Finished my advance orders for July/Aug. Came in under budget. Now I have to go through two to three more weeks of austerity before I can start ordering for the 'real' summer -- which these days is more or less, mid-June to mid-Sept.
One thing I need to remind myself about austerity measures, is if I actually succeed at my goal, I get to go back to normal spending. When I'm in the midst of austerity, it can seem like it will never end, and that nothing's happening, and it seems like all I can see is all the gaps in inventory.
When business was so spectacularly good in March (14% increase), and after seven straight months of increases, I let my spending get out of hand a bit, expecting to at least be able to break even. In my defense, there were some smokin' deals being offered by my suppliers.
Unfortunately, April and May have not lived up to expectations.
I almost immediately realized this, and cut back on my spending.
And waited, and waited.
Until this week, when I was finally able to make a nice little reorder of games and books and graphic novels and fit it within my budget. I cut back far enough over the last two months to be able to cover the overspending early.
But it can be very hard to not break down and buy when you've gone weeks, and months.
So in about 3 weeks, I'll be able to get back to a regular schedule. I've given myself a reasonable budget, generous but with an upper limit, starting in July. If I stick to that budget, and stay disciplined, I should be able to both stock the store AND make money.
Instead of overspending by 3K or 4K or 5K in a short period, and then being able to spend almost nothing for longer periods.
I've mentioned before that I tend to either go pedal to the metal, or completely coast. I need to find a nice cruising speed. Everything I've done this year has pointed toward a July 1 restart.
So forgive the repetitive pep talks, over the next three weeks of so. It's how I motivate myself: ---- pick a future date and then psych myself up so I get a good strong motivated and successful beginning.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
House Hunters. What?! No Granite Counters?!
Reading the extensive story about Mr. Krasev in yesterday's Bulletin, I suddenly realized something.
There is a limit to my interest about this guy, and I just passed it. I'm officially finished with him.
**********
Watching Househunters last night, and a guy comes on with the two day old stubble look. I don't think anything of it, until at the end of the show they show wedding pictures, and sure enough, they guy still has the two day stubble. In his wedding pictures. I don't know, I just thought that was funny.
**********
Speaking of beards, in another week or so, this baby is getting trimmed.
Apparently, some people thought I was going to be in the beard competition, but no. I was doing this more or less as 'cover'; an excuse to grow my beard as long as I could stand it. I passed that point a couple of weeks ago. Definitely looks old fartish.
The competition? No way would I get up in front of people. And no way is my beard weird or spectacular enough.
**********
Speaking of Househunters. This channel has become our 'fail-safe' channel. If the T.V. has to be on (and don't ask me why The Infernal Contraption has to be on because there is no good excuse) we tend to turn to these house shows.
It used to be Law and Order reruns, but Linda knows I'll leave the room and I tend to stick around for the Househunter shows, so that's become the fall back. (Me? I leave it on C-Span or MSNBC or CNBC -- yes, I'm that wonkish...and Linda will leave the room.) HGTV is the compromise.
Anyway, for me, these shows aren't really about the house -- they're about the people, and our culture.
I'll bet you anything that a marriage expert could tell right away which couples are going to make it and which aren't just by watching a half hour show. Beard stubble guy, above, was being treated as an extra appendage by his fiance -- and sure enough, the house she liked was the house that was picked.
You can tell which house will be picked, or which spouse is really in charge, by the subtle interactions.
I think, most of the time, if I like the couple in the show, they'll pick the house I would've picked. If I don't like the couple, they'll pick the worst house...
It also reveals a whole lot about our culture, and even about regional differences. Some things seem universal -- wanting the walk-in closets, the granite countertops, the wood floors. Sometime, to the exclusion of good bones in a house -- they'll pick houses for the most cosmetic of reasons.
I think I'm more interested in privacy, and about a surrounding space, than most of these people. (Or most of the people in N.W. Crossing, for that matter.)
Property Virgins is also a real cultural touchstone, especially about our expectations and our Keeping Up with the Jones attitudes.
They'll announce some modest amount of money available for a house, and then ask the couple what they 'want.'
They usually pick an exclusive neighborhood, every amenity, and huge space. The three car garage, the wood floors, the granite, the ....well, you get the picture.
The lady shows them the neighborhood they like, and then.....ta dah! the price of the cheapest house is usually at least twice their budget. Their faces fall.
Then she takes them to a cheaper, older house nearby the exclusive neighborhood, and it has almost nothing they're looking for. They start looking alarmed and confused.
Finally, she shows them a non-exclusive neighborhood, newer homes, but many of the amenities they want if a bit smaller. Or an older home with bigger lots. They are relieved.
And, of course, that is the starter home.
Kind of what Linda and I did. Williamson Park is a nice neighborhood, I think mostly retired folk, and nicely kept up. The lots are bigger, the landscaping mature, and I like it a lot. It's a little enclave -- surrounded by neighborhoods with newer, cheaper housing and apartments. But on a day to day basis, we simply aren't impacted by that. And the houses in Williamson Park are nice, and at least a third less expensive than westside houses (and, like I said, have bigger lots and privacy and landscaping.) Also, it seems to be way more stable -- an average of maybe one house for sale at any one time, and no abandoned houses.
I do see the appeal of the N.W. Crossings houses, but even if I had the money, I would want houses farther apart. A bungalow style, sure, but someplace with breathing room.
Our house is 1600 sq. ft., which is great for a couple: a master bedroom, and an office for each of us.
So it's interesting to watch couple buy these enormous, cavernous (usually they even echo) McMansions. Especially in Texas. I'm telling you -- huge houses on dried up prunes of lots and lots of big white rock and strange decor -- and they LOVE it.
Texans are weird.
All in all, these shows reflect how utterly spoiled we Americans are -- and I include myself. Linda says it's inevitable -- "It's nesting!" she says. Still, nothing is more disorienting that watching the devastation in Haiti, say, and then turning to a program where a couple is whining, "But it doesn't have hardwood floors!?"
There is a limit to my interest about this guy, and I just passed it. I'm officially finished with him.
**********
Watching Househunters last night, and a guy comes on with the two day old stubble look. I don't think anything of it, until at the end of the show they show wedding pictures, and sure enough, they guy still has the two day stubble. In his wedding pictures. I don't know, I just thought that was funny.
**********
Speaking of beards, in another week or so, this baby is getting trimmed.
Apparently, some people thought I was going to be in the beard competition, but no. I was doing this more or less as 'cover'; an excuse to grow my beard as long as I could stand it. I passed that point a couple of weeks ago. Definitely looks old fartish.
The competition? No way would I get up in front of people. And no way is my beard weird or spectacular enough.
**********
Speaking of Househunters. This channel has become our 'fail-safe' channel. If the T.V. has to be on (and don't ask me why The Infernal Contraption has to be on because there is no good excuse) we tend to turn to these house shows.
It used to be Law and Order reruns, but Linda knows I'll leave the room and I tend to stick around for the Househunter shows, so that's become the fall back. (Me? I leave it on C-Span or MSNBC or CNBC -- yes, I'm that wonkish...and Linda will leave the room.) HGTV is the compromise.
Anyway, for me, these shows aren't really about the house -- they're about the people, and our culture.
I'll bet you anything that a marriage expert could tell right away which couples are going to make it and which aren't just by watching a half hour show. Beard stubble guy, above, was being treated as an extra appendage by his fiance -- and sure enough, the house she liked was the house that was picked.
You can tell which house will be picked, or which spouse is really in charge, by the subtle interactions.
I think, most of the time, if I like the couple in the show, they'll pick the house I would've picked. If I don't like the couple, they'll pick the worst house...
It also reveals a whole lot about our culture, and even about regional differences. Some things seem universal -- wanting the walk-in closets, the granite countertops, the wood floors. Sometime, to the exclusion of good bones in a house -- they'll pick houses for the most cosmetic of reasons.
I think I'm more interested in privacy, and about a surrounding space, than most of these people. (Or most of the people in N.W. Crossing, for that matter.)
Property Virgins is also a real cultural touchstone, especially about our expectations and our Keeping Up with the Jones attitudes.
They'll announce some modest amount of money available for a house, and then ask the couple what they 'want.'
They usually pick an exclusive neighborhood, every amenity, and huge space. The three car garage, the wood floors, the granite, the ....well, you get the picture.
The lady shows them the neighborhood they like, and then.....ta dah! the price of the cheapest house is usually at least twice their budget. Their faces fall.
Then she takes them to a cheaper, older house nearby the exclusive neighborhood, and it has almost nothing they're looking for. They start looking alarmed and confused.
Finally, she shows them a non-exclusive neighborhood, newer homes, but many of the amenities they want if a bit smaller. Or an older home with bigger lots. They are relieved.
And, of course, that is the starter home.
Kind of what Linda and I did. Williamson Park is a nice neighborhood, I think mostly retired folk, and nicely kept up. The lots are bigger, the landscaping mature, and I like it a lot. It's a little enclave -- surrounded by neighborhoods with newer, cheaper housing and apartments. But on a day to day basis, we simply aren't impacted by that. And the houses in Williamson Park are nice, and at least a third less expensive than westside houses (and, like I said, have bigger lots and privacy and landscaping.) Also, it seems to be way more stable -- an average of maybe one house for sale at any one time, and no abandoned houses.
I do see the appeal of the N.W. Crossings houses, but even if I had the money, I would want houses farther apart. A bungalow style, sure, but someplace with breathing room.
Our house is 1600 sq. ft., which is great for a couple: a master bedroom, and an office for each of us.
So it's interesting to watch couple buy these enormous, cavernous (usually they even echo) McMansions. Especially in Texas. I'm telling you -- huge houses on dried up prunes of lots and lots of big white rock and strange decor -- and they LOVE it.
Texans are weird.
All in all, these shows reflect how utterly spoiled we Americans are -- and I include myself. Linda says it's inevitable -- "It's nesting!" she says. Still, nothing is more disorienting that watching the devastation in Haiti, say, and then turning to a program where a couple is whining, "But it doesn't have hardwood floors!?"
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Second guessing.
An interesting article in The Economist about retailers having to order for Christmas and being undecided about strength of the consumer spending. It implies that there is some sort of disconnect between consumer sentiment, and how parsimonious the retailers are being toward inventory.
Since this weekend I'm doing orders for July, I can sort of answer that paradox.
I think of it a cash-flow problem, not a level of sales problem. Roughly speaking, unless you want to use up cash reserves or borrow money to cover your cash-flow, you can only order the amount of product in any given time frame that you can pay for: which means that you have to order on the LOWEST estimated sales, not the highest.
At least, that's what I do. And then do reorders if they become necessary.
There are times when I push that model. When I have a strong feeling that sales are going to go up; or many months of evidence of an upward trend.
Right now? Not so much. In fact, it's feeling a little iffy. I did see an increase over seven months, but it was beating up on probably the worst seven months since the Great Depression, so all that really said is that we'd probably hit a bottom.
Nothing is more stressful than ordering a ton of material in anticipation of big sales and then not having the big sales happen. Much easier to order for a lower estimate, and then try to get timely reorders. Being a small store, I can be pretty agile these days. I've also purposely moved away from the model I used early in my career --when I ordered just about everything in advance.
I didn't have a whole lot of choice back then. I had to preorder most of my product earlier because 1.) I needed the extra discounts from ordering early, and 2.) there was no way to get the product if I didn't.
Most of the gray hairs on my head came from ordering huge amounts of material and by the time the material arrives, no one wants it anymore.
These days I'll give up the occasional discount, and risk the occasional lack of inventory, to avoid that.
The big mass retailers are less agile, and have to order direct from the manufacturers instead of from middle-men (which is one of their competitive price advantages) but which means they have to order early, and in total.
Like I said about last Christmas, and the Christmas before. When the stores run out of a certain product, that will probably be that.
I think the biggest reason this slowdown has been so much less stressful than past slowdown, despite in some ways being a more severe slowdown, is that my neck isn't extended out there quite so far. I've got moderate amounts of material coming in, and I'm able to order for the month I'm in, based on the sales of that month.
A big sigh of relief.
Since this weekend I'm doing orders for July, I can sort of answer that paradox.
I think of it a cash-flow problem, not a level of sales problem. Roughly speaking, unless you want to use up cash reserves or borrow money to cover your cash-flow, you can only order the amount of product in any given time frame that you can pay for: which means that you have to order on the LOWEST estimated sales, not the highest.
At least, that's what I do. And then do reorders if they become necessary.
There are times when I push that model. When I have a strong feeling that sales are going to go up; or many months of evidence of an upward trend.
Right now? Not so much. In fact, it's feeling a little iffy. I did see an increase over seven months, but it was beating up on probably the worst seven months since the Great Depression, so all that really said is that we'd probably hit a bottom.
