Pros

Books-A-Million's book checkout program and employee discount are both great incentives for working there. The pay isn't great, and if you are a part-time employee who sucks at the register, you won't be getting many hours--so the book checkout and employee discount are certainly nice perks to help compensate for that. They are pretty flexible schedule-wise and will certainly work around second jobs, school schedules, etc. BAM has does have advancement opportunities within the store. There are several specialist positions, some full-time and some part, that provide great experience in one area of expertise (magazines, kids' section, general merchandise, receiving, merchandising). There are computer training quizzes available to any interested associate so that you can learn more about any area of the store.

Cons

When the store is meeting its two most important goals, discount card percentage and Magazines for Millionaires solicitations, it is a good job. When the store isn't, things can get stressful. We are often understaffed, and if the one or two cashiers on duty aren't making the goal, things go downhill fast and there's no digging out.

The pay is pretty low. Part-timers generally make minimum wage or just over it. Raises come once a year, if that, and aren't much (I got 20 cents at my 90 day evaluation in 2006; this past year, there were no raises).

Management schedules can be rough. You do a minimum of 45 hours a week, but it quickly turns into more if you are salary. Schedules range 9.5 hours a day anywhere from 6am to 1am. Often feels like you just left when you get back (and sometimes that isn't far from the truth).

Advice to Senior Management

Ditch the MFM program. Everyone hates it. Yes, we get money from it, but customers are so sick of it. It feels like a scam even as the words cross your lips.

Pros

The book check out program and the 20%/30% employee discount is also great, especially for people who absorb books the way I do. I also enjoy the community/educator's program because teachers have a lot of trouble getting books for their classrooms. Helping them out is especially fullfilling because we're helping to educate our community and showing that as a store/company we care about growing future readers. Getting experience in the cafe was great because you really gain a lot of coffee/tea knowledge. The customers can be a pro and con, but on average, they are pretty mellow and are really excited and grateful when they get the title they're looking for.

Cons

I understand and support the discount card program because there are tons of stores/restaurants with some sort of reward program for their customers. The money made is used by the company to grow and sometimes even give perks to the employees that work there. However, if a store who usually does relatively well on their numbers has trouble, job threatening is not the way to raise morale in the stores. Trying to sell something and be happy and enthusiastic about it is harder knowing that if you don't make your percentage you could be job hunting next week. It sets everything on edge and it's harder to get the fun, relaxing atmosphere back into the store. The associates in a store are a big part of the atmosphere and customers can tell if the employee is stressed or unhappy.

Salary constrictions are also a pain. A lot of companies use flex scheduling (salary dollars based on the sales for the week). It's harder for stores in our retail situation because we have a lot of work to get done. Along with customer service, we are expected to have alphabetize, well merchandized, clean stores. That's hard to obtain when on the average day you only have 8 people working all day. Not to mention getting out stock, performing monthly inventory tasks, and special projects that come up. It usually falls on the GM and the AGM who usually work around 55 to 60 hours a week in their store on salaried pay. We all try to schedule for the needs of the store, but usually that's greater than what our budget allows.

Feedback is wonderful. However, grading us on how often customers fill out a survey is ridiculous. A lot of people throw receipts away and never once consider going on the website. I think winners of the gift cards should be posted in the weekly BAM advertisements we email to customers. That way they know they can win and will maybe fill more excited about filling out surveys.

Advice to Senior Management

90% of your employees are really doing all they can to make sure we meet all our goals. We put a LOT of work into these stores everyday so our customers have a good experience and so that when/if you come around, you can see how much pride we take in our work. We would like for you all to be more understanding

Pros

Great if you love books, associate discount is nice as well as the check-out program. Customers generally appreciative and understanding. Can be downright fun at times. Met some interesting folks.

Cons

The only things that Corporate cares about are their percentages. Booksellers must offer Discount Cards, magazine scams, store surveys, and add-ons to every customer. I try to give customers the same experience I would want in a store by sparing them some of these lectures, but for this I am disciplined. It doesn't matter if you are otherwise helpful, friendly, efficient, and industrious, if you don't sell the allotted number of Discount Cards your job will be threatened. I've had some customers driven away by the aggressiveness of the Card pitches.

It is very, very hard to get any kind of advancement in the company. I know of several employees who are doing work a pay grade above what they're receiving because the management will not give them a raise or promotion. If a new manager or specialist is needed, the store will hire a brand new employee rather than promoting one of their existing members.

Discipline is sporadic and doled out in front of other employees and customers. Complaints about the policy violations of other employees (including sexual harassment issues) are seldom addressed.

Advice to Senior Management

There is more to life than Discount Cards. Customers who are hounded from the minute they walk in the door about 8 billion different promotions is not going to want to shop at that store. Stop disciplining your employees for things beyond their control (no matter how hard you try, not everyone is going to get a Card) and start rewarding them for the good work they do. There are a lot of excellent, intelligent, hard workers in this company that are being overlooked simply because their numbers are behind.

