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edenfallingThe smoke shop is getting sadly bare of stock -- well, excluding magazines and cigarettes, that is, and a few types of cigarette rolling supplies. This is because Mr. Speakerphone has decided to put a moratorium on new orders until we know exactly what the renovation/remodeling will entail and when the construction work will start. At the moment those details are still up in the air -- all we know is the footprint of the elevator-and-stairwell combo -- so we're just watching our shelves empty out and trying to explain to customers that no, we're sorry, we don't have Product X and we won't for the foreseeable future.
It is also obvious that our lack of stock is driving away business. Closing shifts have always been slower than opening shifts (our business is weighted toward the morning newspaper-and-coffee office worker crowd), but lately I have been breezing through long nonfiction books during my evenings, because I can go ten to fifteen minutes at a stretch between customers and there are no maintenance tasks to keep me otherwise occupied. We finish them all by 3pm at the latest, since we have almost no deliveries to process and fewer customers during the day, too.
We still don't know where (or even if) our new bathroom will be built. We don't know if the back wall of the store will be moved forward to compensate for the lost back office/stockroom space. We don't know what's going to happen to the ATM (especially since it's in the area that will be lost to the stairwell-and-elevator). We don't know what will happen to the built-in giant industrial (and ancient) air conditioner and its ductwork.
We're not even sure our lease will be renewed. I have only rumors to go on -- no solid evidence, since the building owners are doing their level best to NOT communicate with us, and I guess Mr. Speakerphone is trying not to say anything until he knows for sure what's going to happen -- but I have heard that the building owners want to charge Mr. Speakerphone the same rent for a drastically reduced space, to which he is naturally objecting strenuously. The building owners' reported justification for that alleged demand is that we have apparently been paying under market rate. If that is true, I am fairly sure their idea of market rate would drive most prospective tenants out of business within a year.
Sweetheart, Melodrama, Boss Lady and I are collectively so done with this bullshit. I mean, I am still showing up and doing my best to do my job -- by which I mean take care of customers and keep the store clean-ish and functioning -- but it is very hard to care about, say, cleaning the bathroom when it's going to be destroyed within a few weeks to a month. We all feel rather like we're playing music on the Titanic as it sinks. (I am not sure of Serenity's feelings. She only works Fridays and Saturdays, which have lately been my two days off, so I don't talk to her much. And she doesn't have the years of built-up frustration that the rest of us share, in any case.)
I wish to god somebody would give us some clear and definite answers about the smoke shop's fate. At this point I don't even care what the answers are. I just want an end to the uncertainty.
It is also obvious that our lack of stock is driving away business. Closing shifts have always been slower than opening shifts (our business is weighted toward the morning newspaper-and-coffee office worker crowd), but lately I have been breezing through long nonfiction books during my evenings, because I can go ten to fifteen minutes at a stretch between customers and there are no maintenance tasks to keep me otherwise occupied. We finish them all by 3pm at the latest, since we have almost no deliveries to process and fewer customers during the day, too.
We still don't know where (or even if) our new bathroom will be built. We don't know if the back wall of the store will be moved forward to compensate for the lost back office/stockroom space. We don't know what's going to happen to the ATM (especially since it's in the area that will be lost to the stairwell-and-elevator). We don't know what will happen to the built-in giant industrial (and ancient) air conditioner and its ductwork.
We're not even sure our lease will be renewed. I have only rumors to go on -- no solid evidence, since the building owners are doing their level best to NOT communicate with us, and I guess Mr. Speakerphone is trying not to say anything until he knows for sure what's going to happen -- but I have heard that the building owners want to charge Mr. Speakerphone the same rent for a drastically reduced space, to which he is naturally objecting strenuously. The building owners' reported justification for that alleged demand is that we have apparently been paying under market rate. If that is true, I am fairly sure their idea of market rate would drive most prospective tenants out of business within a year.
Sweetheart, Melodrama, Boss Lady and I are collectively so done with this bullshit. I mean, I am still showing up and doing my best to do my job -- by which I mean take care of customers and keep the store clean-ish and functioning -- but it is very hard to care about, say, cleaning the bathroom when it's going to be destroyed within a few weeks to a month. We all feel rather like we're playing music on the Titanic as it sinks. (I am not sure of Serenity's feelings. She only works Fridays and Saturdays, which have lately been my two days off, so I don't talk to her much. And she doesn't have the years of built-up frustration that the rest of us share, in any case.)
I wish to god somebody would give us some clear and definite answers about the smoke shop's fate. At this point I don't even care what the answers are. I just want an end to the uncertainty.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-04-11 04:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-04-11 06:31 am (UTC)I think we will at least qualify for six months of unemployment benefits if that happens, though? So it's not the end of the world. But still upsetting.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-04-11 01:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-04-12 05:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-04-11 05:06 pm (UTC)Personally, I think it's safe to say that the lack of answers is an answer in itself. The building owners don't want to have to have a confrontation, so they hope you guys just go away on your own. Your non-local boss is unhappy with the situation, but not invested enough to push for anything about it.
Sooooo. What other nearby convenience stores could use a middle-management-ready supervisor with all your years of experience?
(no subject)
Date: 2014-04-12 05:28 am (UTC)I really, truly, deeply do not want to look for a new job. I hated job-searching the last time I had to do it, and I don't think I'll be much better at it now. Also, one of my references has died in the meantime and I'm not sure who to substitute. Maybe the Director of Religious Education at my church??? (This is the problem with being an introvert -- I am shit-awful at networking. *sigh*)