Nothing is more stressful than ordering a ton of material in anticipation of big sales and then not having the big sales happen. Much easier to order for a lower estimate, and then try to get timely reorders. Being a small store, I can be pretty agile these days. I've also purposely moved away from the model I used early in my career --when I ordered just about everything in advance.
I didn't have a whole lot of choice back then. I had to preorder most of my product earlier because 1.) I needed the extra discounts from ordering early, and 2.) there was no way to get the product if I didn't.
Most of the gray hairs on my head came from ordering huge amounts of material and by the time the material arrives, no one wants it anymore.
These days I'll give up the occasional discount, and risk the occasional lack of inventory, to avoid that.
The big mass retailers are less agile, and have to order direct from the manufacturers instead of from middle-men (which is one of their competitive price advantages) but which means they have to order early, and in total.
Like I said about last Christmas, and the Christmas before. When the stores run out of a certain product, that will probably be that.
I think the biggest reason this slowdown has been so much less stressful than past slowdown, despite in some ways being a more severe slowdown, is that my neck isn't extended out there quite so far. I've got moderate amounts of material coming in, and I'm able to order for the month I'm in, based on the sales of that month.
A big sigh of relief.
Speaking of fads.
Speaking of bubbles.
Or....when I'm talking about micro trends, I call them fads.
I got used to one fad taking the place of another fad, and on and on for years.
The first fad was the biggest;
Sports cards, 1984-1991. Replaced by,
Comics, 1991-1995, Replaced by,
Magic and non-sports, 1994 -1995. Replaced by,
Pogs, 1996, Replaced by
Beanie Babies, 1998-1999 Replaced by,
Pokemon, which maxed out Christmas, 2000. (These are approximate timelines and there was overlap, but you get the picture.)
Since then?
Nothing. Nada. Not a fad to be seen.
I spent the first five years of the 00's waiting for the next fad. Never happened.
I can't explain the difference between good selling -- say, like boardgames, or the revival of D & D, or the miniature games, or many other things that have popped up -- and a 'fad.' It's a difference in degree and tone. I just know it when I see it.
I was able to take advantage of the pogs and beanie babies and Pokemon, the last three fads, but I'm not entirely sorry that I haven't had to deal with any fads since. Makes the business more stable and predictable.
Still....knowing what I know, I'm pretty sure I could maximize the next fad if it ever comes along.
I know that there have been fads since, but outside my bailiwick, (manga, for instance, probably sold best in the mass market) and probably much of it in the electronic realm.
But what I wanted to point out is that you can have a trend -- a pattern -- that lasts for 16 straight years, and then suddenly ends for the next 10 years....So no one can get it all right, and no amount of experience can prepare you for everything...
Or....when I'm talking about micro trends, I call them fads.
I got used to one fad taking the place of another fad, and on and on for years.
The first fad was the biggest;
Sports cards, 1984-1991. Replaced by,
Comics, 1991-1995, Replaced by,
Magic and non-sports, 1994 -1995. Replaced by,
Pogs, 1996, Replaced by
Beanie Babies, 1998-1999 Replaced by,
Pokemon, which maxed out Christmas, 2000. (These are approximate timelines and there was overlap, but you get the picture.)
Since then?
Nothing. Nada. Not a fad to be seen.
I spent the first five years of the 00's waiting for the next fad. Never happened.
I can't explain the difference between good selling -- say, like boardgames, or the revival of D & D, or the miniature games, or many other things that have popped up -- and a 'fad.' It's a difference in degree and tone. I just know it when I see it.
I was able to take advantage of the pogs and beanie babies and Pokemon, the last three fads, but I'm not entirely sorry that I haven't had to deal with any fads since. Makes the business more stable and predictable.
Still....knowing what I know, I'm pretty sure I could maximize the next fad if it ever comes along.
I know that there have been fads since, but outside my bailiwick, (manga, for instance, probably sold best in the mass market) and probably much of it in the electronic realm.
But what I wanted to point out is that you can have a trend -- a pattern -- that lasts for 16 straight years, and then suddenly ends for the next 10 years....So no one can get it all right, and no amount of experience can prepare you for everything...
A new habit...
How long does it take to establish a new habit? I've heard different lengths of time, all of which seem on the low side to me.
Anyway, a few months ago, I decided that I would save 200.00 a month by ordering through normal channels -- that is, making reorders that would attach to normally shipped product, instead of paying extra to get it here separately, but sooner.
It was tough going at first. I'd been making direct ship reorders for years.
Anyway, I'm finding that I'm now comfortable with the process -- so comfortable in fact that I'm going to continue doing it even though the original motive has faded.
Originally, I was hoping to take the 200.00 savings and turn it into buying 200.00 a month on DC comics and graphics, plus another 200.00 a month on top of that, so that I could read a higher discount plateau -- effectively spending 100.00 extra, to get 400.00 extra worth of product.
I found almost immediately that I still come up short on DC product. I have to spend another 150.00 a month to get there consistently.
Not impossible, with summer coming up, but I would need a bit of an uptick in sales.
Frustrating to be so close, and yet so far away.
Anyway, a few months ago, I decided that I would save 200.00 a month by ordering through normal channels -- that is, making reorders that would attach to normally shipped product, instead of paying extra to get it here separately, but sooner.
It was tough going at first. I'd been making direct ship reorders for years.
Anyway, I'm finding that I'm now comfortable with the process -- so comfortable in fact that I'm going to continue doing it even though the original motive has faded.
Originally, I was hoping to take the 200.00 savings and turn it into buying 200.00 a month on DC comics and graphics, plus another 200.00 a month on top of that, so that I could read a higher discount plateau -- effectively spending 100.00 extra, to get 400.00 extra worth of product.
I found almost immediately that I still come up short on DC product. I have to spend another 150.00 a month to get there consistently.
Not impossible, with summer coming up, but I would need a bit of an uptick in sales.
Frustrating to be so close, and yet so far away.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Your friendly, neighborhood sociopath.
I used to know a woman who told me a long involved pity story about her 'son.' It was a sad and alarming story, and I expressed my condolences. Next time I saw her, I asked how her son was doing.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, you know..." and I started repeating back the story she had told me.
"I never said that," she said.
Oh, oh. I backed away slowly, and didn't start running until I was out the door. Actually, it took a bit longer than that, but over the next few visits I heard, I don't know, three or four different versions of her relationship to her 'son', 'foster son', 'grandson' and whatever it was....
Lady couldn't keep her story straight.
Eventually, I just stopped visiting with her. Later, she became a co-worker to my wife at a corporate store, and proceeded to torpedo Linda's career there by lying and conniving.
Thing is, the woman was a jovial friendly woman.
And a lying sociopath.
Years ago, I had a competitor who would outright lie and steal. People would catch him at it, but they'd forgive him because "He was such a nice guy." Um, really?
Again, he was a jovial friendly guy.
And a lying sociopath.
I had a dorm-mate in college who was from Hawaii, not only from Hawaii but Hawaiin royalty. He had dark looks and a slick manner, so I believed it. A really nice guy. I expressed my admiration of his Coca Cola sign, and he gave it to me. How cool.
A short time later, I found out he wasn't from Hawaii and his name wasn't what I thought it was.
An even shorter time later, the story changed again. I decided to steer clear of the guy.
But he was a jovial friendly guy.
And a lying sociopath.
Reading the descriptions of Diotchin Krasev reminds me a lot of those two experiences.
Oh, he won't say anything about his past. No reason to be suspicious -- he's just playing.
Oh, he makes up names and puts people on. Isn't that cute?
Oh, he's not sketchy, I'd have over to my house anytime even that I don't know a thing about him, and what I do know about him is false. But he's such a nice guy!
Yep, just your usual friendly, neighborhood conman sociopath. Nothing to worry about...
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, you know..." and I started repeating back the story she had told me.
"I never said that," she said.
Oh, oh. I backed away slowly, and didn't start running until I was out the door. Actually, it took a bit longer than that, but over the next few visits I heard, I don't know, three or four different versions of her relationship to her 'son', 'foster son', 'grandson' and whatever it was....
Lady couldn't keep her story straight.
Eventually, I just stopped visiting with her. Later, she became a co-worker to my wife at a corporate store, and proceeded to torpedo Linda's career there by lying and conniving.
Thing is, the woman was a jovial friendly woman.
And a lying sociopath.
Years ago, I had a competitor who would outright lie and steal. People would catch him at it, but they'd forgive him because "He was such a nice guy." Um, really?
Again, he was a jovial friendly guy.
And a lying sociopath.
I had a dorm-mate in college who was from Hawaii, not only from Hawaii but Hawaiin royalty. He had dark looks and a slick manner, so I believed it. A really nice guy. I expressed my admiration of his Coca Cola sign, and he gave it to me. How cool.
A short time later, I found out he wasn't from Hawaii and his name wasn't what I thought it was.
An even shorter time later, the story changed again. I decided to steer clear of the guy.
But he was a jovial friendly guy.
And a lying sociopath.
Reading the descriptions of Diotchin Krasev reminds me a lot of those two experiences.
Oh, he won't say anything about his past. No reason to be suspicious -- he's just playing.
Oh, he makes up names and puts people on. Isn't that cute?
Oh, he's not sketchy, I'd have over to my house anytime even that I don't know a thing about him, and what I do know about him is false. But he's such a nice guy!
Yep, just your usual friendly, neighborhood conman sociopath. Nothing to worry about...
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Linda and I went and saw The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo last night. We don't usually go to evening showings, but with the T.V. season pretty much over, I'm thinking we might try to do that more often. It was the Swedish sub-titled version, and I find that I'm sort of self-conscious about reading at first, but by the end of the movie I've forgotten that I'm reading.
Anyway, good movie, very much like the book.
There is a lot of talk about who will play "the girl" in the Hollywood version, and how they'd have a hard time matching this actress. But I suspect this is one of those characters that would be hard to foul up, and will be either a 'star-making' turn or a star enhancing turn.
Brad Pitt as the journalist (?)-- um, not middle-aged weary enough, but if that's what it takes. David Fincher is the director.
The book, by Stieg Larsson, was an interesting experience. The writing isn't slick: it's earnest, clunky even. But I liked that it didn't follow the usual formula. It's full of mundane details, that for some reason don't slow down the action.
Looking back on it, I've decided that what I like about it is the way it goes about solving the mystery. Straight forward, with even the twists and turns coming out of the path of the detection. We are shown each little step in the process, and all of them are logical next steps, and I really like that. I'm not saying it's totally plausible, but it is completely believable..
Like most great mysteries, the ending seems obvious, but it manages to keep you guessing until then.
But it's the details, the foreign culture, the personalities that make the books. And he's created one of those once in a lifetime characters in Lisbeth, who you have to see (or read) to believe.
Anyway, good movie, very much like the book.
There is a lot of talk about who will play "the girl" in the Hollywood version, and how they'd have a hard time matching this actress. But I suspect this is one of those characters that would be hard to foul up, and will be either a 'star-making' turn or a star enhancing turn.
Brad Pitt as the journalist (?)-- um, not middle-aged weary enough, but if that's what it takes. David Fincher is the director.
The book, by Stieg Larsson, was an interesting experience. The writing isn't slick: it's earnest, clunky even. But I liked that it didn't follow the usual formula. It's full of mundane details, that for some reason don't slow down the action.
Looking back on it, I've decided that what I like about it is the way it goes about solving the mystery. Straight forward, with even the twists and turns coming out of the path of the detection. We are shown each little step in the process, and all of them are logical next steps, and I really like that. I'm not saying it's totally plausible, but it is completely believable..
Like most great mysteries, the ending seems obvious, but it manages to keep you guessing until then.
But it's the details, the foreign culture, the personalities that make the books. And he's created one of those once in a lifetime characters in Lisbeth, who you have to see (or read) to believe.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Cell Phone Goofy's.
As someone who doesn't have a cell phone, I can tell you that cell phone behavior is extremely unattractive.
Do I have to own a cell phone to understand the 'Dark Side?'
It reminds me of the old cartoon of genial ol' Goofy, getting into a car and turning into a raving maniac.
In the last 24 hours I've seen:
***The usual big landscaping truck blocking two lanes of traffic chatting away at his cell phone.
***The usual dodging of erratic drivers and noticing they're on their cell phones. (Do the police EVER enforce that law?)
***Two teenage girls following me down the sidewalk, both of them talking at the top of their voices into cell phones, side by side.
***The usual half conversations in the store, about seemingly incredibly mundane things.
So I ask you.
Does owning a cell phone automatically turn people into self absorbed nits?
By not having a cell phone I'm saying:
*** Nothings so important it can't wait.
*** My (half of) a conversation isn't so sparkling that absolutely everyone around me needs to hear it.
*** I am not the actual center of the universe.
***Some conversations aren't necessary.
***I'm comfortable with myself and my own thoughts.
It's me against the world, I tell ya.
