Joy and Matt's Books — Local services in Cincinnati

I want to preface this by saying this is by no means me trying to sabotage or discredit Joy and Matt’s business. This is simply me expressing my feelings, which have been dismissed and misconstrued. I started working for Joy and Matt’s around 2 months ago. I had purchased books and browsed their shop pretty regularly before becoming their employee. I truly enjoyed working with them so much. I brought many of my friends and family into their store because, like many other people, I wanted to uplift a small business, especially because they are POC owned. On October 9th, I received an email from Joy and Matt’s (screenshot of email below) stating that Oct. 19th will be my last day and to take all of my possessions.The reasoning was because for the past three winters they could barely afford their rent and unfortunately could not afford to pay an employee. Obviously I was very disheartened by this news because 2 months ago I was not told this would be a seasonal position, and they had known for three years that they could barely afford their rent, so they knew they could not have an employee that would add on to their expenses. I was also very empathetic, and I expressed to my family and friends how if they could continue to shop at Joy and Matt’s during the winter months, that would be great, and how I would also continue to do so. I responded to this email (screenshot of my email below) saying that, in full transparency, I was shocked and wasn’t aware this was a seasonal position, and if I had known earlier, I still would’ve worked for them but would have appreciated them notifying me before hand. I then wished them luck during their winter months. I never received a response to this email. Oct. 19th comes, and around 2:30pm Joy becomes visibly upset out of nowhere and says that I asked for transparency so she’ll give it to me, and the real reason she let me go wasn't because of the winter months but because I’m not fit for the job. Obviously, this takes me by surprise because this is not what she had mentioned in her email previously, and she obviously just fully misinterpreted my email. Then she hands me my check and tells me, “Actually, you can take your belongings and leave now." For context, I work from 11:00 to 6:00pm, and it’s around 2:30pm. I asked her in pure curiosity and not malice what made me unfit for this job, and she did not give me a reason and only said it was because I wasn’t fit for it. I’m not upset with her for saying I’m unfit for the job; it was her complete lack of reasoning as to why that left me feeling very confused. She expressed that I seemed angry in my email. I told her I apologize if my email came off that way, but I’m not angry at all; I just would have preferred to know earlier that this was a seasonal position. Joy told me it wasn’t seasonal, and that’s it’s purely based on me not being fit for the job (once again, I was not given a reason as to why). I told her that I wasn’t upset or angry and how I’ve been talking to my friends and family about buying books and visiting their store more often during the winter months. She told me that they’ve been a business for three years and how essentially me telling my friends and family doesn't help them and how they’ll be fine. After that, I just thanked her for being honest and left. This truly did hurt my feelings because I’ve been nothing but respectful, even posting them on my social media because I enjoyed working there so much and also for others to know there is a beautiful family-owned bookstore near them, and I’ve felt like it’s been completely disregarded. I feel like my feelings have been distorted. I’m extremely disappointed in the way Joy handled this situation and would have loved to continue shopping at her bookstore, but the way she treated me was extremely unprofessional. Like I said at the beginning, this is not meant to hurt them but more for Joy and others to realize that it’s extremely important to support your local small businesses, but at the end of the day, it is a business and it needs to be...

Joy & Matt's Books a small bookstore which was previously at the Freedom Center downtown. The prices and selection are both just okay. They offer selections in some related specialized topics which is their main advantage over a bigger independent bookstore such as Joseph Beth (5/5 stars).

In my experience at Joy and Matt's Books, the service was a bit rude… When I see interesting things, I take photos of them to save for later as a wishlist. I also scanned a few books to save them to Goodreads for reference. The clerk interrupted me visibly frustrated and accused me of "comparing our prices to Amazon" (I wasn't). That experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I would probably go back if I really needed a specific book that they had in a pinch, but otherwise Joseph Beth's has a selection that's ~20x bigger than here and their staff is also friendlier.

Edit: This is not "wrong shop"?! This is a review of my experience at Joy and Matt's Books on Vine...

When I visit a new-to-me city, I try to find a local, independent bookstore and purchase a book. I was wandering around Vine Tuesday afternoon, having just arrived in Cincinnati and looking for lunch, and fortuitously stumbled upon Joy & Matt’s. The store is so cute and welcoming, and the bookseller who helped me, I believe it was Joy, was friendly and knowledgeable. She made the perfect recommendation for me. I think people, myself included, sometimes forget how many treasures bookshops have to discover and what wonderful resources a good bookseller is in helping you...