After three lackluster months, sales seem to have recovered a bit this month. It's too early to say that I'll beat last year, but it's looking good now. And, it's always nicer to start strong even if it tails off later , than starting weak, and hoping for an uptick.

Not sure what has changed. Just seems more active, more like it has been over the last couple of years. Maybe people are starting to get over the shock of the credit crisis.

I'm very glad that I diversified so much. Every time I look at the day's readout, I see each category contributing to the bottom line, but none of them really outperforming. Indeed, there seems to be a fundamental weakness in every category, but which is outweighed by the total.

Sports: I was really, really hoping the Blazers would spark sales, with their number one draft pick, but Oden went down and the Blazers went down for the first three games. Meanwhile, come to discover that my former competitor is still selling out of his house to his old regulars.
Sigh. In a nutshell, that's why the sport card hobby will never regain it's footing. It's up to the wholesalers to verify that they are selling to a real business, but I have a funny feeling if they really cracked down they'd lose half their vendors. Especially the guys who throw up an e-bay account and call it a business.

Games also never have gained much since my main competitor left. It turns out that my being the only place in town that carries lots of magic is probably cancelled out by the fact that the players don't have a place to play. D & D is very fickle. Pokemon and Yugi Oh aren't doing all that great.

The one bright spot are board games. This is the one category that I'm actively increasing. I just brought in Cayless and Axis and Allies, along with the new versions of Settlers of Catan. But since they are a subcategory of a subcategory, it really doesn't affect the bottom line much.

Used books and New books are doing O.K., but the limited space is keeping the sales constrained. I have a nice selection of new books, but I'm no longer building that category, so not as much new stuff each week. But my selection of cult and classics sell consistently well.

Comics are really suffering from all the late titles and the endless crossover series. They are chugging along, but the dramatic growth we've seen for the last 5 years is tailing off a bit. I think this is the category that is most likely to be affected by the housing slowdown since so many of my customers work in the trade, and since this is half my business, even a small cutback has an effect.

Graphic novels. There are some major titles coming out. Heroes (the T.V. show graphic novel), Dark Tower, by Stephen King, the Buffy and Serenity titles from Joss Whedon, and the Black Dossier original graphic novel from Alan Moore. This is the first time in memory that I can think of, where I was willing to carry stock of a dozen or more at a time of more than one or two titles. Pretty cool.

Toys. I just keep getting in toys that I like, and they just keep selling in small numbers. Just got in a 'lifesize' R2D2 trashcan. (Well, it's not big enough to imagine a little person inside, but it's big.) Only $175.00. I seem a little too enamored with the designer toys just because I think they are so creative and cool, but most don't sell all that well. I still like them.

Anime is my weakest category, because I think the real fans are just downloading or buying from Best Buy.

So there they are. Each of them feel a little off, but altogether they add up enough to make my nut. Good planning, if I do say so myself.

I'm really pleased that I'm able to keep up the stock on each of them, even increasing slightly with new books and boardgames. I wasn't expecting that. In the past, when I stuck to budget I usually had to cut one item or another that I thought the store needed. Maybe the diversification has finally reached cohesion. I even reordered Skifas and Standups. (Stuck to buying John Wayne, Johnny Depp and Marilyn Monroe, my three best sellers, this time.)

The store feels crowded at times, and yet the results speak for themselves. The more stuff I display, the more chance I have of making a sale. The 'long-tail' theory at practice in a small popculture store. I don't sell a lot of any one thing, I sell a little of a lot.

The only thing I haven't really been able to do, which I'd like to do, is buy off the liquidation lists. I've chosen to keep the stock up to snuff with the blue chip and the evergreen product.

If Christmas is even mediocre, we should be in good shape for next spring. (I'm always really focused on that long slow spell from Jan. 1, to June 15 or so. It's like stretching a rubber band longer and longer....)

If I hadn't spent so much money in preparing for a store I never opened, I'd probably be doing even better. But we should absorb all that material by Christmas.

So there you are, just a little status report.