November 1997: The Christmas Job, Again
I had a year of college knocked down and things were going great. Well, not financially great. Christmas was approaching
and I needed to be able to afford a few gifts for my girlfriend (future wife). Since the semester ended early in December I
knew I could pick-up a temporary retail job. An EBGames store was the perfect fit. I applied for a seasonal post and was hired in a second.
They were happy to have someone that not only didn't require training but could actually train the other Christmas help.
In 15 months a lot had changed, more than just the name. The first thing I noticed was a new register system. The new system
ran on top of Windows 95 and had a game reservation system built-in. This was a nice change from the amber screen terminals
and giant reservation binder. The game selection had obviously evolved too. Genesis and Super Nintendo were relegated
to a preowned bin, the Saturn was nearly invisible. The Playstation and Nintendo 64 were duking it out for system dominance
and Sony had the upper hand.
Earlier in 1997 EBGames introduced a "preferred buyers card".
For $30 a year you'd get 5% off all purchases (hardware excluded). In
case you can't do the math, it would take $600 of games to break even.
When we tried to sell it we used the phrase "
one $50 game a
month" because it sounded better. Kinda like how infomercials
will say "
four easy payments of $70" instead of "
this
piece of crap costs $280". These cards were only the second
item we were offered a commission on. EBGames knew the average buyer
wouldn't come near the $600 mark so they wanted to sell as many as
possible.
The one thing that didn't change was the customers. The thing I remember
best about this time was a parent looking for "Residential
Evil", classic.
Something about this Christmas season felt off. There was no "must have" game out. GoldenEye
for the Nintendo 64 was the top seller of the season but there wasn't a "buzz" around gaming this year. The store
was busy of course but not like previous years. There wasn't a mega-smash-hit game or epic battle of gaming platforms.
It just felt, well, average.
Even the highly anticipated Quake II launch seemed bland.
For about two days it sold like crazy but then dropped off.
Maybe a nearby competitor was selling it cheaper, maybe it was being pirated left
& right, whatever the case its sales flattened shortly after the release.
In January of 1998 I started working as a Visual Basic programmer, signaling my exit from retail. I wasn't even finished
with college yet but had a pseudo-real job. Software companies were so desperate
for help that they didn't care
if prospects had a degree or real experience. I knew VB well enough to breeze though a technical interview, although
in hindsight I wasn't yet fully qualified for the type of work thrown at me. A company
desperate enough to hire an under qualified programmer also didn't care if that programmer worked 2:00-10:00 PM. There was another guy in the same situation as me, going to
college full-time and coming in to crank out VB code at odd hours. We got a lot of work done so nobody really cared. There was
a very reckless mindset across most of IT in that brief era. Needless to say, this company is no longer in business.
In 2005 I attended a Microsoft sponsored ASP.NET/SQL Server security event in the Milwaukee area. On the way home I stopped
by Bayshore Mall to check out the old place. Apparently it was undergoing some kind of renovation then but clearly wasn't finished yet.
The Waldensoftware was long gone, replaced by an EBGames in a small location off the food court. Instead of being
filled with toxic nail salon fumes it had the lingering aroma of many fast food items mashed together. That gag-inducing blend
of burgers, fries, pizza, imitation Chinese cuisine, and overflowing garbage
cans. I shivered at the thought that I could
still be working there.
I still visit the EBGames at
Gurnee Mills often but rarely buy games anymore. Most of my free time is
occupied by (slightly) more productive hobbies. There's a GameStop in
the mall so I wonder if the recent merger will result in one or the other closing. Although it's not the largest mall in the
country anymore, it's still big enough to support both.
Some readers may think I was a tad harsh on retail employees in this little article, that was not the intention.
I do poke fun at the "career" employees, which are different than a true career retailer.
What's the difference?
Being a regional or district manager, managing a Home Depot, or owning your own store are all examples of having a retail career.
These all require a college degree and actual management skills.
A 20-something college dropout who calls their mall job a "career" to make it sound like they're doing something with their life is, well, a loser.
I've met many, many more of the latter.
Retail is fine as a part-time job under the right circumstances.
You're guaranteed to work indoors with minimal manual labor, there's probably an employee discount. It's not a bad gig.
If you have a real job and want to earn a few extra bucks for a big purchase, go ahead and work retail a couple evenings.
If your spouse has a real job and you want to be home in the afternoon for your kids, take a job at the mall from 8:00-3:00.
If you're in college full-time, a retail job will fit nicely around your class schedule.
The target of my criticism is the above mentioned 20-something.
While I criticize, I also genuinely hope they have an epiphany of their own that guides them on to better places.
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