Do I have to own a cell phone to understand the 'Dark Side?'
It reminds me of the old cartoon of genial ol' Goofy, getting into a car and turning into a raving maniac.
In the last 24 hours I've seen:
***The usual big landscaping truck blocking two lanes of traffic chatting away at his cell phone.
***The usual dodging of erratic drivers and noticing they're on their cell phones. (Do the police EVER enforce that law?)
***Two teenage girls following me down the sidewalk, both of them talking at the top of their voices into cell phones, side by side.
***The usual half conversations in the store, about seemingly incredibly mundane things.
So I ask you.
Does owning a cell phone automatically turn people into self absorbed nits?
By not having a cell phone I'm saying:
*** Nothings so important it can't wait.
*** My (half of) a conversation isn't so sparkling that absolutely everyone around me needs to hear it.
*** I am not the actual center of the universe.
***Some conversations aren't necessary.
***I'm comfortable with myself and my own thoughts.
It's me against the world, I tell ya.
Gnat buzz
Obama's Katrina?
Yeah, Barack, why don't you put on that scuba suit and get a giant cork and dive down there and cap that sucker. What wrong with you?
God, we are a bunch of ninnies, aren't we? The attention span of gnats. I thought the big deal was going to be Kagan? Or was it Greece? Or Tiger Woods.
Sheeesh.
Yeah, Barack, why don't you put on that scuba suit and get a giant cork and dive down there and cap that sucker. What wrong with you?
God, we are a bunch of ninnies, aren't we? The attention span of gnats. I thought the big deal was going to be Kagan? Or was it Greece? Or Tiger Woods.
Sheeesh.
Same old, same old.
Three closings in three days downtown.
It always strikes me as odd that we get so many closings just before summer, but it makes sense when you think about it. If the leases started at the optimal time, which is just before the busy season -- well, then, they are going to end at the same time.
Whether the economy actually has anything to do with these closings (of course, it does....right? But I don't want to presume...) I can't really tell.
But I do think it's been a rough 3 or 4 months.
The news tried real hard there for awhile to make like things were getting better, but it might have been a bit of an illusion -- beating up on the almost complete collapse of the economy from Sept. 2008 through March 2009.
In hindsight, I can see how the economy probably 'stabilized', if that's the right word, and it's becoming a bit more difficult to 'beat last year.' I wonder about the psychological effect of the stock market correction, and the announcement that Bend placed 301st out of 301 'urban' markets for housing prices....Ouch.
Despite everything, I made a good profit this month, though I'll be down in sales. I should be able to pay a little over half of the big credit card bill I incurred earlier in the year, and polish off what's left in June. Giving me a clean slate for July.
I have a business plan for the next four years of so, starting in July, which I'll revisit and revise every six months or so, as needed.
Just settling in for the long haul. No matter how bad this looks, it is no where near as bad at it was in the mid-80's. A recession in a small lumber town with less than 20k people is pretty tough. I won't say this has been a walk in the park, but at least we are a 'metro' area, and at least we have a vital downtown, and at least we've established a tourist trade.
The trick is adjust my store to the current conditions, which I've gotten pretty good at.
It always strikes me as odd that we get so many closings just before summer, but it makes sense when you think about it. If the leases started at the optimal time, which is just before the busy season -- well, then, they are going to end at the same time.
Whether the economy actually has anything to do with these closings (of course, it does....right? But I don't want to presume...) I can't really tell.
But I do think it's been a rough 3 or 4 months.
The news tried real hard there for awhile to make like things were getting better, but it might have been a bit of an illusion -- beating up on the almost complete collapse of the economy from Sept. 2008 through March 2009.
In hindsight, I can see how the economy probably 'stabilized', if that's the right word, and it's becoming a bit more difficult to 'beat last year.' I wonder about the psychological effect of the stock market correction, and the announcement that Bend placed 301st out of 301 'urban' markets for housing prices....Ouch.
Despite everything, I made a good profit this month, though I'll be down in sales. I should be able to pay a little over half of the big credit card bill I incurred earlier in the year, and polish off what's left in June. Giving me a clean slate for July.
I have a business plan for the next four years of so, starting in July, which I'll revisit and revise every six months or so, as needed.
Just settling in for the long haul. No matter how bad this looks, it is no where near as bad at it was in the mid-80's. A recession in a small lumber town with less than 20k people is pretty tough. I won't say this has been a walk in the park, but at least we are a 'metro' area, and at least we have a vital downtown, and at least we've established a tourist trade.
The trick is adjust my store to the current conditions, which I've gotten pretty good at.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Downtown Openings and Closings.
A notice on the door and a For Lease sign in the window at Urban Minx.
So I guess we won't have a Tart and a Minx on the same block after all. (Not to mention Laughing Girls and a Lola and a Honey and a Diana's Jewell Box and a Wild Women (gone). And here I was, all ready to call Minnesota, "Slut Street."
What? Have I gone too far?
I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Gallow's Humor, you know?
UPDATE: Was told that Wall Street Gifts is gone.
UPDATE: Bulletin announced closure of Cork.
NEW BUSINESS'S DOWNTOWN
Tart, Minnesota Av. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota St., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota St. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota St. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota, 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe 11/5/09 25 N.W. Minnesota, Suite #7.
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails
BUSINESS'S LEAVING
Showcase Hats, 1/6/10
Cork, Oregon Av., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Urban Minx, Minnesota St., 5/25/10.
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minn. Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro
So I guess we won't have a Tart and a Minx on the same block after all. (Not to mention Laughing Girls and a Lola and a Honey and a Diana's Jewell Box and a Wild Women (gone). And here I was, all ready to call Minnesota, "Slut Street."
What? Have I gone too far?
I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Gallow's Humor, you know?
UPDATE: Was told that Wall Street Gifts is gone.
UPDATE: Bulletin announced closure of Cork.
NEW BUSINESS'S DOWNTOWN
Tart, Minnesota Av. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota St., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota St. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota St. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota, 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe 11/5/09 25 N.W. Minnesota, Suite #7.
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails
BUSINESS'S LEAVING
Showcase Hats, 1/6/10
Cork, Oregon Av., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Urban Minx, Minnesota St., 5/25/10.
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minn. Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Double dippin'
We managed to beat last years sales Sept. through March, 7 months in a row.
Last two months? Not so much.
I'm thinking now that those seven months were the easy ones. That we're now up against the stabilized bottom, scraping along, and when the news is good we bounce above that bottom and when news is bad, we're digging into the dirt of the bottom.
So my planning is going to assume that bouncing for the foreseeable future. Which basically means maintaining current levels of spending, or even moderating them. It certainly means not raising my spending for summer like I'd originally intended.
In a way, I think I need to go back to the First Principles -- that I talked about two years ago, of what I know about Bubbles:
1.) Burst bubbles always drop farther than you think they possible can drop.
2.) There are lots of false signs of recovery, lots of ways to lose your shirt betting on recovery.
3.) They always last longer than you think. And last and last....
4.) They don't tend to start to recover until you've given up on them recovering. You turn around one day, and you realize that sales have gotten better. But you stopped looking for it.
Multiply me and my little store by thousands and hundreds of thousands, and add in all the people who's portfolio's have just dropped 15% and expect more bad news and what do you got?
Double dip recession.
Here in Bend our unemployment rate is 1% below last year. But I have to wonder how many people have left town for work, and how many have just given up.
Linda and I drove around the Northwest of Bend yesterday, looking at shrubs (We need to replace the shrubs in front of our house) and the incongruity of wealthy houses just leaps out at me. Who lives in all these mansions? What do they do for a living? It just doesn't feel right.
When I grew up in Bend, we had 13 thousand people. I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around this enormous growth, and I still have doubts about it's sustainability.
The stock market is acting up just as people are probably making their summer vacation plans. Got to wonder if people are going to back off. Tourism is what we're about, I think. And we'll always get some of it. But maybe not that little extra burst that we'd like.
No way of knowing. But I do have to start planning, and I'm thinking double dip.
Last two months? Not so much.
I'm thinking now that those seven months were the easy ones. That we're now up against the stabilized bottom, scraping along, and when the news is good we bounce above that bottom and when news is bad, we're digging into the dirt of the bottom.
So my planning is going to assume that bouncing for the foreseeable future. Which basically means maintaining current levels of spending, or even moderating them. It certainly means not raising my spending for summer like I'd originally intended.
In a way, I think I need to go back to the First Principles -- that I talked about two years ago, of what I know about Bubbles:
1.) Burst bubbles always drop farther than you think they possible can drop.
2.) There are lots of false signs of recovery, lots of ways to lose your shirt betting on recovery.
3.) They always last longer than you think. And last and last....
4.) They don't tend to start to recover until you've given up on them recovering. You turn around one day, and you realize that sales have gotten better. But you stopped looking for it.
Multiply me and my little store by thousands and hundreds of thousands, and add in all the people who's portfolio's have just dropped 15% and expect more bad news and what do you got?
Double dip recession.
Here in Bend our unemployment rate is 1% below last year. But I have to wonder how many people have left town for work, and how many have just given up.
Linda and I drove around the Northwest of Bend yesterday, looking at shrubs (We need to replace the shrubs in front of our house) and the incongruity of wealthy houses just leaps out at me. Who lives in all these mansions? What do they do for a living? It just doesn't feel right.
When I grew up in Bend, we had 13 thousand people. I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around this enormous growth, and I still have doubts about it's sustainability.
The stock market is acting up just as people are probably making their summer vacation plans. Got to wonder if people are going to back off. Tourism is what we're about, I think. And we'll always get some of it. But maybe not that little extra burst that we'd like.
No way of knowing. But I do have to start planning, and I'm thinking double dip.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Lost - ed.
I want to write this before I see what anyone else has to say....
I had to turn off the intertubenet last night before the show, because I was afraid I'd see spoilers. The only other times I've ever had to do that was when I'd record the Academy Awards and the Super Bowls because I wanted to fast-forward all the commercials.
Speaking of commercials, I think they added a half hour to the finale so they could pack in more ads....sheesh.
So..................
It was an emotionally and dramatically satisfying ending. It had a nice spiritual feel to it. A little over the top with the 'violin music' (well, it wasn't stringed instruments, but you know what I mean.) Almost got a little maudlin a few times, but overall I thought they wrapped the characters up nicely. And in the end, that's why I kept watching -- because I liked the characters.
By the way, I could swear that half of Hurley's lines were from Star Wars....
A couple of things: They really kind of neatly sidestepped giving us most of the answers about the Island itself, by using the sideways wrap up.
And didn't they tell us that it wasn't purgatory, which was many people's first guess.? O.K. O.K., maybe the Island was real, and the sideways storyline was purgatory, but I feel a little conned.
Which is all right. Actually. I don't feel cheated.
Meanwhile, lots and lots of unanswered questions about the Island.
I smell a bookdeal!
Anyway, they pulled it off. I immediately gave up on almost every other show that tried to do the same thing. Too much time and energy investment, like being caught in a fantasy trilogy gone endless --
I'm not sure I'd have ever gotten started if I'd known how long it would take. But, still, it was one of those 'events' that I'll always remember.
I had to turn off the intertubenet last night before the show, because I was afraid I'd see spoilers. The only other times I've ever had to do that was when I'd record the Academy Awards and the Super Bowls because I wanted to fast-forward all the commercials.
Speaking of commercials, I think they added a half hour to the finale so they could pack in more ads....sheesh.
So..................
It was an emotionally and dramatically satisfying ending. It had a nice spiritual feel to it. A little over the top with the 'violin music' (well, it wasn't stringed instruments, but you know what I mean.) Almost got a little maudlin a few times, but overall I thought they wrapped the characters up nicely. And in the end, that's why I kept watching -- because I liked the characters.
By the way, I could swear that half of Hurley's lines were from Star Wars....
A couple of things: They really kind of neatly sidestepped giving us most of the answers about the Island itself, by using the sideways wrap up.
And didn't they tell us that it wasn't purgatory, which was many people's first guess.? O.K. O.K., maybe the Island was real, and the sideways storyline was purgatory, but I feel a little conned.
Which is all right. Actually. I don't feel cheated.
Meanwhile, lots and lots of unanswered questions about the Island.
I smell a bookdeal!
Anyway, they pulled it off. I immediately gave up on almost every other show that tried to do the same thing. Too much time and energy investment, like being caught in a fantasy trilogy gone endless --
I'm not sure I'd have ever gotten started if I'd known how long it would take. But, still, it was one of those 'events' that I'll always remember.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Down and Up.
Linda was ready to go to bed early, and I was grabbing my book to read, but we hadn't quite turned off the T.V. -- when "UP" came on.