I guess it's just easier to judge a person based on their raw numbers. You don't have to take into account whether they are helpful and friendly to customers, whether they consistently and efficiently complete their tasks, or whether they are supportive of other employees. I wish the management would take all of these factors into consideration before threatening someone's job.

Pros

Good career advancement possibilities. Very good employee discounts. The coworkers are generally good to work with.

Cons

The company cuts hours of associates and some of them quit because of this. Moreover, the managers have to do all of the work.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop putting so much pressure on associates to sell discount cards. we are in an economic recession. many people dont have the 20 dollars to spend. Quit that Magazine-for-Millionaires program.

Pros

you increase your product knowledge of book products. Tend to be smaller family store atmospheres in most locations. Good coffee

Cons

Senior management very out of touch with the store level functions, daily routines, etc.
too much pressure on discount card sales

Advice to Senior Management

Stop putting so much pressure on good associates to sell discount cards. we are in an economic recession. many people dont have the 20 dollars to spend

Pros

i get to be around tons of books

Cons

management never encouraging - constantly berating employees as a tactic to increase their sales performance
the air conditioning is broken (creating a 85 to 90 degree inside working atmosphere with no moving air) and has been for months on end and neither the store nor corporate is willing to fix it regardless of numerous employee and most importantly, customer complaints

Advice to Senior Management

care about your employees - they are the ones who keep the customers coming back - berating them doesn't encourage anything but bitterness and discord

Pros

Fairly quick career advancement, employee discount is decent, the people you work with are usually pretty good.

Cons

I've never worked for a company before, that treats the people, that make their moderate success possible, so poorly. Management is constantly being threatened with "coachings" if their store doesn't continue to make an ever changing discount card percentage. I've seen great members of management terminated because their store missed a few weeks of their Discount Card percentage goal. We are forced to badger and harass customers to buy the card, sign up for a "risk free" magazine subscription, fill out a survey, get an email,buy an overpriced fresh baked cookie or buy a voucher for a book that you could get cheaper at most anywhere else. In an economy where people are lucky if they can afford to buy a book, this company isn't satisfied with these loyal customers just shopping and buying their products. They want more more more. Most customer's just want to buy their books or coffee quickly and get on with their day, but it isn't possible at BAM. They have to sit through 5 minutes of commercials from the associate or barista before they allowed to leave with their purchase. The customers, in my experience, do not appreciate the constant demand for more money. In just 4 years the card has gone from $10 to $20 with no extra benefit except a free, cheaply made tote bag as added benefit. It seems that until the customers in mass finally start saying no, that these greedy practices will continue.
        On that same subject , it is amazing how BAM makes millions of dollars every year from the sale of the magazine and discount card programs but they are still one of the lowest paying retail companies in the nation. The company has frozen all raises for all associates, managers included, but yet the company can afford to give the CEO a bonus of a million plus dollars.

Advice to Senior Management

Your associates and managers are the people who have brought this company to the point where they have no debt. You should thank them by paying them at least a comparable wage. Your discount card program does benefit the customers but you have made it to where selling the memberships are more important than customer service and actually selling books. We lose very good employees, who excel at their jobs as booksellers and customer service representatives, because they cannot fast talk a customer into spending more money. Treat your employees with respect and stop the constant threats, without us and them, you wouldn't be where you are today. Learn what it's like behind those registers or cafe counter. Get out and see your stores as associates, run a register or make some coffee. It might open your eyes.

Pros

Employee discount and book check out program are pretty much it at this point. You could get better perks most anywhere else.

Cons

Pushing management and employees to the brink on the Discount Card and Magazine for Millionaires program. Reminding the managers almost weekly of how bad unemployment is in this country right now, to illustrate how lucky they are to have jobs period. A company that is proud when it cuts the hours for a store, but increases projects. Managers end up doing all of the work here because that one employee you can afford on the sales floor needs to stick right by the register so they can greet each customer as they walk in, but still ring people up, too.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't be proud that you cut salaries in the store, but increased projects. Don't brag that we haven't laid people off in the field, when we have in fact cut everyone's hours, to the point that some quit, because they couldn't afford to live on the small number of hours we had to cut them, too. Don't be proud that you made money, but squeezing even more out of a already worn out staff.

Pros

Employee discount (20%) is okay but all the books are still cheaper elsewhere

Cons

Professional back-stabbing, gossip, favoritism, extremely low pay, constanly changing schedule and hours-cutting.

Advice to Senior Management

Quit that Magazine-for-Millionaires program. Everyone knows it's a scam and our customers resent being tricked.

Pros

love of books, great customers, can move up management chain quickly if reasonably competent

Cons

too much emphasis on discount card program instead of actually selling books, not enough salary dollars allotted to store to staff adequately, pay competitive salaries or complete assigned tasks, zero budget allowance for training new employees, outdated computer systems, unreal expectations and micromanagement by home office, atmosphere of expendability of all employees regardless of experience or past performance, one-way communication stream from home office to store level management

Advice to Senior Management

there is too much to even touch the surface here