Does anyone still shop at HMV?

my copy of the Scott Walker '30 Century Man' DVD came in a nifty loooking 'HMV Exclusive' sleeve with a booklet

there is an 'exclusive' hmv version of the new ke$ha album.
tis a differently designed slipcase.

went in this lunch hour and picked up the superb grace jones 2cd set, 'the compass point sessions', for £7.50 which i'm quite chuffed about.
but not a lot has changed, but the staff were running round shuffling stock like their lives depended on it.

There is that "you might keep your job if we get bought" aspect, I can believe it.

dunno where else to put this so to heck with it. figure that probably hardly anyone reads the Popbitch mailout anymore so I don't feel too lame c+p-ing from it

>> Thicker than Waterstone's <<
The high street's last stand

Last October, HMV overhauled their
staff policy. Afraid it was their
workers' body art and sandals that
were driving customers away, bosses
demanded that all extreme tattoos,
piercings and toes be covered up.

What good did ragging on the staff
do them? None.

So Waterstone's, take heed. Tales
reach us of the training session
you held in which employees were
chastised and berated for three
hours. In between admonishments
they were given such pearls of
customer service wisdom as "If
you see someone browsing the
sport section, shout over 'What's
the score?'" and suggesting that
they deliver soup to the homes
of any regulars who fall ill.

When one employee mentioned he'd
have to make an hour and a half
round trip to deliver soup to any
sick regulars in London, the woman
leading the session pointed to a
picture of a sad face she had drawn
and said "This is what the last
person who challenged me
looked like."

maybe i shd write to Waterstone's and tell them that if any of their staff so much as look at me while i'm in there i will never visit them again

If someone from Waterstones turned up at my house unannounced when I was ill I would probably call the police on them.

Last time I went into a Pret I made a point of singling out the surliest looking staff member and telling them I was fine with this being an anonymous alienated transaction.

woah

it sells the sandwich without a grin or else it gets the hose again

When one employee mentioned he'd
have to make an hour and a half
round trip to deliver soup to any
sick regulars in London, the woman
leading the session pointed to a
picture of a sad face she had drawn
and said "This is what the last
person who challenged me
looked like."

how do these people get/maintain jobs and not fall through the floor into the kind of sulphurous hell they deserve?

i hate the robotic greeting in pret, it's so annoying. i can't look them in the eye, everyone knows it's disgusting and wrong.

i used to work in a waterstones and it was pretty great, but i think there were whisperings then of barbarians at the gates, in respect of hr stuff. think uniforms were just being introduced when i was there.

(xp) Because people keep going into places like Waterstones and spending money there. I'm a Foyles man myself.

But there's not many foyles' outside CXst. Maybe they should expand and set up shops in all towns.. oh wait.

I know someone who worked in Pret. They have loads of visits from mystery shoppers and anything less than a perfect score leads to trouble. The worst thing is that the punishment for any one person getting marked down by a mystery shopper is inflicted on the whole team - and everyone knows it was you - so you kinda don't want to be the one who doesn't smile enough or goes too slow.

mystery shoppers presumably easier to spot in hmv as they were the only ones willing to pay £16 for a cd

That mystery shopper thing is why I always try and big up the surly looking one.

I bought a Christmas present at HMV.

Yeah more on Pret here http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/business/pret-a-manger-with-new-fast-food-ideas-gains-a-foothold-in-united-states.html?pagewanted=all

http://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/marginal-utility/pret-a-mourir/

p much otm

I'm all for efficiency and politeness but fuck making people feign hyperactive jollity at all times, especially on that kind of money.

see i'll eat battery eggs whilst bedecked in sweatshop garb but pret, it turns out, is my limit

friend of mine was actually told that if she smiled she'd get her pret coffee free. she walked out

i felt fucking terrible the other day when i bought my first innocent product. it was half price okayyyyy

If you want to see ... all the principles of immaterial and affective labor, Virnoesque virtuosity, lateral surveillance, obligatory reflexivity, emotional management, gamification and so on

long been my dream to witness, tbh

innocent have moved into big branded new skyscraper offices in west ldn where my mum lives, come up from grove and it's like the fucking eye of sauron

give me 10 shards over that, brr

Went and checked on the local branch today and there is a note up on the door about going into receivership and how to contact them. Including a point being made about expected volume of contact so better to try to contact them via a website email address.

Shop still looks like it is fully stocked & has advertising pointed towards the door etc. Will miss being able to browse in there even if the ability to do that comfortably was progressively deteriorating over the last while. I was still finding some interesting and unexpected stuff in the racks up until recently. Sir Cloudesly Shovell the Rise Above label stoner band springs to mind from a few months back.
There were still several titles I had my eyes on last time I was in there. So wonder what next? Is there going to be a major sale happening?

Really do feel sorry for the guys working in there that I half knew.

As Ian says, its up to Charidee Shops now.

If Deloitte is the administrators, the clusterfuck will continue. They are the worst.

They're no Duff & Phelps.

i miss ottokar's, yall remember ottokar's

now that i work in central london i've been coming into contact w/pret more than ever before and i have to say their operation is impressive. the coffee is good. there's not a huge selection but you never have to wait more than a few seconds to get served. i haven't particularly noticed any overweening forced jollity but then again i am american so maybe that sort of thing seems normal to me.

plus the people who work there are cute as all hell.

who was the borders administrator? i have a friend who's STILL trying to get the last of her wages from them.

mini-thread-detour: I work in retail...so my question is: how 'friendly' is TOO friendly for guys as customers?

ok just read that nytimes article. if americans need tips from british people on fake cheer and motivational teamwork we must be in end times.

xp

smiling, eye contact, talking to me

xp to myself ah mcr, now part of trusty old duff & phelps.

commenting on what i'm buying, looking at me funny

stopping me from shoving stuff down my trousers

septum piercings, stupid hair

commerce cheapens us all, i just wanna get what i need and get out while pretending it's not happening

see i'll eat battery eggs whilst bedecked in sweatshop garb but pret, it turns out, is my limit

fairly sure i recall your presence of the pret thread on ile? given it up?

i never used to go there but i work in hammersmith and there's fuck all else. pret/wasabi are the only options on the days i don't bring my lunch.

wasabi isn't terrible

Greggs 4 Lyfe

Greggs must be so much better up North cos it's really nothing special down here. They are great at egg sandwiches, I'll give em that.

oh and they're pretty cheap too, so bonus

fairly sure i recall your presence of the pret thread on ile? given it up?

― Hutton dressed as Lahm (LocalGarda), Friday, 18 January 2013 10:35 (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah only learned of this lark a few months ago. wasnt really intending to make a big stand for worker rights but once aware going in just started to feel creepy and depressing

Pretty sure Greggs is exactly the same everywhere.

nah there are small regional differences but they are cheapish and tasty and don't come with an ideology

bonuses are awarded based on the performance of an entire team, not individuals

classic mongol tactic here

reading the pret thing now actually... xposts

Greggs only does Scotch pies in scotchland ;_;