The first five minutes of that movie are pure genius, and enough to bring you to tears -- without a word spoken. Of course, then we got hooked.
All I can say is -- dogs make very unreliable henchmen. Squirrel!!
Linda said she had a discussion with a woman who never watches cartoon movies -- "They're for kids."
Her loss.
**********
Got some gardening done, yesterday. At first it was a little cold, but it turned out to be perfect gardening weather.
It jibes with my memory of my Mom, who was the most intrepid of gardeners, who I have vivid memories of coming in the house wearing a winter parka, and having dirty knees and a smudged nose and looking utterly content.
Always a bit of a joke to me whether I'd come by the house to see her in the garden in Feb. or March (or Dec. and Jan. for that matter.)
Looking at my yards, front and back and sideways -- I have the "bones" for a great landscape. I've decided to clear the time, and I have can even afford to buy some plants. (I like subdividing the plants I have...makes me feel creative and cheap.)
Much like when I was writing novels, it takes a long, long time, and doing it a bit at a time.
Also like writing books, I kind of just plunge in and see what happens. Probably should put more thought into what plants and where -- but what's the fun in that?
It's a discovery.
**********
Speaking of writing. I've now written this blog for 2.5 years, EVERY DAY! Half the time I wake up and have no idea what I'm going to say. But all I need is a small start, and the words flow.
Not saying it's all great, but it happens every day.
100's of thousands of words, novels worth.
What would happen if I did the same thing with 'fiction?' What if I told myself it didn't matter what I wrote, or how long it was, or how good -- just do something every day. I suspect -- if I set out to do it -- that the same thing would happen.
I even have the blog already in existence. The scribblings probably wouldn't make much sense to anyone else, and would obviously be raw, unlike my blog where I can pretty much finish each entry, fiction would necessarily be 'first drafts." But it would be interesting to see what happens.
**********
The political stuff is just aggravating. I don't know where to start. Shilo Inns cutting down trees, then calling their "Republican" representative Chris Telfer to intervene, and being behind on their taxes but getting the fine reduced 90%?
Wow. Just wow.
It's not the first time a motel along the river has done that, and if the fines are going to be so pathetic, it won't be the last....
And, with all due respect to John Sterns, I just don't buy that Healing Hands' sale had anything to do with local taxes. It's starting to look more and more like a thought out agenda on the part of the editorial staff. Write a story, then go back to it again and again.
But I read the original story, and I don't think it said what they think it said.
Oh, and at the bottom of the business section of the Bulletin there is an article mentioning that at TRG "there has been a shift in customer service and telemarketing services to Pakistan, which could separate a large number of workers at TRG's Bend off from their jobs..."
Let me repeat that: "Separate a large number of workers...from their jobs." What a passive aggressive way to put it.
They were fired!
This seems like MAJOR news to me. When TRG sold recently, there was the usual talk about nothing changing, and as usual with new owners, I didn't believe it. That's what new owners do. That's why they buy the place, because they see a way to skin the business alive.
The Bulletin's slant seemed a bit strange to me -- the fired workers can go back to school! What a great opportunity!!!
TRG seemed like one of the few places in town where people could actually find jobs --
The first five minutes of that movie are pure genius, and enough to bring you to tears -- without a word spoken. Of course, then we got hooked.
All I can say is -- dogs make very unreliable henchmen. Squirrel!!
Linda said she had a discussion with a woman who never watches cartoon movies -- "They're for kids."
Her loss.
**********
Got some gardening done, yesterday. At first it was a little cold, but it turned out to be perfect gardening weather.
It jibes with my memory of my Mom, who was the most intrepid of gardeners, who I have vivid memories of coming in the house wearing a winter parka, and having dirty knees and a smudged nose and looking utterly content.
Always a bit of a joke to me whether I'd come by the house to see her in the garden in Feb. or March (or Dec. and Jan. for that matter.)
Looking at my yards, front and back and sideways -- I have the "bones" for a great landscape. I've decided to clear the time, and I have can even afford to buy some plants. (I like subdividing the plants I have...makes me feel creative and cheap.)
Much like when I was writing novels, it takes a long, long time, and doing it a bit at a time.
Also like writing books, I kind of just plunge in and see what happens. Probably should put more thought into what plants and where -- but what's the fun in that?
It's a discovery.
**********
Speaking of writing. I've now written this blog for 2.5 years, EVERY DAY! Half the time I wake up and have no idea what I'm going to say. But all I need is a small start, and the words flow.
Not saying it's all great, but it happens every day.
100's of thousands of words, novels worth.
What would happen if I did the same thing with 'fiction?' What if I told myself it didn't matter what I wrote, or how long it was, or how good -- just do something every day. I suspect -- if I set out to do it -- that the same thing would happen.
I even have the blog already in existence. The scribblings probably wouldn't make much sense to anyone else, and would obviously be raw, unlike my blog where I can pretty much finish each entry, fiction would necessarily be 'first drafts." But it would be interesting to see what happens.
**********
The political stuff is just aggravating. I don't know where to start. Shilo Inns cutting down trees, then calling their "Republican" representative Chris Telfer to intervene, and being behind on their taxes but getting the fine reduced 90%?
Wow. Just wow.
It's not the first time a motel along the river has done that, and if the fines are going to be so pathetic, it won't be the last....
And, with all due respect to John Sterns, I just don't buy that Healing Hands' sale had anything to do with local taxes. It's starting to look more and more like a thought out agenda on the part of the editorial staff. Write a story, then go back to it again and again.
But I read the original story, and I don't think it said what they think it said.
Oh, and at the bottom of the business section of the Bulletin there is an article mentioning that at TRG "there has been a shift in customer service and telemarketing services to Pakistan, which could separate a large number of workers at TRG's Bend off from their jobs..."
Let me repeat that: "Separate a large number of workers...from their jobs." What a passive aggressive way to put it.
They were fired!
This seems like MAJOR news to me. When TRG sold recently, there was the usual talk about nothing changing, and as usual with new owners, I didn't believe it. That's what new owners do. That's why they buy the place, because they see a way to skin the business alive.
The Bulletin's slant seemed a bit strange to me -- the fired workers can go back to school! What a great opportunity!!!
TRG seemed like one of the few places in town where people could actually find jobs --
Saturday, May 22, 2010
And more bits.
I have started watching the CACB stock on Fridays. Yesterday, for instance, the stock took a straight dive down to .55 for most of the day, and then, around 3:30 a big push up, an immediate drop back down, another big push up, another drop, and finally a push that puts it slightly above the previous day. All in the last half hour.
Have no idea what's going on. Just find it weird.
It looks to me like someone is trying awfully hard not to let the stock drop below a certain level-- especially on Fridays.
**********
You suppose John Doe is just enjoying flummoxing the authorities with his identity?
I mean, if he knew he was going to end up in jail anyway?
Thing is, eventually, he might spend more time in jail not revealing who he is than he would have if he did reveal who he is -- unless the crime was dire. Interesting in this day and age that someone can still be invisible.
Maybe he just never lived in the U.S. until 1996? Does the strong "street Spanish" reveal anything? Maybe he just doesn't want to be deported?
Is it all a big game to him?
Alternate theory. There is nothing there. He just wants to seem more important than he is. He's a nobody. Even the choice of his high school, "one of the best public high schools in the district," may be an indication that he's just a wannabe.
Seems like a stiff price to pay -- staying in jail. But, hey, he's got us all wondering and talking about him, and maybe -- to him -- that's worth the price. Pretending that he's "in danger" is more fun than admitting he's a pathetic phoney.
**********
Going to be doing two things today that I always enjoy doing -- once I start doing it. Comic reading and gardening. I just need to get off my duff today. One more day of doing nothing at all and I lose all self-respect....
***********
I came up with a what I thought was a neat nickname for one of my employees.
But he asked me -- nicely -- not to use it.
And I decided many years ago if someone asks you nicely not to do something, it was only polite to comply.
Damn.
My rule of thumb; if I ask nicely three times for you stop doing something, and it doesn't matter to you and yet you still keep doing it? That's not polite.
**********
I got into manga with the idea that it might be a fad. That the pre-pubescent girls who were scooping it up would drop it a few years later. Seemed likely.
As long as I was growing the category, I seemed to be selling a lot. (This isn't the same thing as making money -- most of the profits went back into buying more product.) About the time I realized that manga and anime were on the verge of taking over the store space, the publishers started offering deals, so I kept going.
Eventually, I just didn't have any more space. I settled back to replace the best-sellers and buy the new significant series.
And sales dropped like a rock.
At what point does it become throwing good money after bad?
Anyway, I stopped ordering 'all' the series a few years ago, stopped reordering a couple years ago, and stopped ordering anything at all in the last year. For about a year, I've been offering more or less a buy 2 get a 3rd one free offer.
In the last month or so, I dropped it to 3 for 10.00 on manga, and 10.00 for every anime. In effect, I'm losing money. But I've also winnowed the inventory by about 40%, mostly without losing money. Throw in what I'll get with what's left, and I will probably break even overall.
I'm hoping to winnow it down another 25%, leaving only the back wall to Japanese material. And then just ordering the top ten in every category.
Shrug. It's one of those things that you can only know if it works if you go whole hog, and while you're building inventory, sales are great so you think you've got something. But it proves to be a "I'll buy this from you if you stock so much inventory you lose money" type things.
Have no idea what's going on. Just find it weird.
It looks to me like someone is trying awfully hard not to let the stock drop below a certain level-- especially on Fridays.
**********
You suppose John Doe is just enjoying flummoxing the authorities with his identity?
I mean, if he knew he was going to end up in jail anyway?
Thing is, eventually, he might spend more time in jail not revealing who he is than he would have if he did reveal who he is -- unless the crime was dire. Interesting in this day and age that someone can still be invisible.
Maybe he just never lived in the U.S. until 1996? Does the strong "street Spanish" reveal anything? Maybe he just doesn't want to be deported?
Is it all a big game to him?
Alternate theory. There is nothing there. He just wants to seem more important than he is. He's a nobody. Even the choice of his high school, "one of the best public high schools in the district," may be an indication that he's just a wannabe.
Seems like a stiff price to pay -- staying in jail. But, hey, he's got us all wondering and talking about him, and maybe -- to him -- that's worth the price. Pretending that he's "in danger" is more fun than admitting he's a pathetic phoney.
**********
Going to be doing two things today that I always enjoy doing -- once I start doing it. Comic reading and gardening. I just need to get off my duff today. One more day of doing nothing at all and I lose all self-respect....
***********
I came up with a what I thought was a neat nickname for one of my employees.
But he asked me -- nicely -- not to use it.
And I decided many years ago if someone asks you nicely not to do something, it was only polite to comply.
Damn.
My rule of thumb; if I ask nicely three times for you stop doing something, and it doesn't matter to you and yet you still keep doing it? That's not polite.
**********
I got into manga with the idea that it might be a fad. That the pre-pubescent girls who were scooping it up would drop it a few years later. Seemed likely.
As long as I was growing the category, I seemed to be selling a lot. (This isn't the same thing as making money -- most of the profits went back into buying more product.) About the time I realized that manga and anime were on the verge of taking over the store space, the publishers started offering deals, so I kept going.
Eventually, I just didn't have any more space. I settled back to replace the best-sellers and buy the new significant series.
And sales dropped like a rock.
At what point does it become throwing good money after bad?
Anyway, I stopped ordering 'all' the series a few years ago, stopped reordering a couple years ago, and stopped ordering anything at all in the last year. For about a year, I've been offering more or less a buy 2 get a 3rd one free offer.
In the last month or so, I dropped it to 3 for 10.00 on manga, and 10.00 for every anime. In effect, I'm losing money. But I've also winnowed the inventory by about 40%, mostly without losing money. Throw in what I'll get with what's left, and I will probably break even overall.
I'm hoping to winnow it down another 25%, leaving only the back wall to Japanese material. And then just ordering the top ten in every category.
Shrug. It's one of those things that you can only know if it works if you go whole hog, and while you're building inventory, sales are great so you think you've got something. But it proves to be a "I'll buy this from you if you stock so much inventory you lose money" type things.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Tidbits and more bits.
A guy brought in a copy of a book of poems about mushrooms his son had edited. I started reading some of them aloud.
Amazing how much sexual imagery they can come up with using fungi.
Disgustin', I tell ya.
**********
Was looking at the covers of my Star Wars Insider and Star Trek Magazines.
Just how many promo shots did they take back then, anyway? Did they know they were going to be a undying franchise? Do all movies get that many promo photo's?
Or have they just been photoshopping actual film footage?
Milk it, baby.
**********
Had a young family in, and they asked, "Who wrote Robin Hood?"
Ummmm.....Like King Arthur, the answer is -- no one and everyone.
I suppose if I had the Howard Pyle version of Robin Hood, I'd turn them on to that.
