Tuesday, November 14, 2006

How To Put A Temporary Shop/Bookstall Up... Volume One!

  1. Make sure you're there at an hour of the day that you weren't aware existed in a morning, to meet the truck carrying the stock and shelving.
  2. Start helping the lorry driver unload the nine pallets of stock and equipment off the truck with two other people.
  3. Place said pallets at the entrance to the hall where the bookstall/shop is to be located.
  4. Search for the box thingies with wheels (technical term!) so you can unload pallets safely and transport boxes efficiently to the right product area of the shop.
  5. Locate the box thingies with wheels on top of one of the pallets, sealed with cling film so you have to unpack a pallet to get at them.
  6. Wonder at the stupidity of warehouse pallet packers.
  7. Set up tables in the different product areas of the "shop" and also put together the shelving piece by piece along the left hand side wall for bestsellers and recommended titles and featured speakers. Make sure you note down that the warehouse have sent too many actual shelves, and not enough supporting beams and cross pieces. Again wonder at the incompetence of some people and shrug violently in an italian fashion, as there's nothing you can do about it now.
  8. Make sure all empty pallets are removed to the storage room and stacked neatly.
  9. Run round the tables already set up, placing a label with each product invoice number on it, so people know where to take each relevant box to. Make sure before you do that, that each table is covered with a large tablecloth.
  10. Proceed unpacking the pallets with the seven other people that have now arrived.
  11. Seeing that they have arrived and are getting on setting up their delegated areas, make sure the original three of you get a break and go and get some breakfast, which MUST contain a barm filled with AT LEAST as much bacon, egg and mushrooms as you can fit in it.
  12. Eat said barm full of cooked breakfast goodness as smugly and noisily as possible in front of the other workers, remindng them that they weren't here at an unearthly hour of the morning to unpack the lorry.
  13. Proceed to drink coffee, and then once finished, get back to work, specifically setting up the till areas and the credit card machines, which will involve locating the two phone line sockets, and very lengthy mobile phone conversations with the credit card machine suppliers to make sure they are set up on the correct line and are ready to poll over night and download all the correct hot card security information.
  14. After 40 minute phonecall to credit card machine setup line, thank the Lord that you don't have to do this everyday.
  15. Proceed in setting up the three tills and find that one of them is so old it adds the number three digit to every transaction when you tap it acceidentally. Also discover that one of the other tills is missing a thread for the journal roll to weave round. Notice also that there are no thermal rolls for the credit card machines packed in the box from accounts.
  16. Thank the Lord that you and your boss had the foresight to bring thermal rolls from your shop "just in case", and proceed to insert them.
  17. Ring the shops' Events Manager and point out all the things that are missing that should be there at the event. This may take a while. Always be polite, keeping in mind he isn't the one who actually packed the pallets.
  18. Finish till area setup and see that all your other colleagues are gtting on with their areas very nicely.
  19. Decide to stop for a brief lunch. Along with your boss, cleverly bargain with your seven other colleagues that if they agree to only stop for fifteen mins, you can let them go earlier as the shop will be set up earlier if they keep working.
  20. Stuff sandwhiches down ur gob and crisps, and sit down for ten minutes and then start again.
  21. Tidy up all the packaging material and flatten boxes to be used later at packdown on Sunday. Remove to the storage room, or under tables.
  22. Leave staff to get on with putting product on shelves, as it is all mainly priced up now. Curse the warehouse for leaving product unpriced.
  23. At 3-30, stop workers for a drink break, and scan area for Health & Safety restrictions. Breathe a sigh of relief as you remember you'd already automatically removed anything remotely dangerous to the public or staff to trip over or stumble on.
  24. Prepare the shop to be opened and get all staff to check all product on offer is stickered up with the relevant stickers.
  25. It is now 4:00pm. Open shop and send volunteers home to leave just the three of you!!
  26. Collapse behind the till area and thank God this only happens once a year!

:-)

2 comments:

  1. p.s. I was gonna put up pics of the finished bookstall/shop, but blogger is being an ass at the moment sorry!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, good. For a minute there I thought you were going to do something stressful.

    EGADS, you are making me look like a slouch!

    ReplyDelete