It’s amazing how much more informed, interested, and loyal staff can be when you treat them resources worth developing… Hm. But this travel bookstore, for instance, actually encourages its staff to take time off to “travel”. So you’re saying it would benefit your business to allow staff to pursue business-related activities? Biz. Arre. Are you trying to make them feel invested or something?

True to form, one of the first sunny Sundays of the season found the bookstore packed with customers. The three booksellers on duty cheerfully dispensed advice on destinations from Paris to Tanzania. And, in between, they kept up a steady banter about travels of their own.

“How many continents did you hit last year, Simone?” queried Will Carrier, a college student, occasional part-time staff member, and the son of Harriet and Pat. “Was it four?”

“Four? No, I think it was five, actually,” responded fellow bookseller, Simone Kearney. “I made it to every one except Australia and Antarctica.”

“Slacker!” colleague Lisa Peterson called out from the other side of the store.