I decided going in, that I wouldn't talk about the daily ups and downs of sales. Or the every day aggravations. But, to not talk about them, at least a little bit, isn't being candid or honest, either.

Yesterday, my main weekly shipment from my main supplier didn't show up. Bad enough, followed by the trepidation that it may not show up today either. So, my regular crew, the most loyal customers who come in every Wednesday, found nothing on their shelves. I usually have a 20% off sale on days like these, but the faithful regulars usually already know what they want and are willing to buy it, discount or not.

Meanwhile, my employee, who I schedule for extra hours on shipping days, is mostly standing around, and I have to bring him in on his day off, today. We lose a day of sales, pretty much.
It seems to happen every Christmas, just when we need to make money the most.

I figure there are probably temps working at the printers, the distributers, the shipping companies......in other words, all the way through the system. The wonderful, cheap American economy has the weakest links in the system at the most stressful time, because the wonderful, cheap American economy doesn't want to pay experienced, qualified employees full time.

The public seems to want the cheapest prices, at the same time as they want: helpful, experienced, knowledgeable employees. The two things are probably mutually exclusive, wouldn't you think?