Sunday, June 21, 2009

Bite Me of Bend.

I think I've mentioned, I don't like crowds.

There I was yesterday, Custer at Little Big Horn, surrounded by circling hordes.

I had 210 people come in yesterday. Which is a lot of people, let me tell you. I figure, about one person every 2 minutes, and if they stay 10 minutes each, about 5 people in the store at all times.

But of course, it was more like 20 people at times, and 3 people at others.

Sales wise, the per average customer was pretty low, about the same as it's been over the last couple of weeks. If I'm hoping anything will change in July and August, it's that per customer sales average.

Anyway, since I realized I was in for it, I just tried to relax. I think I managed pretty well. Didn't lose my temper once, chatted with most everyone. About halfway through the day, I cranked up my new Elvis Costello album (has a nice country rock twang to it) and tried to tune everyone out for a half hour.

Hell, I even had a chicken wrap from the booth in front of my store. I won't give them a free ad, because I'm somewhat irked at how they drew a curtain across my store, making it impossible to see my storefront from more than five feet away....

But I must say, I was pretty amazed by the size of the crowds.

I just barely made my nut, because of the sheer number of people but the low per customer rate.

So...no harm no foul. Just quite a bit more tired than usual.

5 comments:

H. Bruce Miller said...

I would be amazed by the size of the crowds too, considering the crappy weather for an outdoor "festival."

Probably "free" had a lot to do with it.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"About halfway through the day, I cranked up my new Elvis Costello album"

Jeez, Dunc, don't tell me you still buy friggin CDs!!!

Duncan McGeary said...

"Jeez, Dunc, don't tell me you still buy friggin CDs!!!"

I also buy these things called 'books.'

They are paper pages with typewritten words on them that tell stories or give information.

The fairy printers bind these pages together in sequential order, which I can turn and read.

I hear the evil internet dwarves have been killing off the fairy printers, so I am reading as fast as I can.

Duncan McGeary said...

Voting with their hours. A couple of neighbor businesses aren't open today.

What's that say about the value of these huge crowds to local business?

H. Bruce Miller said...

"I also buy these things called 'books.'"

So do I, quite frequently. But there's no good substitute for them.

The thing I like about downloading music is that you don't have to buy a whole CD to get the two or three songs you really want.