Dylan mentions every time he reports the day's totals that he got lots of compliments on our selection.
I'm actually impressed myself. We seem to have in stock the specific book customers want more often than not, which is a pretty nice achievement for a 1000 sq. ft. store.
The other thing that impresses me is that reordering almost every book we sell seems to work as a tactic. I mean, it shouldn't, except in the broad sense that if a book sold once it's likely to sell again (?). I probably add about 50 new release titles per week, and fill in another 50 slots with mid-list books I've stumbled across.
Common sense would tell you that adding 5200 books a year would quickly overwhelm the store--which is constantly threatens to do. But I do go through and weed out older books as needed. Sometimes a mid-list book completely stops selling at all. Or they suffer store damage. Or...whatever, you know when it's time to retire a book.
But I'm not really trying that hard to take any books out. It happens when it has to happen.
Whatever we're doing, it seems to work. I don't actively seek out mid-list books, but it seems that they constantly pop up on the radar. Someone mentions a title, or I see a review or and article, or I'm reminded of a book that I've read, or whatever.
Except for the guessing which new releases I need to get, the rest of the inventory is completely intuitive and original. No algorithms, and I think it subconsciously works with customers who are tired of seeing the same books in ever store.
It's also fun to have that book that unexpectedly sells.
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