I almost skipped reorders. It was a very slow week, so I figured with a glance at my sales sheets, that I could take a breather. But I needed to bring in a few shorted or special ordered items, non-direct, so I started on a small order.....that kept growing and growing. Turned out, I needed almost twice as much reorder material as usual.

It's something I've noticed over and over again. When sales are slow, say in Jan. and Feb., a much higher proportion of sales are of what I called 'evergreens'; or material I need to keep in stock. As I've pointed out before, I have to sell an evergreen at least 5 times before I really start to make money. An item I don't replace? I make money on the first sale.

When the store is busy, it seems as though a much broader range of material sells., including stuff that has been gathering dust. People come in from out of town, see an odd item that their store ran out of, and grab it. These one-of-a-kind sales represent my profit, in some ways. When my sales are mostly to regulars, it is usually only the best material that sells; it's much more likely they'll finally start reading the "Fables" or "Preacher" series they've been hearing about. I have more time to talk to them, and to recommend stuff. But the stuff I recommend is, of course, the classics, the evergreens....

Its strange how, as I'm doing reorders, I'll often find that an 'evergreen' is no longer available. I cross that item off my 'evergreen' list, and somewhere in the back of my brain I'm actually relieved. One of the reasons my store is so packed is because I seem to be incapable of dropping an item, once I've carried it. All graphic novels become 'evergreen', under that kind of thinking.
In fact, if it's a good seller, I'm motivated to keep more than one copy in stock.

Add that to the desire to increase my level of new inventory, in hopes a creating a new crew of regulars (currently, new books and games), and it's nearly impossible not to spend too much money on inventory. I have to keep faith that I'll get that extra business at Spring Break, during the Summer, and of course, Christmas.

I can't tell you the number of times I've tried to cut back, and sales dropped the same level I cut. Not the same items I cut, mind you, but it's as if the constomer can read my mind and closes his wallet. Never been able to figure that out. I don't believe in ESP, but the amount of intuitive sensing by the customers comes awfully close.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I find it impossible to remove risk from my ordering. I get rewarded by being positive in my ordering but spend too much, I get punished when I try to be careful but spend less. All things being equal, its more fun and interesting to be positive.