Pat Giddens, former manager at J&M Bookstore, had just graduated high school at the ripe age of 16 when she left her parents for Auburn with a small bag on her shoulder, assuming she’d be staying for just one month.
This month, 52 and a half years later, she retired from J&M Bookstore.
Initially in Auburn for family, Giddens found work, school and a community she couldn’t leave behind. As the months went by, it became clear to Giddens and her parents that she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.
Giddens said her mother never completely got over her daughter leaving at such a young age, but once in Auburn, she grew and became a part of the community.
Although it became her career, sales at J&M wasn’t her original job when she moved to Auburn. Giddens’ uncle worked in the ticket office at that time, and he had her work once. The night after her first shift she was told she couldn’t return due to conflicts with being related and working at the University.
“My uncle still didn’t want me to leave,” Giddens said. “I kept staying a little longer each time.”
Her uncle was quick on his feet and found her a job working at J&M a couple days later. Giddens remembers him pulling to the curb outside the downtown J & M store, pointing at the door and saying he’d pick her up at lunch. She wondered where the introduction was, but she soon realized she didn’t need one.
Dory Ann Johnston and George Johnston, founders of J&M, became family to Giddens.
“I would stay at the house and keep their three kids,” Giddens said. “[Doriann] didn’t cut me any slack, though. She taught me everything and took me under her wing.”
Giddens settled down with a family in Auburn and her children are grown and have families of their own, giving her eight grandchildren, all Auburn fans. She said there is no place she’d rather be, and her life in Auburn was God’s plan for her.
Her first job at J&M was upstairs without air conditioning working with textbooks and invoices. It wasn’t long before she was moved downstairs to the retail floor, where she has spent her time since. She was shy at first, she said, but found that one cannot be shy when in sales.
“I always tell the girls I hire that they need to put themselves out there and go to the customer,” Giddens said. “If you are shy or you had a bad day, you have to leave it at the door when you come in.”
The move from Atlanta to Auburn wasn’t difficult for Giddens. Growing up in Decatur, the communities didn’t vary greatly.
“You could definitely tell that [Auburn] was a family-oriented town,” Giddens said. “Where my uncle took me in was the baseball park, so I met a ton of local people that I am still friends with.”
On top of helping with her cousins and working, Giddens took classes at Auburn University. She studied home economics until she switched to business. When she wasn’t in class, she was in the store working, without question.
Giddens has always loved working at J&M Bookstore, because when people shop there they are happy — it is shopping without the chores. A customer told her once that he could get the same merchandise elsewhere, but buying from J&M made it official and real. For Giddens, the job is all about the customer.
“Working retail is customer service, customer service, customer service,” Giddens said. “We can have the product, but if we don’t let them know we care they won’t come back. They can go anywhere to get this stuff, we have to do something different.”
Not much has changed at J&M aside from the size and the addition of a ladies’ section. Giddens remembers the first ladies’ golf shirt she hung on the wall. Today, the ladies’ section stretches across an entire wall at the store, something Giddens took pride in buying and managing.
Giddens isn’t completely sure how she feels about retiring just yet, as she already misses the work and the people.
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“If I had it to do over, I probably wouldn’t retire,” Giddens said. “But, at some point it is just time. I would work five or six more years if I could.”
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