**********
St. Charles turns a profit?
Great. If you don't mind 13% increase in charges and 100 employees affected by cut hours. More expensive and less service. (I lost two long term customers to those cuts....)
But, hey, they turned a profit.
**********
Mt. Bachelor had 10% more skier visits; though reading the article, it seems due to a longer season and a more consistent snow level.
But, hey, they had an increase.
**********
I wasn't involved in the stock market during the crash of '08. But this 10% correction that has just occurred has given me a taste of what it must have felt like. Hard to imagine watching your life savings drop by half...
That must have been agonizing.
At the same time, like the falling housing prices, it doesn't feel altogether real. The day to day keeps coming along day to day.
**********
I realize the trials and tribulations of daily retail probably don't interest most of you, but it's what I do, right?
So after long thought and wishy washy back and forth and then more ruminations and more thought and changing my mind again and then-- as the July ordering period rapidly approaches and wanting a clean slate by paying off all my credit lines -- I arrived at a budget that I thought I could live with. Generous enough to do the job and keep me interested, but lean enough to turn a profit if I was disciplined.
Whew. Glad to finally fix on it.
Woke up the next morning, and DC has the biggest SALE! of the year.
Got to work, and had just about the slowest 3 days in a row in a long while.
Actually, those two events were probably synchronicity.
I'm pretending the SALE! doesn't exist. (Why is it shouting at me?) I'm going yet another week without reorders, which will be the fourth week, I believe. 4 weeks is about as long as I can go without going crazy reordering, and, thus, slow business is a good thing!
Or something like that.
**********
I've been winnowing down my anime and manga selection for a couple of years now. Very patient about it. Over the last month or so, I've started selling the manga 3/10.00 and the anime for 10.00 each, which means I'm taking a loss on them. But at least I'll be able to write them down on my inventory.
Sometime this summer, I'm going to transition two bookshelves from manga to genre paperbacks, probably science fiction and fantasy.
I've been winnowing down non-sports and older sports cards for over a decade now. Stuff I thought would never sale has slowly trickled out the door. Again, I'm hoping by the end of the year to be able to consolidate into one display case.
I was moving toys around, and found about four of them that had the discolored yellow look from being ancient -- four, out of probably thousands. I'm hoping to clear away a couple of shelves worth of toys over the next year, and turn them over to new books.
Altogether, I'm hoping to be able to add about 5 more bookcases for new books by the end of the year. To go along with the twenty I already have.
Everything sells eventually, if you're patient and take the long view.
Amazing how much sexual imagery they can come up with using fungi.
Disgustin', I tell ya.
**********
Was looking at the covers of my Star Wars Insider and Star Trek Magazines.
Just how many promo shots did they take back then, anyway? Did they know they were going to be a undying franchise? Do all movies get that many promo photo's?
Or have they just been photoshopping actual film footage?
Milk it, baby.
**********
Had a young family in, and they asked, "Who wrote Robin Hood?"
Ummmm.....Like King Arthur, the answer is -- no one and everyone.
I suppose if I had the Howard Pyle version of Robin Hood, I'd turn them on to that.
**********
St. Charles turns a profit?
Great. If you don't mind 13% increase in charges and 100 employees affected by cut hours. More expensive and less service. (I lost two long term customers to those cuts....)
But, hey, they turned a profit.
**********
Mt. Bachelor had 10% more skier visits; though reading the article, it seems due to a longer season and a more consistent snow level.
But, hey, they had an increase.
**********
I wasn't involved in the stock market during the crash of '08. But this 10% correction that has just occurred has given me a taste of what it must have felt like. Hard to imagine watching your life savings drop by half...
That must have been agonizing.
At the same time, like the falling housing prices, it doesn't feel altogether real. The day to day keeps coming along day to day.
**********
I realize the trials and tribulations of daily retail probably don't interest most of you, but it's what I do, right?
So after long thought and wishy washy back and forth and then more ruminations and more thought and changing my mind again and then-- as the July ordering period rapidly approaches and wanting a clean slate by paying off all my credit lines -- I arrived at a budget that I thought I could live with. Generous enough to do the job and keep me interested, but lean enough to turn a profit if I was disciplined.
Whew. Glad to finally fix on it.
Woke up the next morning, and DC has the biggest SALE! of the year.
Got to work, and had just about the slowest 3 days in a row in a long while.
Actually, those two events were probably synchronicity.
I'm pretending the SALE! doesn't exist. (Why is it shouting at me?) I'm going yet another week without reorders, which will be the fourth week, I believe. 4 weeks is about as long as I can go without going crazy reordering, and, thus, slow business is a good thing!
Or something like that.
**********
I've been winnowing down my anime and manga selection for a couple of years now. Very patient about it. Over the last month or so, I've started selling the manga 3/10.00 and the anime for 10.00 each, which means I'm taking a loss on them. But at least I'll be able to write them down on my inventory.
Sometime this summer, I'm going to transition two bookshelves from manga to genre paperbacks, probably science fiction and fantasy.
I've been winnowing down non-sports and older sports cards for over a decade now. Stuff I thought would never sale has slowly trickled out the door. Again, I'm hoping by the end of the year to be able to consolidate into one display case.
I was moving toys around, and found about four of them that had the discolored yellow look from being ancient -- four, out of probably thousands. I'm hoping to clear away a couple of shelves worth of toys over the next year, and turn them over to new books.
Altogether, I'm hoping to be able to add about 5 more bookcases for new books by the end of the year. To go along with the twenty I already have.
Everything sells eventually, if you're patient and take the long view.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tidbits
Strangely, since not all the races ended the way I voted, the Tuesday results felt just about right. Locally, statewide, and nationally. Even where I very much disagreed with the outcome, it felt like a bit of shakeup that was probably needed. Some of the winners are going to be exposed to daylight and we'll see how they fair. Vague enough?
**********
Ironically, in it's own way and I think without meaning to, the T.V. show HEROES was presented in much the same way as a typical comic series. Lots of restarts, character changes, and interruptions.
**********
Linda has a table out, where one entire side is filled with these taller paperbacks; you know, the ones that are about half an inch taller than the normal books? And they sell like crazy. They blow out the door. (Linda's theory is that people want a quick pick and they know these books are new and they just grab them.)
Doesn't happen in my store, for some reason; but I'm thinking maybe I need to come up with a similar presentation, somehow.
**********
So much easier when you're broke.
Had three really, really slow days this week at my store. And then realized, that I'd probably lost a whole hell of a lot more money from the stock market drop than I did from a lack of customers.
Weird.
**********
I need to take advantage of these cool spring days to really dig into the garden. Lots of grass and weeds to pull.
I've been stumped by a lack of top soil. I meant to have a dump truck load delivered this year. The older I get, the lazier. Is that normal?
**********
Speaking of slow business. It looks like this month is going to be a replay of last month; a strong start, followed by a slow ten days or so, hopefully ending with a stronger end.
Overall, I'm about where I expected to be. Yesterday, for instance, was a very good day.
But the three days before that? uh, la, la.... Tuesday was a flashback to the bad old days. No one coming in, no one spending money.
It's very easy to get bummed out by those kinds of days. Mostly, though, I remember how it used to feel when I was living hand to mouth about ten years ago. When my daily cash flow really mattered, and I had to get that money in the bank at the end of every day. You sit there, at the counter, and feel -- rejected? Passed over?
Not a pleasant experience.
I've been around long enough now to look back and realize that it all evened out in the end. The solution back then, as now, was to have a cash cushion in the bank for cash flow shortages. I should have sold my car, stopped eating for a month, stopped buying product for however long it took to get a few thousand dollars in my bank. Hell, until my bank finally did me the favor of not covering my overdrafts, I probably could have had my cushion just from the penalties!
The stress that would have saved!
But you get into that trap, and it seems to reinforce the short term solutions which leads you further into the trap.
Oh, well. I survived it. But I started have flashbacks this week-- unnecessarily so, since I now have more than enough cushion -- to those bad old days, and I'm thankful that I now face them with a certain amount of equanimity. And make sure I never fall into that trap again.
Oh, and I don't think the recession is over....
**********
Ironically, in it's own way and I think without meaning to, the T.V. show HEROES was presented in much the same way as a typical comic series. Lots of restarts, character changes, and interruptions.
**********
Linda has a table out, where one entire side is filled with these taller paperbacks; you know, the ones that are about half an inch taller than the normal books? And they sell like crazy. They blow out the door. (Linda's theory is that people want a quick pick and they know these books are new and they just grab them.)
Doesn't happen in my store, for some reason; but I'm thinking maybe I need to come up with a similar presentation, somehow.
**********
So much easier when you're broke.
Had three really, really slow days this week at my store. And then realized, that I'd probably lost a whole hell of a lot more money from the stock market drop than I did from a lack of customers.
Weird.
**********
I need to take advantage of these cool spring days to really dig into the garden. Lots of grass and weeds to pull.
I've been stumped by a lack of top soil. I meant to have a dump truck load delivered this year. The older I get, the lazier. Is that normal?
**********
Speaking of slow business. It looks like this month is going to be a replay of last month; a strong start, followed by a slow ten days or so, hopefully ending with a stronger end.
Overall, I'm about where I expected to be. Yesterday, for instance, was a very good day.
But the three days before that? uh, la, la.... Tuesday was a flashback to the bad old days. No one coming in, no one spending money.
It's very easy to get bummed out by those kinds of days. Mostly, though, I remember how it used to feel when I was living hand to mouth about ten years ago. When my daily cash flow really mattered, and I had to get that money in the bank at the end of every day. You sit there, at the counter, and feel -- rejected? Passed over?
Not a pleasant experience.
I've been around long enough now to look back and realize that it all evened out in the end. The solution back then, as now, was to have a cash cushion in the bank for cash flow shortages. I should have sold my car, stopped eating for a month, stopped buying product for however long it took to get a few thousand dollars in my bank. Hell, until my bank finally did me the favor of not covering my overdrafts, I probably could have had my cushion just from the penalties!
The stress that would have saved!
But you get into that trap, and it seems to reinforce the short term solutions which leads you further into the trap.
Oh, well. I survived it. But I started have flashbacks this week-- unnecessarily so, since I now have more than enough cushion -- to those bad old days, and I'm thankful that I now face them with a certain amount of equanimity. And make sure I never fall into that trap again.
Oh, and I don't think the recession is over....
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Mo' Betta' Pt. 2
To continue yesterday's thoughts -- I have a vague general theory that lifestyle areas like Central Oregon tend to create a surplus of 'lifestyle' type retail. That is, the stores that are most likely to be created are the "sexy" businesses -- ones that have either higher prestige, or are potentially much more lucrative, or that tie in to spiritual, artistic, and personal 'growth.'
Businesses like art galleries, jewelry stores, high end clothing, chef resturants and martini bars, and....well...bookstores. I'll get back to my thoughts on bookstores later in this post, but I need to mention that while I have some knowledge of the bookstore business, I can't prove that we have more than the average per capita jewelry stores or art galleries, it's just a general feeling. I also have a feeling that Central Oregon sometimes lack the normal numbers of less sexy businesses, but I can't think of any examples off the top of my head.
Back to bookstores.
I want to make it clear that I'm delighted we have so many new bookstores. All of them seem to be doing well, all have carved their own niche, all of them have very nice presentations and inventory. More power to them. It might just prove what some of the commenters have said about the book world being big enough to encompass a number of different approaches.
The only quibble I might have is their locations; downtown Bend could really use a new bookstore. Dudleys and Pegasus Books fill some of that niche -- but I would never make the case that my store is a 'full-service' bookstore. I like the books I carry, but I don't carry new non-fiction, for instance. Nor do I pay much attention to best-seller lists.
I think what happened was, while most of these new stores were being planned, downtown had a new bookstore, The Book Barn. When they vacated, everyone was already established elsewhere. I'm not advocating that anyone open yet another bookstore, however. Read yesterday's blog!
Anyway, there was a moment a few years ago where Central Oregon actually had 7.5 independent bookstores! Pretty amazing. 4 of them opened in one year; 2 in Bend and 2 in Redmond. I read that only 100 new bookstores were created nationwide in that particular year -- which means that Central Oregon, with it's 200k people, opened 4% of the total stores created that year -- or representing 14 million people on a per capita basis.
Seems a little iffy.
There was an unfortunate circumstance in Redmond, where two very nice bookstores opened within months of each other. When I talked to one of the owners, she said that she had not been aware that the other store was in development.
But that's just it.
People following their dreams -- "I've always wanted a bookstore!" "I've got the best barbecue recipe ever!" "My jewelry is unique!" "I'm carrying the clothing styles and brands that no one else is!" and so on, aren't likely to put much effort into determining whether there is enouch actual need.
It's pretty simple, really, if you have experience. (If you don't have experience, get some!)
