Monday, December 29, 2003
CONCORD BOOKSHOP Labor Issues
This piece on the Concord Bookshop in Concord, MA from PW Daily caught my eye. I always thought Dale Szczeblowski was the owner of the store. This article brings up the question of promoting staff from within, or hiring outside for upper-level positions...
from PW DAILY:
Discord at Concord Bookshop: 20% of Staff Quit
When the owners of the 63-year-old Concord Bookshop in Concord, Mass.,
placed an ad for a general manager in the New England Booksellers
Association newsletter this month, they didn't mention that the store,
located near the site of the "shot heard round the world," was in the
midst of a revolution of its own, a bitter labor dispute that has
already caused more than 20% of the staff to quit.
At issue is the owners' plan to hire a general manager to take over
the duties of a trio of managers appointed in 1998: Dale Szczeblowski,
who handles buying and is v-p of NEBA and a member of the advisory
board of the ABA; Jane Dawson, in charge of personnel; and Carol
Stoltz, who handles children's books. By Wednesday, five staffers and
Dawson will have left the store. The other two managers agreed to stay
on until the end of January.
"There isn't much to say yet," Szczeblowski, who has been with the
store for 17 years, told PW Daily. "We had a meeting with one of the
owners last Friday, and he was optimistic that something can be worked
out." At issue is just how precarious Concord's financial situation
really is. The Boston Globe quoted owner Morgan Smith as saying,
"Things have never been worse."
"We have a different opinion," notes Szczeblowski. "We had budgeted
for a decline in sales this year, and we'll see it. But we'll be
profitable." The store has not made a final tally yet of Christmas
sales, but, says Szczeblowski, "of course, our situation, certainly
the turmoil at the store level, hasn't helped our sales."
A number of local authors, including Doris Kearns Goodwin, Alice
Hoffman and Gregory Maguire, have weighed in on the dispute. Some 32
book people in all signed an e-mail to the owners on behalf of the
three managers. Meanwhile, the deadline for applicants for the general
manager's job is Tuesday, January 6.--Judith Rosen
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from PW DAILY:
Discord at Concord Bookshop: 20% of Staff Quit
When the owners of the 63-year-old Concord Bookshop in Concord, Mass.,
placed an ad for a general manager in the New England Booksellers
Association newsletter this month, they didn't mention that the store,
located near the site of the "shot heard round the world," was in the
midst of a revolution of its own, a bitter labor dispute that has
already caused more than 20% of the staff to quit.
At issue is the owners' plan to hire a general manager to take over
the duties of a trio of managers appointed in 1998: Dale Szczeblowski,
who handles buying and is v-p of NEBA and a member of the advisory
board of the ABA; Jane Dawson, in charge of personnel; and Carol
Stoltz, who handles children's books. By Wednesday, five staffers and
Dawson will have left the store. The other two managers agreed to stay
on until the end of January.
"There isn't much to say yet," Szczeblowski, who has been with the
store for 17 years, told PW Daily. "We had a meeting with one of the
owners last Friday, and he was optimistic that something can be worked
out." At issue is just how precarious Concord's financial situation
really is. The Boston Globe quoted owner Morgan Smith as saying,
"Things have never been worse."
"We have a different opinion," notes Szczeblowski. "We had budgeted
for a decline in sales this year, and we'll see it. But we'll be
profitable." The store has not made a final tally yet of Christmas
sales, but, says Szczeblowski, "of course, our situation, certainly
the turmoil at the store level, hasn't helped our sales."
A number of local authors, including Doris Kearns Goodwin, Alice
Hoffman and Gregory Maguire, have weighed in on the dispute. Some 32
book people in all signed an e-mail to the owners on behalf of the
three managers. Meanwhile, the deadline for applicants for the general
manager's job is Tuesday, January 6.--Judith Rosen
