Bookstores missing spring buyers

Managers find that after back-to-school rush, few sales denote need for fewer employees.

"At the beginning of the semester, the crowded bookstores seem to indicate a great deal of business," said Steve Morris, manager of University Book Centre, 206 E. College Ave. "But when the rush for semester books ends, downtown book sales slow dramatically."

Morris said this time of year has the lowest amount of book sales. As a result, he eliminated five temporary employment positions last Thursday, he said.

"The spring season is the slowest sales season of the year," he said.

Without a football season to draw the large crowds downtown, fewer customers buy athletic merchandise or books, Morris said. Spring book sales remained regular this year, equaling previous years, he added, but fewer workers are needed to work during these times.

Even though he said he finds this situation unfortunate for his temporary workers, Morris said the practice of hiring temporary employees strictly for the beginning of the semester is common among downtown bookstores.

"We simply can't afford to pay these employees for the rest of the season," Morris said, adding that because of slow business, full-time employees do not have enough work to stay busy.

After Spring Semester book sales slow at the Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave., many employees then cut down their hours, or are let go because their classes conflict with the hours the store is open, said Norm Brown, manager of the store.

"Students are told up front that they definitely are guaranteed work until the 24th (of January)," Brown said. "After that, they have to submit a class schedule."

However, business and hiring does seem to pick up after April and even in the summer, Brown said, which is usually the time when book buyback begins.

And as students leave for home they tend to buy more athletic and school merchandise, he added.

Linda Kopp, a human resources employee at the Penn State Bookstore, said she hires employees for the week of the semester rush through temporary agencies. Kopp added that these temporary employees are no longer working at the bookstore.

"We hire through temp agencies because students are usually not available for the hours we need them to work during the semester rush," Kopp said. "Most of the students are getting ready for their classes when we are hiring."

However, full-time and part-time workers from Fall Semester at the Penn State Bookstore are still employed, she said.