You can pretty much gauge what the overhead of a store is likely to be. You can pretty much figure out the profit margin. Figuring out sales, of course, is pretty iffy. But...well, you do best case and worst case scenarios in all three things -- and you'll come close.
In other words, do the math.
The "Follow Your Bliss" part of the equation goes without saying. This is a prerequisite, but only the beginning.
People opening lifestyle businesses encourages more people to open lifestyle businesses and Bend was very lucky to reach a combustion point with that. (Unlike most everyone else, I don't think this was foreordained by the beautiful scenery -- Baker City, Klamath Falls, and many other places all have their charms -- but dead downtowns. I was here while downtown revived, I watched it happen, and it could've tipped either direction for a good number of years.)
Now? Now we have creative destruction. Businesses coming and going.
At least they're still coming....
Businesses like art galleries, jewelry stores, high end clothing, chef resturants and martini bars, and....well...bookstores. I'll get back to my thoughts on bookstores later in this post, but I need to mention that while I have some knowledge of the bookstore business, I can't prove that we have more than the average per capita jewelry stores or art galleries, it's just a general feeling. I also have a feeling that Central Oregon sometimes lack the normal numbers of less sexy businesses, but I can't think of any examples off the top of my head.
Back to bookstores.
I want to make it clear that I'm delighted we have so many new bookstores. All of them seem to be doing well, all have carved their own niche, all of them have very nice presentations and inventory. More power to them. It might just prove what some of the commenters have said about the book world being big enough to encompass a number of different approaches.
The only quibble I might have is their locations; downtown Bend could really use a new bookstore. Dudleys and Pegasus Books fill some of that niche -- but I would never make the case that my store is a 'full-service' bookstore. I like the books I carry, but I don't carry new non-fiction, for instance. Nor do I pay much attention to best-seller lists.
I think what happened was, while most of these new stores were being planned, downtown had a new bookstore, The Book Barn. When they vacated, everyone was already established elsewhere. I'm not advocating that anyone open yet another bookstore, however. Read yesterday's blog!
Anyway, there was a moment a few years ago where Central Oregon actually had 7.5 independent bookstores! Pretty amazing. 4 of them opened in one year; 2 in Bend and 2 in Redmond. I read that only 100 new bookstores were created nationwide in that particular year -- which means that Central Oregon, with it's 200k people, opened 4% of the total stores created that year -- or representing 14 million people on a per capita basis.
Seems a little iffy.
There was an unfortunate circumstance in Redmond, where two very nice bookstores opened within months of each other. When I talked to one of the owners, she said that she had not been aware that the other store was in development.
But that's just it.
People following their dreams -- "I've always wanted a bookstore!" "I've got the best barbecue recipe ever!" "My jewelry is unique!" "I'm carrying the clothing styles and brands that no one else is!" and so on, aren't likely to put much effort into determining whether there is enouch actual need.
It's pretty simple, really, if you have experience. (If you don't have experience, get some!)
You can pretty much gauge what the overhead of a store is likely to be. You can pretty much figure out the profit margin. Figuring out sales, of course, is pretty iffy. But...well, you do best case and worst case scenarios in all three things -- and you'll come close.
In other words, do the math.
The "Follow Your Bliss" part of the equation goes without saying. This is a prerequisite, but only the beginning.
People opening lifestyle businesses encourages more people to open lifestyle businesses and Bend was very lucky to reach a combustion point with that. (Unlike most everyone else, I don't think this was foreordained by the beautiful scenery -- Baker City, Klamath Falls, and many other places all have their charms -- but dead downtowns. I was here while downtown revived, I watched it happen, and it could've tipped either direction for a good number of years.)
Now? Now we have creative destruction. Businesses coming and going.
At least they're still coming....
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
More than we need?
Writing about how many bookstores we have in Central Oregon got me thinking about whether it's a good thing or a bad thing to have too much capacity.
I've wavered about this for years. At first, it seemed very clear to me that one strong store was better than two or three weak stores. But did that necessarily follow? Was I just letting my competitive instinct get the better of me? Did I want it all to myself?
Given enough time and distance, I could half buy into the notion of 'the more the merrier'. That competition was good; and made all the stores better. That there might be a 'synergy' to more stores doing the same thing; a cross-fertilization if you will.
Almost every business article I've read on the subject comes down on the side of "more is better."
Sorry, I don't buy it.
Of course, much depends on the quality of the stores. But -- assuming all the stores are equal (either bad or good) -- I don't believe that splitting the market is healthy.
This proposition has been tested over and over. I've got enough history of watching stores come and go, and watching what my sales do each time, to realize that I almost always benefit from less competition.
It may not be gracious to say. It may not be politically correct. But I believe it's true.
Ironically, I've always been able to do a much, much better job when I had -- if you will -- a monopoly in a certain product. I would carry more, I would do more, I would be cheaper because of the pure volume. Competition, more often than not, makes me pare down my selection, to watch the bottom line on how much time and space I devote, and stick much more closely to full price. (Not the mention all the intangibles -- the motivation to learn everything I can about a subject, for instance. To create a place for the 'true believer's' to gather, and so on.)
This is, I believe, the opposite of the common wisdom. Monopolies bad, competition good.
At least on a micro level, and assuming altruistic impulses on the part of the store owner, a single store doing a full-service job, is better for the consumer than several cut-throat stores competing.
I compare it to Plato's thought that the best form of government is 'benign dictatorship."
But much like you can't count on the dictatorship staying 'benign" you can't count on a monopoly staying altruistic.
So I accept that everyone should have a chance at the brass ring. Everyone should have a chance to out-compete the other guy.
Whether I like it or not, that is the way of capitalism. This being so, it behooves me to 'pretend' if you will, the 'More the Merrier,' even if I don't secretly believe it. It is much better for me to be gracious and to let my customers know that there is choice in the local marketplace, and move on....
"That which I can't change..."
It has also helped that I decided not to be the PRIMARY supplier of most of my product; books, games, toys, cards etc. I can't be surprised if many customers prefer to go to my competitors who specialize in only one thing. It's O.K. because that's how I've designed my business.
Comics and graphic novels are the one category where I do try to be the primary supplier, and I don't honestly believe that a second store would be helpful. Not that I could stop it.
Ideally, an equilibrium would be reached by a 'free market'. The appropriate number of stores for the appropriate number of people.
The reality is much more messy; in fact, I don't think equilibrium is actually every reached....ever.
There are always too many or too little.
I've wavered about this for years. At first, it seemed very clear to me that one strong store was better than two or three weak stores. But did that necessarily follow? Was I just letting my competitive instinct get the better of me? Did I want it all to myself?
Given enough time and distance, I could half buy into the notion of 'the more the merrier'. That competition was good; and made all the stores better. That there might be a 'synergy' to more stores doing the same thing; a cross-fertilization if you will.
Almost every business article I've read on the subject comes down on the side of "more is better."
Sorry, I don't buy it.
Of course, much depends on the quality of the stores. But -- assuming all the stores are equal (either bad or good) -- I don't believe that splitting the market is healthy.
This proposition has been tested over and over. I've got enough history of watching stores come and go, and watching what my sales do each time, to realize that I almost always benefit from less competition.
It may not be gracious to say. It may not be politically correct. But I believe it's true.
Ironically, I've always been able to do a much, much better job when I had -- if you will -- a monopoly in a certain product. I would carry more, I would do more, I would be cheaper because of the pure volume. Competition, more often than not, makes me pare down my selection, to watch the bottom line on how much time and space I devote, and stick much more closely to full price. (Not the mention all the intangibles -- the motivation to learn everything I can about a subject, for instance. To create a place for the 'true believer's' to gather, and so on.)
This is, I believe, the opposite of the common wisdom. Monopolies bad, competition good.
At least on a micro level, and assuming altruistic impulses on the part of the store owner, a single store doing a full-service job, is better for the consumer than several cut-throat stores competing.
I compare it to Plato's thought that the best form of government is 'benign dictatorship."
But much like you can't count on the dictatorship staying 'benign" you can't count on a monopoly staying altruistic.
So I accept that everyone should have a chance at the brass ring. Everyone should have a chance to out-compete the other guy.
Whether I like it or not, that is the way of capitalism. This being so, it behooves me to 'pretend' if you will, the 'More the Merrier,' even if I don't secretly believe it. It is much better for me to be gracious and to let my customers know that there is choice in the local marketplace, and move on....
"That which I can't change..."
It has also helped that I decided not to be the PRIMARY supplier of most of my product; books, games, toys, cards etc. I can't be surprised if many customers prefer to go to my competitors who specialize in only one thing. It's O.K. because that's how I've designed my business.
Comics and graphic novels are the one category where I do try to be the primary supplier, and I don't honestly believe that a second store would be helpful. Not that I could stop it.
Ideally, an equilibrium would be reached by a 'free market'. The appropriate number of stores for the appropriate number of people.
The reality is much more messy; in fact, I don't think equilibrium is actually every reached....ever.
There are always too many or too little.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Downtown Openings and Closings.
A couple of significant movings.
Microsphere has moved out of downtown Bend, to across from the hospital on Williamson Blvd. It would seem they have given up on walk-by retail traffic, because they'll get zero there. I'm assuming, tell me if I'm wrong, that they have become more service and repair oriented over the years.
Microsphere has been downtown for a very long time --
I also noticed that Singing Sparrow flowers has big MOVING signs in the window. I've added them to the 'Leaving' list, but will be sure to add them to the 'Comings' list if it turns out they move somewhere else downtown...
NEW BUSINESS'S DOWNTOWN
Tart, Minnesota Av. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota St., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota St. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota St. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota, 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe 11/5/09 25 N.W. Minnesota, Suite #7.
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails
BUSINESS'S LEAVING
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minn. Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro
Microsphere has moved out of downtown Bend, to across from the hospital on Williamson Blvd. It would seem they have given up on walk-by retail traffic, because they'll get zero there. I'm assuming, tell me if I'm wrong, that they have become more service and repair oriented over the years.
Microsphere has been downtown for a very long time --
I also noticed that Singing Sparrow flowers has big MOVING signs in the window. I've added them to the 'Leaving' list, but will be sure to add them to the 'Comings' list if it turns out they move somewhere else downtown...
NEW BUSINESS'S DOWNTOWN
Tart, Minnesota Av. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota St., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota St. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota St. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota, 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe 11/5/09 25 N.W. Minnesota, Suite #7.
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails
BUSINESS'S LEAVING
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minn. Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro
Bookstore visiting.
Linda and I went for a drive to Sisters. Stumbled across the 'subdivision' (?) of Tollgate; which I think people have mentioned over the years, but of which I'd never actually seen. Is it part of Sisters? Part of Black Butte? It's own thing?
Visited the two bookstores in Sisters. Paulina Springs is doubling it's size, for which I am envious. I noticed they are doing the "Powell's" thing, or mixing new and used. I had the same reaction I always have -- it seems to make new books look tacky, instead of used book shiny. But maybe that's just me. They have a nice selection of books, though. Handpicked.
Also visited Lonesome Water books, which I'd never done before. I have been under the impression all these years that they were an 'Antiquarian' bookstore, but -- in fact-- they carry a variety of used books. It's obvious their preference is 'old' books, but they had a nice selection of regular used books, as well.
No real conversing, to which Linda commented: "Well, maybe if you didn't immediately announce that we own bookstores...."
But, what the heck, it's not likely they'll talk business to just any Joe Smoe off the street, either.
Truth is, it's not likely they'll talk business in any way shape or form. Sigh.
Anyway, we have a healthy population of bookstores around here. I'm not sure people realize that -- per capita-- we are way above the normal numbers, both in new and used stores.
Not that I'm complaining.
From what I've read, there are less than 3000 independent bookstores left in the U.S. of A; which if I have my math right, would mean that Central Oregon as a whole, on average, would normally have two bookstores. We have at least five and a half.
I'm not sure what the Used Bookstore count is, but we've got at least six and a half of those, as well.
(I'm the half....both new and used, though that may be flattering myself...)
Visited the two bookstores in Sisters. Paulina Springs is doubling it's size, for which I am envious. I noticed they are doing the "Powell's" thing, or mixing new and used. I had the same reaction I always have -- it seems to make new books look tacky, instead of used book shiny. But maybe that's just me. They have a nice selection of books, though. Handpicked.
Also visited Lonesome Water books, which I'd never done before. I have been under the impression all these years that they were an 'Antiquarian' bookstore, but -- in fact-- they carry a variety of used books. It's obvious their preference is 'old' books, but they had a nice selection of regular used books, as well.
No real conversing, to which Linda commented: "Well, maybe if you didn't immediately announce that we own bookstores...."
But, what the heck, it's not likely they'll talk business to just any Joe Smoe off the street, either.
