work shifts; chain bookstore membership program benefits

[edenfalling]

The woman my coworker BW lives with (I've never been clear on the exact nature of their relationship) has been having serious health problems for a few months now. She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so BW and I swapped shifts -- this means, of course, that I am opening the store tomorrow after closing it tonight, but whatever, it's the polite and considerate thing to do.

Then, MS requested the weekend off, so she, BW, and I worked out a swap on Sunday such that he took her shift (9am-6pm) and I took his (3:30pm-9pm). Which means that I am working 7 days in a row -- yesterday through next Tuesday -- but that's okay too. Overtime helps compensate for all the blasted Doctor Who DVDs I've been buying.

...

Speaking of DVDs, I would not have bought most of them if it were not for Borders and its sneaky, devilish Borders Rewards program. See, every week Borders sends out an email to members, which contains a printable discount certificate of some sort -- 10% off any purchase, $25% off with a purchase of at least $10.00, etc. -- and, this is the key, you can use that certificate to buy whatever you want. I have been tempted into an average of at least one purchase a month that I would never have made if it weren't for those certificates.

This is, by the way, a much more effective program than Barnes & Noble's equivalent. B&N sends me an email every week as well, but they offer specific discounts on specific items -- usually 5 to 10 items per week -- and since their choices have never yet overlapped with my preferences, I have never made use of those offers.

(Also, I just like the local Borders better. It has a much more welcoming layout and color scheme, a less claustrophobic shelf arrangement, and a better location for me -- the #13 bus, which stops at the Ithaca Mall, runs within two blocks of my apartment. To get to Barnes & Noble, on the other hand, I'd have to walk 20 minutes into downtown and catch a bus, or just walk 35 minutes along Route 13. So Borders wins on accessibility, too... but that doesn't change the point that they have a much better membership discount program!)

...

And now I am off to bed. (Possibly after watching another episode of Genesis of the Daleks. *weighs sleep against the need to know what happens next*)

Comments

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

I miss Borders. The local Borders here closed down, and we're stuck with a sucky B & N :(

[willowgreen.livejournal.com]

That "Ithaca Mall" will always be the evil "Pyramid Mall" to me (although I've shopped there many times--in fact, I got my ears pierced there, and I shopped at that Borders when I was in town last month--but some forms of evil never die).

--Willowgreen, who did not personally demonstrate against the construction of the Evil Pyramid Mall but had numerous friends who did.

[edenfalling]

I find that having a Barnes & Noble is miles better than having no bookstore... but having a Borders is, in my experience, always preferable. This has held true in New Jersey and New York. :-)

[edenfalling]

Honestly, I still think of it as the Pyramid Mall -- the new name isn't even a year old yet -- but I am trying to change my vocabulary. And since I only moved here in 2000, it's always been a fixture for me.

...

Also, I vastly prefer the malls up by Lansing to the box store madness that's been sprouting down on 13 between Wegmans and Buttermilk Falls. The mall, at least, is relatively self-contained and internally walkable, whereas box stores are just... well, box stores. *sigh* At least, this being Ithaca, somebody insisted on having sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian push-buttons down on that part of 13, though it's still hardly my ideal walking route!

[ladyofshallnot.livejournal.com]

Ah, but with the B&N membership card, you get ten percent off of every purchase ever. It's twenty five dollars a year, but when my family lives anywhere near a B&N we make that up in like, a week and a half.

I don't know why I never took to Borders, perhaps because it is more...colorful. Or I spent most of my life stuck with the shitty Walden's in Auburn and knowing, KNOWING that Borders owns them fills me with rage.

[edenfalling]

Mmm. Paying $25.00 for a guaranteed 10% discount on every purchase might or might not work out better in financial terms, but in behavioral terms, Borders still wins. See, the Barnes & Noble thing would fall to the back of my mind, whereas Borders reminds me every week that I can save money. So they keep generating a minor bit of interest and keeping themselves higher on my mental attention list. Because the discount offer is different each week, it adds to that interest and attention.

I am a spoiled child of New Jersey suburbia, so I have never used a Waldenbooks. Are they really that awful?

Color vs. drab doesn't affect me much, but the arrangement of bookshelves and other furniture, the height and spacing of bookshelves, and the clarity of signage and ease of navigation between sections of a store are all very important... and for me, Borders wins on all of those. B&N tends to have slightly higher shelves set slightly closer together, which makes me feel just a bit unwelcome and cramped, and also makes it just a tiny bit harder to read any signs -- I have to crane my neck just that extra angle. Small things, but they add up.

[ladyofshallnot.livejournal.com]

It's also ten percent off of the coffee, which my family always ends up getting when we're in the bookstore for any extended period of time, so it saves us quite a bit when we're nearby one. Makes the Starbucks damn near affordable! Sometimes. If you squint and hope. XP I sort of get peeved getting Borders coupons in the e-mail constantly, especially now that I'm in totally the wrong country to enjoy them.

I also get coupons from Barnes and Nobles with...not as much regularity, but I definitely come to the counter with printed out coupons often enough.

See, I'm put off by the brighter coloring and more open spacing of Borders. I like a sort of cramped library feel to go with my booking, something a little quieter. Also they sell Lindt chocolates at the counter and Borders doesn't. I am easily bribed by such things. :) It's also entirely possible I like B&N better because I'm contrary, and the book stores closest to us now are Borders - I miss living twenty minutes away from a B&N. B&N also tends to have a better periodicals selection, which means my dad is happier with them.

Ugh, Waldenbooks is. Urgh. It's like the upsetting delinquent younger sibling of Borders. All the bright lights and colors and flash without any of the selection. They're usually so tiny and depressing, and when they're larger they still haven't expanded the sections I'm interested in. It doesn't matter much that I can use Borders cards in them, when there's nothing in them to find.

[edenfalling]

Well, there you are -- I don't drink coffee, I don't buy chocolate from bookstores, and I work in a magazine shop so any bookstore is going to have a less varied periodicals selection than what I can get for free as an employee bonus. Clearly we are looking for slightly different things in a bookstore.

B&N has been emailing me every week since April. I have received ONE coupon that was just a general 10% discount, as opposed to a specific "20% off of Bestseller McStupidTitle" offer. This is not what I call a good percentage rate. :-)

Well, I'm glad I've never been forced to rely on a Waldenbooks! They sound pathetic.

[stinky-horowitz.livejournal.com]

Hah, I was going to state my preference for B&N over Borders, but konitsu already made all my points. Yes, Waldenbooks--truly pathetic, they're more like Hallmark stores that happen to sell book-themed stuff.