On April 13, 2010, I was released from my job of 10 years.
I have chronicled on here the ensuing 9 months of unemployed life. There was a lot of growing both mentally and spiritually during that time. I can look back and say it was for my good. But I haven't spoken much about what happened two years ago.
This was because of an agreement I signed that day saying that I would hold my peace for two years. Well those two years are up. Today I can now speak about it.
I was the first employee hired when Family Christian Stores opened a location in Hickory, NC in 2000. The location of that store was ideal for that type of business, and it was an answer to prayer to get that job. I owe a lot of good things in my life to working at that store. I met a lot of people that are still my friends today. I met my wife because of that store. It was a literal dream come true to work there.
In time, things changed. The company changed leadership in 2002. In 2003, longtime rumors became true when the company announced it was opening on Sunday. They found a theologian to back them in saying it was okay Biblically, and announced it to us in June. They said essentially it was a "missed opportunity for ministry," and that the focus on Sundays would always be ministry. We would be open limited hours, so it would not greatly affect our employees church attendance, etc.
They never openly admitted it, but the company lost 1/4 of its employees because of that. One store on Georgia had to replace its entire staff.
Over time Sundays became another day to sell things and make goals. Our store even opened for an extra hour, meaning someone was missing church.
Let's just say the changes started to fray some friendships. From then until my departure, working there became a personal hell. I use that word intentionally.
From 2004-06, I was demeaned by a new manager that sought to get rid of me, knew nothing about Christian Retail, and would use language that would make "Stone Cold" Steve Austin blush. She was only hired because she had management experience. The Christian part didn't matter. She was eventually fired after transferring to another store for inappropriate behavior.
I would become very familiar with corporate buzzwords. "Opportunity" was another word for failure or mistake. "Suggested" items meant mandatory items. "Goal" meant sales quotas. "Accountability" meant micromanagement to the nth degree. It became quite an exacting corporate culture.
I know add-on sales are a part of every retail store's marketing scheme. It's why there's gum & candy at grocery checkouts. It's why they have pens at the checkout at Staples. For us, your checkout meant the start of our sales pitch. First, we had to pitch Member's Only titles- A selection of items (it originally started as 1 title a month) for $5 each. We had to sell these to 1 out of every 4 customers. Next came Pre-buys: advanced selling of new books, movies, or CDs. We had to have a percentage. Next we had to sign people up for our Credit Card. Dave Ramsey didn't care for that one. We eventually got rid of that, but replaced it with child sponsorships through a global relief organization.
(Now, this is a big commitment. Deciding to spend $30 (later $35) a month on a child in Ghana or wherever is not an impulse decision. It's not something you should be pushed or pressured into. But we had to.)
It got so bad that if you didn't make your goals for these things, you were written up. Three strikes, you were out. Fired from an atmosphere of "love." It didn't matter if you knew everything about the Bible, could recommend a book, or knew everything about Christian music. If you didn't meet your goals, you were out. I saw too many people leave this company in that way. All the while we would bring in questionable movies to sell, but they were okay, because they were "family" movies, and they taught a lesson, even if it wasn't Biblical.
But I didn't get fired for that. No- My position- - which started out as a full-time position, and needed a dedicated full-time person, became part-time. I worked a few hours in my position, then worked on the sales floor. I sacrificed, worked various hours, and did what was asked of me.
That Tuesday morning, I was presented with my walking papers. No negotiation, no time to talk it over. I was done. They decided that part-time people should do my job. Makes sense financially- they can pay them less than I made, even though I hadn't had a raise in four years, and they don't have to dish out full-time insurance. I signed an agreement not to mention any selling practices or discourage anyone from going to work for Family for two years.
Yes, I was afraid. But I was relieved. Oh, I was so relieved. God used that for me in so many ways. I got to be there for the majority of my daughter's first year of life. I got to spend a great amount of time with my son. I felt a major burden lift from me. And I guess I grew up a little.
I dealt with bitterness and with a distaste for Christian retail in general for a time after that. I had to learn to forgive the people that I thought wronged me. I went back in that store once after that to say hey to old friends. Almost everyone is gone now- either fired or quit voluntarily. I will not go back in there again, or to any other Family Christian Store. There are better alternatives, companies that are actually concerned with serving the customer, not just emptying their wallets.
(One more note: as I got in the car and turned on the radio, the Christian band Bluetree was playing. The first words I heard were :
"Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city."
It was God's way of saying He was only getting started using me.)