Truth is, it's not likely they'll talk business in any way shape or form. Sigh.
Anyway, we have a healthy population of bookstores around here. I'm not sure people realize that -- per capita-- we are way above the normal numbers, both in new and used stores.
Not that I'm complaining.
From what I've read, there are less than 3000 independent bookstores left in the U.S. of A; which if I have my math right, would mean that Central Oregon as a whole, on average, would normally have two bookstores. We have at least five and a half.
I'm not sure what the Used Bookstore count is, but we've got at least six and a half of those, as well.
(I'm the half....both new and used, though that may be flattering myself...)
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Important stuff, today.
My beard keeps tickling me awake at night. Turns out, when it gets long, my beard is nearly as soft and fine as my head hair.
I dreamed I trimmed it last night and it looked great.
**********
Someone brought in a bag of used shopping bags, neatly folded into little squares. Hard to imagine someone taking the time to do that. I bet they fold their underwear, too.
**********
Oh, the responsibility! Jasper said a guy was in who visits the store "once a year" and last year I "changed his life" by recommending the book ARMOR.
He told Jasper to pick "one book" and he'd be back.
Jasper chose a Terry Pratchett book -- which is more his taste than mine, but which is fine as long as he really, really ---really really -- likes it. Generally, if YOU really like a book, chances are OTHERS will too.
**********
My take on 3-D movies?
Whatever.
When Linda and I were in Crescent City, we watched "How to Train Your Dragon" on a small non-3-D screen, with bad sound, lumpy seats, and a scratchy print.
And highly enjoyed it.
**********
I dreamed I trimmed it last night and it looked great.
**********
Someone brought in a bag of used shopping bags, neatly folded into little squares. Hard to imagine someone taking the time to do that. I bet they fold their underwear, too.
**********
Oh, the responsibility! Jasper said a guy was in who visits the store "once a year" and last year I "changed his life" by recommending the book ARMOR.
He told Jasper to pick "one book" and he'd be back.
Jasper chose a Terry Pratchett book -- which is more his taste than mine, but which is fine as long as he really, really ---really really -- likes it. Generally, if YOU really like a book, chances are OTHERS will too.
**********
My take on 3-D movies?
Whatever.
When Linda and I were in Crescent City, we watched "How to Train Your Dragon" on a small non-3-D screen, with bad sound, lumpy seats, and a scratchy print.
And highly enjoyed it.
**********
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Holding off till Summer.
I haven't made a reorder in a Million Years. O.K. O.K. More like 3 weeks, but it feels like a Million Years.
When I start actually dreaming about reorders, I know that it's working on my subconscious.
I dreamed of reordering Garfields and Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts and Get Fuzzy and Far Side and Asterix and Tintin, all of which I stock up for during summer and Christmas.
But every week that goes by that I don't believe there has been a consequence to not reordering is permission to try to wait another week.
Same thing with games. I still have Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride, the Big Two, so I've held off.
Thing is, I have to be careful that when I finally DO make reorders -- either this coming week or the next-- that I don't completely blow the budget up in order to get back everything I sold. It's time for me to try to be selective -- pick the BEST 50 or 60% of what sold to be replaced.
Not just because I don't really need to replace every midlist title -- but because I really need to make room for newer titles.
It's very hard for me not to replace everything I sell. But there is a Peter Principle-like axiom at work here -- If you reorder everything that sells, you stop reordering when it stops selling. Or you will inevitably end up with an item you can't sell. So -- some judgment is required here.
Ideally, I should be tracking momentum -- how fast something sells, not just if it sells. But ordering and reordering are more an art than a science. If I don't feel the URGE to reorder, it probably means it doesn't NEED to be reordered.
Anyway, the back demand can blow up a budget pretty fast, so I have to be selective. I know it's been agonizing to be out of some material -- I've been out of Scott Pilgrim for a week, now, with the movie coming out.
I'm going to order the evergreen stuff, this week -- which will probably be enough for now. I'm coming to realize that the graphic novel world and boardgame world have gotten so big that it simply isn't possible to carry very single thing that comes out. It may not be possible to carry every single GOOD thing that comes out. (Much like books, which is a larger world than I can possibly encompass.)
The job for me, will be to have a steady supply of the evergreen material, to carry the best of the midlist product, to carry as much of the new stuff as I can fit, and to carry a sampling of everything else.
The 'sampling' part will be the real art. Getting just enough to entice the discriminating customer back, without blowing the budget on worthy but slower moving titles.
When I start actually dreaming about reorders, I know that it's working on my subconscious.
I dreamed of reordering Garfields and Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts and Get Fuzzy and Far Side and Asterix and Tintin, all of which I stock up for during summer and Christmas.
But every week that goes by that I don't believe there has been a consequence to not reordering is permission to try to wait another week.
Same thing with games. I still have Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride, the Big Two, so I've held off.
Thing is, I have to be careful that when I finally DO make reorders -- either this coming week or the next-- that I don't completely blow the budget up in order to get back everything I sold. It's time for me to try to be selective -- pick the BEST 50 or 60% of what sold to be replaced.
Not just because I don't really need to replace every midlist title -- but because I really need to make room for newer titles.
It's very hard for me not to replace everything I sell. But there is a Peter Principle-like axiom at work here -- If you reorder everything that sells, you stop reordering when it stops selling. Or you will inevitably end up with an item you can't sell. So -- some judgment is required here.
Ideally, I should be tracking momentum -- how fast something sells, not just if it sells. But ordering and reordering are more an art than a science. If I don't feel the URGE to reorder, it probably means it doesn't NEED to be reordered.
Anyway, the back demand can blow up a budget pretty fast, so I have to be selective. I know it's been agonizing to be out of some material -- I've been out of Scott Pilgrim for a week, now, with the movie coming out.
I'm going to order the evergreen stuff, this week -- which will probably be enough for now. I'm coming to realize that the graphic novel world and boardgame world have gotten so big that it simply isn't possible to carry very single thing that comes out. It may not be possible to carry every single GOOD thing that comes out. (Much like books, which is a larger world than I can possibly encompass.)
The job for me, will be to have a steady supply of the evergreen material, to carry the best of the midlist product, to carry as much of the new stuff as I can fit, and to carry a sampling of everything else.
The 'sampling' part will be the real art. Getting just enough to entice the discriminating customer back, without blowing the budget on worthy but slower moving titles.
Friday, May 14, 2010
I KNEW It!
I KNEW it! Oregon has the fifth slowest drivers in the U.S.A. and all the other states are tiny little things -- DC, Hawaii, Delaware and Rhode Island. You know, they probably can't get up to speed before they're in another state.
**********
Here's a thought. The housing bubble actually helped some people. Like me and Linda. We qualified for a nicer house than we probably should've, considering our income. It so happened that we easily accommodated the mortgage because both of us have been willing to pay a higher percent of income on housing than most people -- and make our savings elsewhere.
Now, we are on the verge of paying of the house completely.
Thanks, bubble.
**********
When I look at where our two stores are at, I come to one inescapable conclusion.
There is NO substitute for experience. Not hard work, not money, not brains, not even luck.
And what is experience?
Learning from your mistakes.
Which means, I guess, that you have to make mistakes and overcome them and outlast them and only then can you bank on your experience.
Of course, there are always more mistakes to make...
**********
Anyone else noticed how good The Good Wife is? I think it's become the show I enjoy the most.
Mentalist and House; great lead characters, but the stories have become awfully formulaic, and in House's case, unbelievable medically.
CSI: L.V. isn't quite as good, though still better than most.
Happy Town is a Twin Peaks wannabe, but I'm still intrigued.
Heroes is so unsatisfying, I gave up. Never liked 24. Don't watch situation comedies or reality shows....
Most of the other shows I like disappear maddeningly for long periods of time: True Blood, Dexter, Caprica.
What else?
The Law and Orders -- all of them -- are almost becoming paradies of themselves.
I'm ready for Lost to be over.
Castle -- dare I say it? It's just too cute for it's own good.
I'm sure I'm leaving out something....
**********
**********
Here's a thought. The housing bubble actually helped some people. Like me and Linda. We qualified for a nicer house than we probably should've, considering our income. It so happened that we easily accommodated the mortgage because both of us have been willing to pay a higher percent of income on housing than most people -- and make our savings elsewhere.
Now, we are on the verge of paying of the house completely.
Thanks, bubble.
**********
When I look at where our two stores are at, I come to one inescapable conclusion.
There is NO substitute for experience. Not hard work, not money, not brains, not even luck.
And what is experience?
Learning from your mistakes.
Which means, I guess, that you have to make mistakes and overcome them and outlast them and only then can you bank on your experience.
Of course, there are always more mistakes to make...
**********
Anyone else noticed how good The Good Wife is? I think it's become the show I enjoy the most.
Mentalist and House; great lead characters, but the stories have become awfully formulaic, and in House's case, unbelievable medically.
CSI: L.V. isn't quite as good, though still better than most.
Happy Town is a Twin Peaks wannabe, but I'm still intrigued.
Heroes is so unsatisfying, I gave up. Never liked 24. Don't watch situation comedies or reality shows....
Most of the other shows I like disappear maddeningly for long periods of time: True Blood, Dexter, Caprica.
What else?
The Law and Orders -- all of them -- are almost becoming paradies of themselves.
I'm ready for Lost to be over.
Castle -- dare I say it? It's just too cute for it's own good.
I'm sure I'm leaving out something....
**********
Thursday, May 13, 2010
State of the Economy according the BMWJAMAGEH
I haven't done one of my 'State of the Economy' blogs for awhile. The stores have been coasting along, which is just what I want. I can't tell you have long I've waited for the stores to "coast." To me it's a sign of strength we continue to pay our bills without struggling.
Probably too much to hope for vast improvement. Staying even is probably pretty good.
We've beaten the previous year for 7 out of the last 8 months -- but, frankly, that ain't saying much. Those 8 months last year were about as slow as they could get, barring a complete meltdown. And if there is a complete meltdown, we're all in the sh%ts.
I went a little crazy with orders in early April. There was a whole lot of stuff offered on 'sale' from my suppliers. But it looks as though I'll have the credit cards paid off in full again by July 1.
July 1 is going to be fresh start. I've been aiming for it for quite a while. I've been trying to fashion a budget that I can live with, that will keep the store humming, AND turn a nice profit. That potential has been there a long time now, but I simply haven't been disciplined enough to take advantage of it.
I was very disciplined when the Bear Stearns went down, but I kept some of my expenses for a year (mainly, a full time manager). Then, with the 2008 collapse, I got even more disciplined for another year.
Since Sept. of last year, I started to relax a little bit. Take time off. Restock the store.
So July 1 is another watershed moment. A generous budget that doesn't strain my discipline too much but will still produce results.
I still think, in my more objective moments, that we have another 2 or 3 years before we start seeing significant growth. Nationally, I think there were be a 'crisis' on a regular basis; a unexplained Wall Street crash; a Greece; an oil slick. The CRE situation is still out there; one headline read; "STRUGGLING COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE HELPLESSLY WAITS AROUND FOR THE SLAUGHTER OF 2010." Yikes.
The urge to hope -- to think -- to wish for things to get better fast is irresistible, but probably not going to happen. CACB keeps on trying to boost their stock, only to have it fall back. Downtown Bend keeps filling it's space, but I think I see signs that at least some of the existing stores aren't exactly booming. The local media continues to try to trumpet any small uptick. (64 building permits versus 43? Try 64 permits versus 287 just 3 years ago....)
It's not time to get ahead ourselves. It's still a little dicey.
Probably too much to hope for vast improvement. Staying even is probably pretty good.
We've beaten the previous year for 7 out of the last 8 months -- but, frankly, that ain't saying much. Those 8 months last year were about as slow as they could get, barring a complete meltdown. And if there is a complete meltdown, we're all in the sh%ts.
I went a little crazy with orders in early April. There was a whole lot of stuff offered on 'sale' from my suppliers. But it looks as though I'll have the credit cards paid off in full again by July 1.
July 1 is going to be fresh start. I've been aiming for it for quite a while. I've been trying to fashion a budget that I can live with, that will keep the store humming, AND turn a nice profit. That potential has been there a long time now, but I simply haven't been disciplined enough to take advantage of it.
I was very disciplined when the Bear Stearns went down, but I kept some of my expenses for a year (mainly, a full time manager). Then, with the 2008 collapse, I got even more disciplined for another year.
Since Sept. of last year, I started to relax a little bit. Take time off. Restock the store.
So July 1 is another watershed moment. A generous budget that doesn't strain my discipline too much but will still produce results.
I still think, in my more objective moments, that we have another 2 or 3 years before we start seeing significant growth. Nationally, I think there were be a 'crisis' on a regular basis; a unexplained Wall Street crash; a Greece; an oil slick. The CRE situation is still out there; one headline read; "STRUGGLING COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE HELPLESSLY WAITS AROUND FOR THE SLAUGHTER OF 2010." Yikes.
