H50 – music & bookstore AU, 2/?deepbluemermaidOctober 27 2011, 11:16:57 UTC
In the music section, old Mr. Anderson is comparing multiple versions of Porgy and Bess at the listening station. He calls out a too-loud question to Chin, a mistake most people make while using the headphones. Nearby, two jazz students are arguing about which Thelonious Monk album to buy.
Still, it’s peaceful compared to earlier, when those three preschoolers had run around singing Wiggles songs in wild disharmony. Even super-tolerant Chin had cracked, politely asking Mrs. Yung to keep them under control. She had then stormed out, kids in tow. Steve’s just grateful she didn’t park them in children’s literature while she continued browsing...those shelves are untidy enough as it is. He’ll head that way once the pills take effect.
Steve leans back in his chair, stretching his leg out. He can hear Kono walking around on the mezzanine floor above, offering advice to customers as she shelves DVDs. Kono keeps asking for more space to house her growing collection; judging by the sales figures, she has a valid point. The DVDs are moving faster than the CDs, these days, and there’s a better profit margin on them too.
The whole balance of the store’s business is shifting, with fewer CDs selling now than even a year ago. People who habitually buy classical and jazz are mostly too fussy about audio quality to download albums, legally or otherwise, but sites like Amazon are putting a dent in demand.
Mamo’s simply can’t match the prices offered online - they’d go broke if they even tried. Still, the 15% discount for the education sector more than pays for itself. Hawaii’s libraries and schools mostly order their CDs through the store, and being located near UH’s music conservatory ensures a steady stream of faculty and students.
They’ve lost customers who buy purely on price, but many others have proven amazingly loyal, willing to pay a little more for personal service. The staff know the regulars by name, ask after their families, and tailor recommendations to their tastes. Some of the older customers have even been shopping here since Mamo opened the store, 43 years ago.
Back in ’68, the LP was king, the Walkman would have seemed impossibly futuristic, and the inventor of the MP3 probably hadn’t been born yet. So much has changed over that time...Mamo himself has been dead for five years, now. But his store lives on, still named in his honor, and still offering the state’s best classical and jazz selection.
The phone rings at the music desk, halting Steve’s meandering train of thought, and Chin answers. Only a brief eye-roll at Steve gives away his feelings - ah, it must be Mrs. Santos. She calls twice a week from her rest home over on Maui, and she just adores Chin.
Today the old lady is after a new recording of La Traviata, apparently. Chin goes to the opera section, pulls down half a dozen versions, and patiently reads out the cast listings to her. Then he opens the Penguin Guide to check which ones get the top ratings.
Once Mrs. Santos finally chooses the rosette-winning Gheorghiu/Solti recording, Chin charges it to her credit card and packages the album up ready for courier pick-up. The whole process takes about ten minutes, but he remains calm and friendly throughout. The man really is a saint, as well as a brilliant salesman, and Steve would be utterly lost without him.
With Chin’s phone call over at last, Steve can hear a much more interesting conversation happening upstairs. Kamekona’s café, which shares the mezzanine floor with the DVD department, is in its post-lunch lull. A group of English professors are having their weekly off-campus coffee meeting up there now, and they’re loudly critiquing the new film which claims the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare’s plays.
Steve smiles as he listens. His mother, head of English at Kukui High for the past two decades, refuses to give anti-Stratfordian theories more than a passing mention when teaching Shakespeare. So she’s spitting mad about this movie, especially since schools have been sent free lesson plans based on it. Last week, she wrote a scathing reply to the production company responsible. Steve, reading the email over her shoulder, had choked with appreciative laughter. God, his mom can use words the way a SEAL uses knives.
Re: H50 – music & bookstore AU, 2/?perspiOctober 28 2011, 00:07:55 UTC
WHY WOULD I MIND THIS IS FANTASTICALLY AWESOME!?! *g*
Seriously, sweets, don't fret--I am enjoying the hell out of this, and hurt!Steve pushes my buttons like whoa, so, yes, very much, to everything. Keep writing, pleeeeease?
Still, it’s peaceful compared to earlier, when those three preschoolers had run around singing Wiggles songs in wild disharmony. Even super-tolerant Chin had cracked, politely asking Mrs. Yung to keep them under control. She had then stormed out, kids in tow. Steve’s just grateful she didn’t park them in children’s literature while she continued browsing...those shelves are untidy enough as it is. He’ll head that way once the pills take effect.
Steve leans back in his chair, stretching his leg out. He can hear Kono walking around on the mezzanine floor above, offering advice to customers as she shelves DVDs. Kono keeps asking for more space to house her growing collection; judging by the sales figures, she has a valid point. The DVDs are moving faster than the CDs, these days, and there’s a better profit margin on them too.
The whole balance of the store’s business is shifting, with fewer CDs selling now than even a year ago. People who habitually buy classical and jazz are mostly too fussy about audio quality to download albums, legally or otherwise, but sites like Amazon are putting a dent in demand.
Mamo’s simply can’t match the prices offered online - they’d go broke if they even tried. Still, the 15% discount for the education sector more than pays for itself. Hawaii’s libraries and schools mostly order their CDs through the store, and being located near UH’s music conservatory ensures a steady stream of faculty and students.
They’ve lost customers who buy purely on price, but many others have proven amazingly loyal, willing to pay a little more for personal service. The staff know the regulars by name, ask after their families, and tailor recommendations to their tastes. Some of the older customers have even been shopping here since Mamo opened the store, 43 years ago.
Back in ’68, the LP was king, the Walkman would have seemed impossibly futuristic, and the inventor of the MP3 probably hadn’t been born yet. So much has changed over that time...Mamo himself has been dead for five years, now. But his store lives on, still named in his honor, and still offering the state’s best classical and jazz selection.
The phone rings at the music desk, halting Steve’s meandering train of thought, and Chin answers. Only a brief eye-roll at Steve gives away his feelings - ah, it must be Mrs. Santos. She calls twice a week from her rest home over on Maui, and she just adores Chin.
Today the old lady is after a new recording of La Traviata, apparently. Chin goes to the opera section, pulls down half a dozen versions, and patiently reads out the cast listings to her. Then he opens the Penguin Guide to check which ones get the top ratings.
Once Mrs. Santos finally chooses the rosette-winning Gheorghiu/Solti recording, Chin charges it to her credit card and packages the album up ready for courier pick-up. The whole process takes about ten minutes, but he remains calm and friendly throughout. The man really is a saint, as well as a brilliant salesman, and Steve would be utterly lost without him.
With Chin’s phone call over at last, Steve can hear a much more interesting conversation happening upstairs. Kamekona’s café, which shares the mezzanine floor with the DVD department, is in its post-lunch lull. A group of English professors are having their weekly off-campus coffee meeting up there now, and they’re loudly critiquing the new film which claims the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare’s plays.
Steve smiles as he listens. His mother, head of English at Kukui High for the past two decades, refuses to give anti-Stratfordian theories more than a passing mention when teaching Shakespeare. So she’s spitting mad about this movie, especially since schools have been sent free lesson plans based on it. Last week, she wrote a scathing reply to the production company responsible. Steve, reading the email over her shoulder, had choked with appreciative laughter. God, his mom can use words the way a SEAL uses knives.
***
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THIS IS FANTASTIC OMG WANT MOAR
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Seriously, sweets, don't fret--I am enjoying the hell out of this, and hurt!Steve pushes my buttons like whoa, so, yes, very much, to everything. Keep writing, pleeeeease?
*sends cookies and Danno over to encourage you*
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