after 11 years

[AdvancedFlea]

So this is going to sounds a little weird but here goes.

The computer superstore I started working at in 2006 has closed and moved.

Rewind to 2005. I’m miserable in the petrol station job I had. My boss is a bitch, I get pushed around for being gay and since my boss is part of the problem, the petrol station is a franchise rather than actually being owned by DP, There’s not a damn thing I could do about the bullying because if I report it to the franchise owners, it just gets passed back to the station to be “dealt with” there.

They honestly reduced my hours simply because I kiss guys. In 2005 I tell you.

I find out that the Computer superstore nearby is moving into new premises, directly across the street from it’s sister store, the electronics superstore. A bigger store needs more staff. I apply. 2 days later I get an interview with the sales manager. It’s sales staff they are looking for and they need people with a technical background. He asks if I could come in for an “informal chat” today though.

If they don’t mind me in ripped jeans and a paint-covered T-Shirt then yes. That was fine. I got there, within 15 minutes I had a new job. I drove around to DP, told them I was leaving in 2 weeks and that was that.

Anyway, the new store wasn’t ready yet. We were still moving into it. For the first month I was there, I was working long hours building the inside of the store but it paid off. Opening day went off with a bang and it was plain sailing for a good few years. Within 6 months of starting work there, I moved to the Tech Direct department and stayed there.

2008 rolls around and the economy crashes. Electrical stores group had apparently seen this crash coming for a while (to be fair; so did a lot of people. Hell, even I did) so they had squirrelled away £20 Million so that they could start the refurbishment of their stores from the tired old image to a more sleek, modern looking image even when the money wasn’t coming in.

Not one store in the company liked our store. The staff had no problem with the staff (as a whole, at least) but the company tried everything to have that store fail. Now that Comet weren’t going to take the location and Bestbuy couldn’t, they had no reason to hog it up and looked for a reason to close it. So the first store in the whole company to get refurbished was the Electronics Superstore across the street from us. The company thought it would close us down but ironically, our store started doing better. From what we heard from customers, the service in our store was better.

Eventually, someone from head office came down and wanted to know why we had a refitted store one side of the road and the most profitable store in the whole company the other side of the road was a “Legacy” store. We got our refit the following year in 2010 and once again; plain sailing.

Along comes 2014 and we all notice that what few Computer superstores that are left are closing and merging with the Electronics superstores under a new refit program.

Then it was announced. The store I had worked in for so many years was to shut it’s doors for the last time. It would re-open with all the staff along with a newly refitted combi-store across the street. The new store would have all the latest tech, would have it’s own actual repair centre, pleasant LED lighting, Air conditioning that actually works when we want it to rather than when it feels like it, a Mezzanine floor, a lift…it's all very nice, really.

None of that sounds too weird, I know. Here’s the weird part.

I was there on the day the store closed. Half of the unit was already empty and walled-off as the construction work for the new occupants had already began (it’s becoming 3 new stores but I forget who is moving in) and there was very little stock. Many of the POS terminals had been powered down and boxed up, ready to be shipped back to head office. The tech center was being emptied out and customers who needed to come and collect their repaired machines were being contacted. The place felt like a ghost town and after so many years in there, it was depressing as all hell. It honestly felt like the place was dying.

Then came closing time.

The sales power was shut off for the final time, staff collected their bags, the air conditioning gave one last “whoooossssssshhhhh” as it shut down, the shutters were pulled down, the doors locked and everyone said goodnight.

That was it. The place was closed. Moved over to the new place across the street. You know what? I can’t help but feel part of me has gone with it.

[Teefies2]

I understand. It's a loss. Almost feels like losing a *distant* member of the family. Good luck in the new store.

[AdvancedFlea]

heh. I may not need much luck. New store: new contracts or lose your job so yeah. more to come there I'd say.

[Trixie]

It's funny how we can get sentimental over some things. Back in October we "upgraded" our photo machines. I was looking forward to getting the new one because it seemed like the old one was always breaking. Though it really wasn't as bad as we thought. Anyway, I was working the night before the new machine came so I had to clean up and shut down the old machine.

Well, I started to get really bummed out while I was doing it. Everybody was laughing (including me) because of how silly it was. Though when it was shut down and quiet my coworkers for the night did say how strange it was for it to be shut down. We have a picture in photo of a few of us in front of the old machine and I really look sad.

Anyway, after all this rambling I totally understand what you're saying.

[CyberLurch]

I definitely understand the feeling. Ages ago, I worked at a drive-in theater, eventually reaching the lofty position of manager. Six seasons I worked there with a great bunch of people - colorful individuals, all. We had a lot of laughs, saw a lot of weirdness, dealt with some interesting problems, and ALWAYS had each others' backs. That final night, after the last film had played, we 'smoked' a toast and then I shut the lights off for the last time. It was a sobering moment, definitely.

[AdvancedFlea]

Well, I started to get really bummed out while I was doing it. Everybody was laughing (including me) because of how silly it was. Though when it was shut down and quiet my coworkers for the night did say how strange it was for it to be shut down. We have a picture in photo of a few of us in front of the old machine and I really look sad.

Anyway, after all this rambling I totally understand what you're saying.

Isn't it weird how we can get attached to inanimate objects? Cars, machines, buildings, that kind of stuff. I wander if it's that we just get used to their quirks and the minor faults they have that no repair tech can ever track down. We start to think of them as having a personality and all. Maybe. I dunno.

That final night, after the last film had played, we 'smoked' a toast and then I shut the lights off for the last time. It was a sobering moment, definitely.

And yet TV always makes it seem so cheesy.

[CyberLurch]

And yet TV always makes it seem so cheesy.

It *IS* cheesy when television does it. There's always a soundtrack and/or some commentary intended to 'heighten' the moment for the audience. Not so when I closed the place down. After we smoked our last J as a crew, everybody else started heading for their cars; I had to go back to the projector room (where all the electrical controls were) and start switching things off. ALL of it. The room went dark and silent - not even the hum of the transformers.

It was, as I said before, a sobering moment. In terms of what I did, it was exactly the same as I'd done four times before, when closing the theater for the winter. But this time, there was definitely a sense of finality. The theater had stood for nearly 40 years and that was its last night.

Just a damned job, or so I thought. I really had enjoyed my time there, though.

[AdvancedFlea]

It was, as I said before, a sobering moment. In terms of what I did, it was exactly the same as I'd done four times before, when closing the theater for the winter. But this time, there was definitely a sense of finality. The theater had stood for nearly 40 years and that was its last night.

I know what you mean. For me the realisation came from that final "whoosh" I said the air conditioning made. The silence. No more demo machines to turn off, no TV wall playing the latest UHD demo, no alarms complaining their backup batteries were low, no humming from the lights. Just silence.