A bookshop rant

Myer department store in Sydney (the city store) has a book department.  It looks like this:

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The sign on the left indicates why I was prepared to travel up four escalators to take a look today.

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I shouldn't have bothered.  Firstly, because of the stock.  If I had wanted a cookbook, or a war book, or a sport book, or the latest in publisher-pushed popular fiction, maybe there would have been something for me.  But no, and so no.  Take a look at that black and white sign.  Does it give you any clues as to their expected target market for their book dept?  (Hint: the reading glasses). 

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And they have soft chairs and chairs at tables, in case you want to browse.

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Fat chance.

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Behind the camera, the adjacent dept (with incredible logic on the part of the shop-layout-planners) is a section they call The Basement (it's on Level 4, HELLO GUYS, THAT'S A TAD DOPEY!), which sells, as far as I could tell, funky modern T shirts and associated garb to young fellows.  Who apparently need the lure of music to pull their wallets out of their pockets.  Not any music, but (I can't spell dufduf/ douf-douf) techno.  Driving, insistent beats, thudding away throughout the floor.

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So very relaxing for the middle aged reading-glasses wearing book customer.  I feel deeply sorry for the book department staff.  There was no way God made little green apples I was even vaguely tempted to sit in one of the comfortable lounges there to browse, since I didn't have noise-cancelling earphones with me. (Probably because I don't own any).

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You will be pleased to know, dear reader, that since a Myer Feedback form could not be found, I went in search of a manager.  I had to put some effort into this, and eventually found one, two floors down.  He was very polite, as was I.  I advised him that few book customers, a very different demographic to dufduf Tshirt wearing young chaps, were unlikely to be charmed by the experience of being trapped in a techno-fan's iPod while browsing the books, as was the current situation.  Oh, he said, he'd check the speakers.  Why, I asked (not unreasonably, I thought) was this conjunction of departments deemed to be smart marketing?  Oh, he said, well, they are on the same floor, that's the way things are.  Ah well, I thought: somebody in Myer can choose to put them on the same floor, and madden book customers with loud music.  Customers, however, also have a choice: not to bother going anywhere near the Myer city store book department.  Even if they have got 40% off every book, for one day only.

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I would, of course, be so pleased to know that my efforts at feedback will be of use to Myer.  Snort.

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So then I went off to my more favourite city bookshop venues: Borders and Kinokuniya.

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Aaaah.  No techno music of any kind.  And a vastly superior choice (Kinokuniya had even sold out of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, according to a sign near the door.  Who'd'a thunk??).

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The Borders in Skygarden is closing on 15 May as the building is being redeveloped.  I browsed happily, and picked up a few bargains on the 75% off table, including some for me, some for presents and some for work. 

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Laden (I admit nothing) I then headed off to Kinokuniya.  And browsed some more, equally happily.

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I may have had other things planned for a day in the city, but at this point the books were, um, not at all burdensome, of course, but not getting any lighter... so I figured that I hadn't planned at all well, and didn't really care either.

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It was way too early for the evening commuters, so I easily got a seat on the train (and one for the bags of books) and had a hassle-free trip home, reading.

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