Last month I had surprisingly strong sales in sports cards. This month, so far, I've had surprisingly strong sales in DVD's. These have been week components in my store for quite a while now, so it's always a nice boost.
At the same time, my Magic sales are down quite a bit for a release month. I attribute part of this to new competition, and part of this to a weak release and an overall decline in players.
Books are also surprisingly low this month. I suppose some of this might be due to Dudley's. I've noticed that if people find Dudley's first, they satisfy their book urge before they get to me. Dudley's also fits many people's image of a bookstore better than ours. Some of it is just coincidence, the normal ups and downs.
Despite this, sales are pretty good. Very good, in fact. I expect that some of that surplus will get whittled away in the second half of the month, but still....
Anyway, it's gotten to the point where I can't imagine having a store that didn't have a diverse product line, that smooths the ups and downs of each category. I know other business models can succeed. Linda's Bookmark is doing even better than me; but she designed it for a single purpose, and the size, layout, and location all lend support to that purpose.
Me? I've had to evolve, scramble, backtrack, experiment, and finally just add and add and add, until I finally found a mix that was functional both in good times and bad.
I think my store probably doesn't make quite as much as it could in the good times because my product is so broadbased, but survives downturns better than if I specialized more.
Turns out, subconsciously, I've been spending the last 5 years preparing for this slowdown.
It's kind of funny how people come in and it's obvious they expect you to be tottering, and even when you reassure them you're O.K. they still seem kind of skeptical. Which makes sense -- I'm doing the same thing with other stores.
I've tried to find a phrase that will both admit that sales are down but reassure that we're in good shape. Something like, "Considering the economy, we're doing surprisingly well."
The real proof will be to just humming along, even thriving, and coming out the other side.
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Plus, I really LIKE my store, right now. Am I allowed to say that?
For years I dreamed of having a full selection, instead of just getting enough, instead of always being short a few major titles, instead of letting gaps develop.
This is pretty much spot on, right now. I'm probably spending a bit too much in order to accomplish it, but it's so damn satisfying.
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