDs in the store, but you get the picture.

People, on the other hand, are about $10 an hour (Yes, I'm being generous. I don't have any idea how much Borders is paying it's people.) Let's assume it's a slow time - maybe 10 employees in the store: 2 in cafe, 2 at front registers, 2 managers, 4 others floating/stocking/working those info desks. The only people who would get benefits are the managers and the full-time employees, so let's assume four of those. $1,000 a hour for 10 employees + taxes (most of which are included the employees' checks) + benefits for managers. Cutting those who staff the info desks will save (2 employees x $10/hour x 14 hours open a day x 7 days a week x 50 days a year) about $102,000 a year per store. But will those positions just be shifted elsewhere? I bet at least one of those "people" is retained to accomodate further questions, etc., that will be fielded at the front desk now.

Well, it's time to take the dog for walk so that I won't have to re-vacuum the house today (she sheds constantly in the summer, you know.)