not-250: BNinside Article

This article was featured on my company's in-house website called 'bninside'. Since it is in-house, there is no way of forwarding you to the actual article. So I thought I would post it here instead.

Music/DVD Manager Turns Film Critic

by: Kimberly Miu

In a quest to view and review IMDB’s Top 250 films by the end of the year, Music/DVD Manager Joey Wright is expanding his film knowledge and sales at Store 2188

On his days off, Music/DVD Manager Joey Wright can usually be found parked on his couch in front of the television watching a movie. As a film fanatic, this has become Joey’s side project – he is determined to watch IMDB’s Top 250 films (approximately 500 hours) by the end of the year.

“I’ve scheduled myself to watch five movies a week. On my days off, I’ll try to watch two a day so I can get ahead of myself,” says Joey. After each movie, he posts his review on his blog, http://the-250.blogspot.com/. He believes that this project will help him find new favorite films and a reason to re-watch some of the classics.

The rewards of watching the Top 250 will also be reaped by Joey’s customers at Store 2188 in Altamonte Springs, FL, who rely on him for his opinion about movies and music. “Expanding my personal knowledge about movies will help me hand-sell,” says Joey. “Knowing similar titles and artists to what customers enjoy is the best way to make a sale. When I recommend music titles, I always use the RedDot system, which makes add-on sales a breeze.”

Since joining Barnes & Noble in December 2006, Joey has found the most satisfying part of being a bookseller is building relationships with customers. He has many regulars that always stop by to chat, ask for recommendations and pick up new titles. In one instance, a newly-engaged couple who were regulars in the store (where they also met) asked Joey to pick the music for their wedding. Joey says, “I was honored… I hand-picked several classical wedding CDs for them, which they were very pleased with. They even invited me to their wedding!”

Beyond his regular customers, Joey tries to get to know each customer that enters the Music/DVD Department. He immediately welcomes them with a smile and greeting and uses name recognition whenever possible. His friendly demeanor makes it easy for him to share his growing knowledge of film and music, ultimately leading to sales.

While Joey’s go-to hand-sells are artist Tristan Prettyman (“she’s the female Jack Johnson”) and the movie Casablanca (“it’s still the best movie – funny and romantic!”), he soon plans to create a promotional display for some of the titles in the Top 250 that he wants to share with customers.