Step Two complete.

The basic framework is in place. I'm stocking the shelves a bit willy-nilly at first, and I'll refine the display space over the next weeks and months.

It's never as dramatic as I hope, and it never clears quite enough space, but it's a definite improvement. Necessity really is the mother of invention. There is a temptation to want a bigger space, as if that is the answer to all the problems, but I'm convinced I'm better off staying the same place for year after year, decade after decade. Literally.

I'm always amazed by how one can achieve subtraction by addition. I lost almost no display space, and gained a bunch, but it looks as though I have more empty space. Several people asked me if I had brought in more cards -- because they are now in one place instead of spread throughout the store.

As I said, the rest of the changes will be by osmosis, by feel, by mulling it over and sleeping on it. I have some space I can use to display books, and I have to decide how I want to go about it. I simply don't have enough space to do a complete bookstore; maybe enough to warrant regular visits by locals, but really it is more designed to catch the visitors. So it's going to more along the lines of what I was already doing, with better displays.