The urge to hope -- to think -- to wish for things to get better fast is irresistible, but probably not going to happen. CACB keeps on trying to boost their stock, only to have it fall back. Downtown Bend keeps filling it's space, but I think I see signs that at least some of the existing stores aren't exactly booming. The local media continues to try to trumpet any small uptick. (64 building permits versus 43? Try 64 permits versus 287 just 3 years ago....)
It's not time to get ahead ourselves. It's still a little dicey.
Downtown Openings and Closings
It's been remarkably stable downtown over the last month.
Even today's news is more a gain one / lose one.
I don't think this stability is going to hold forever, however.
NEW BUSINESS'S DOWNTOWN
Tart, Minnesota Av. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota St., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota St. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota St. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota, 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe 11/5/09 25 N.W. Minnesota, Suite #7.
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails
BUSINESS'S LEAVING
28, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minn. Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro
Even today's news is more a gain one / lose one.
I don't think this stability is going to hold forever, however.
NEW BUSINESS'S DOWNTOWN
Tart, Minnesota Av. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota St., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota St. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota St. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota, 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe 11/5/09 25 N.W. Minnesota, Suite #7.
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails
BUSINESS'S LEAVING
28, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minn. Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Last episode of LOST revealed....
I dreamed I saw the last episode of LOST.
It starts in a lecture hall at Oxford. Dr. Hillman is lecturing about the time-travel aspects of electro-magnetic energy. Dr. Hill -- Man. Get it? No? Don't worry all will be revealed. Another new character, I think. That can't be good.
In rides a leprechaun on a polar bear. He starts throwing black and white stones at the lecturer, who disappears behind the lectern. The polar bear roars and eats the leprechaun.
Suddenly, we are on a beach, and a woman with the most enormous pregnancy ever, washes up on shore. She has the most beautiful brown eyes.
Uh, oh, I think. She's wearing a bright red dress, and carrying a phaser. Boy, is she doomed.
Next scene: woman with worst haircut ever is delivering the woman's babies. One baby is born, but the bulge is bigger than ever. Out pops the second baby.
"It's alive!"
The older woman, who we know is evil because she looks so concerned, whacks the red dress lady with a rock. (Wait, was that a black rock or a white rock? Don't worry, all will be explained.)
The new psycho 'mom' says, "The President will see you now." Whoops, wrong show.
In walks Ben and Albert and Lapidus and Miles, and a few other characters who haven't had anything to do in a while. What are they doing here? Suddenly, they all blowed up into smithereens.
"Whoops," says psycho 'mom'. "I forgot about the landmines."
Suddenly, we are back on the beach. Jack and Kate are arguing about whether the tide is going out or going in.
"You're right," Jack suddenly says in exasperation. But of course, he's never wrong. Kate points that out, and then sidles up to him and croons, "Jack....I want to....no.....no I don't want to....no.....come here and give me a smooch.....no, I can't......"
Suddenly a polar bear runs down the beach and eats Kate.
The cast and crew cheer lustily.
Scene switches to Sawyer and Charles Whidmore.
"O.K." Says Whidmore. "I'll explain everything. Everything you want to know."
"Forget it," says Sawyer. "It's too late."
No00000000000!!!!!! I scream in my dream.
"Just as well," says Psycho Mom. "Any questions you might ask, just leads to more questions."
"Fuck you," says the big fat kid, shoving Sawyer out of the way. Sawyer trips over backward, hits his head on a giant black rock, and drowns in the background.
Who's left?
Don't worry, it'll all make sense in the end.
Whidmore says, "Well, if you know your Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Norse, Atlantis, Biblical, Gypsy, ....blah, blah, blah mythology, it's very clear...."
But a giant chicken runs onto the beach, Hurley chases it into the jungle. We hear a giant sqawk, and feathers fly out of the brush. A moment later, he stumbles out onto the beach, choking on a giant chicken bone. He falls over dead.
Whidmore is too busy explaining and doesn't notice. Desmond walks up, and throws Whidmore into the ocean. He winks into the camera, "We're almost there," he says. "The answers are coming, " and strolls down the beach whistling.
In my dream, I've had enough. Who's left to ask. Oh, yeah, Locke. Locke ---MIB -- Smoke Monster will know.
I summon him by thinking evil thoughts about what I want to do to the island. He arrives, and I tell him that my mayonnaise jar is a magic transportation device. All he has to do is get in it. He turns into black smoke, and I smack the lid down.
"Got you!" I exclaim.
"Let me out," Locke says. "I'll explain everything."
"First tell me, then I'll let you out," I demand.
"Here's the truth. I'm a writer, and and can write anything I want. I have no friggen clue what's going on, are you kidding me? Come on. You really thought I could wrap this up? You know, I figured a little mumbo jumbo at the end would satisfy everyone.
"But just in case, I have my plane tickets to the last island in the Pacific where you'll never find me! Boooohaaaahaaaaaahaaaa!!!!!!
I shake the jar. "No, really. I want the answers, or I throw this jar into this handy black well that has suddenly appeared beside me."
"All right! All right! I'll tell you everything! It all revolves around....."
And then I wake up.
It starts in a lecture hall at Oxford. Dr. Hillman is lecturing about the time-travel aspects of electro-magnetic energy. Dr. Hill -- Man. Get it? No? Don't worry all will be revealed. Another new character, I think. That can't be good.
In rides a leprechaun on a polar bear. He starts throwing black and white stones at the lecturer, who disappears behind the lectern. The polar bear roars and eats the leprechaun.
Suddenly, we are on a beach, and a woman with the most enormous pregnancy ever, washes up on shore. She has the most beautiful brown eyes.
Uh, oh, I think. She's wearing a bright red dress, and carrying a phaser. Boy, is she doomed.
Next scene: woman with worst haircut ever is delivering the woman's babies. One baby is born, but the bulge is bigger than ever. Out pops the second baby.
"It's alive!"
The older woman, who we know is evil because she looks so concerned, whacks the red dress lady with a rock. (Wait, was that a black rock or a white rock? Don't worry, all will be explained.)
The new psycho 'mom' says, "The President will see you now." Whoops, wrong show.
In walks Ben and Albert and Lapidus and Miles, and a few other characters who haven't had anything to do in a while. What are they doing here? Suddenly, they all blowed up into smithereens.
"Whoops," says psycho 'mom'. "I forgot about the landmines."
Suddenly, we are back on the beach. Jack and Kate are arguing about whether the tide is going out or going in.
"You're right," Jack suddenly says in exasperation. But of course, he's never wrong. Kate points that out, and then sidles up to him and croons, "Jack....I want to....no.....no I don't want to....no.....come here and give me a smooch.....no, I can't......"
Suddenly a polar bear runs down the beach and eats Kate.
The cast and crew cheer lustily.
Scene switches to Sawyer and Charles Whidmore.
"O.K." Says Whidmore. "I'll explain everything. Everything you want to know."
"Forget it," says Sawyer. "It's too late."
No00000000000!!!!!! I scream in my dream.
"Just as well," says Psycho Mom. "Any questions you might ask, just leads to more questions."
"Fuck you," says the big fat kid, shoving Sawyer out of the way. Sawyer trips over backward, hits his head on a giant black rock, and drowns in the background.
Who's left?
Don't worry, it'll all make sense in the end.
Whidmore says, "Well, if you know your Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Norse, Atlantis, Biblical, Gypsy, ....blah, blah, blah mythology, it's very clear...."
But a giant chicken runs onto the beach, Hurley chases it into the jungle. We hear a giant sqawk, and feathers fly out of the brush. A moment later, he stumbles out onto the beach, choking on a giant chicken bone. He falls over dead.
Whidmore is too busy explaining and doesn't notice. Desmond walks up, and throws Whidmore into the ocean. He winks into the camera, "We're almost there," he says. "The answers are coming, " and strolls down the beach whistling.
In my dream, I've had enough. Who's left to ask. Oh, yeah, Locke. Locke ---MIB -- Smoke Monster will know.
I summon him by thinking evil thoughts about what I want to do to the island. He arrives, and I tell him that my mayonnaise jar is a magic transportation device. All he has to do is get in it. He turns into black smoke, and I smack the lid down.
"Got you!" I exclaim.
"Let me out," Locke says. "I'll explain everything."
"First tell me, then I'll let you out," I demand.
"Here's the truth. I'm a writer, and and can write anything I want. I have no friggen clue what's going on, are you kidding me? Come on. You really thought I could wrap this up? You know, I figured a little mumbo jumbo at the end would satisfy everyone.
"But just in case, I have my plane tickets to the last island in the Pacific where you'll never find me! Boooohaaaahaaaaaahaaaa!!!!!!
I shake the jar. "No, really. I want the answers, or I throw this jar into this handy black well that has suddenly appeared beside me."
"All right! All right! I'll tell you everything! It all revolves around....."
And then I wake up.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
It can be hard to sell something...
A friend has come up with a new service -- one that sounds very useful. Since I don't even own a cell phone, I can't really judge demand, but it seems like the kind of thing that would work.
But how to sell the service?
(By the way Jared, come in an we'll set up a link.)
But I think coming up with a better mousetrap is only the beginning.
He's already running into the Catch-22 with the media. If you approach the media for publicity, they will try to sell you an ad. If the media approaches you, you get an article, for free. Not only is it free, but it's much, much more effective. Most of us are blind to ads these days, but an article is actual news.
More to the point, though, is that I have always found it pretty hard to pry money from people's wallets. They want to hang on to their money.
What I've found is -- much like the media -- if it's the customers idea, and they come to you with the intention of buying, then you have a chance of selling.
The only other way I really can sell anything is to have an item in stock that -- while they're browsing -- they remember they heard about, or remember they wanted, or that they have been looking for.
In other words, my solution to the problem of selling is to have as much stuff as I can, have it at a reasonable price, and have a location that people either seek out or stumble across.
And I always remind people who are trying to sell personal collectibles and having a hard time of it, -- "Look, I'm here 50 hours a week, and I feel lucky sometimes to sell one thing out of hundreds."
I think there are a couple of basic misapprehensions about a store works.
A. That you stand at the cash register and people come up with stuff and buy it.
B. Or that you show them really cool stuff and they'll immediately see its charms and buy it.
Impression ""A" is fueled by a couple of things. One -- they see T.V. shows and movies all the time where the store is bustling and people are merrily buying. Ads especially try to give this impression.
Two; they themselves tend to show when the majority of people are showing, thus giving a skewed impression of the level of sales. The minority is there when a minority of stuff is selling, right?
Impression B is sadly just wrong. It's actually pretty rare that you can sell something to a customer that they aren't already inclined to buy. Oh, you get impulse sales, but mostly in the cheaper range -- and mostly because the customer who is visiting has already shown that he's interested in your kind of store by coming in.
But talking someone into something they've never seen or heard of is nearly impossible.
My friend's problem is that he has to reach out to try to sell his service. And he's going to hit resistance BECAUSE he's trying to reach out and sell his service. I don't know that he can do what I do, which is have a location, fill it with product, and wait for people to come in and find it.
There are "guerrilla marketing" ideas galore; they may save money, but they are hard work. You get lots of resistance, so you have to be clever and subtle. Or you do it by blunt force Cold Calling, and expect a 99% rejection rate but live off the 1%.
I think for my friend, the trick will be to get at least one or two organizations to try his service. I don't think I would advise giving it away, necessarily -- I suspect that sets a bad precedent -- but certainly making it easy -- barter, or generous terms.
And then hope for word of mouth.
Once he's established -- then he can have a storefront (website) where they come to buy or browse.
Looking back on Linda's store, the Bookmark, it took a couple of years before enough people gave her store a looksie. It's has broken even from day one, debt free, but that was because we were very savvy in setting it up. But to reach a truly profitable level took a couple of years.
Pegasus Books, you might say, took 20 years, but was complicated by blown up bubbles and mistakes.
All in all, you usually can't just put something on the counter (or on the net) and expect to sell it easily. Just as likely, it will gather dust, or sell out and not be able to be replaced, or sell just enough to keep you in business....
But how to sell the service?
(By the way Jared, come in an we'll set up a link.)
But I think coming up with a better mousetrap is only the beginning.
He's already running into the Catch-22 with the media. If you approach the media for publicity, they will try to sell you an ad. If the media approaches you, you get an article, for free. Not only is it free, but it's much, much more effective. Most of us are blind to ads these days, but an article is actual news.
More to the point, though, is that I have always found it pretty hard to pry money from people's wallets. They want to hang on to their money.
What I've found is -- much like the media -- if it's the customers idea, and they come to you with the intention of buying, then you have a chance of selling.
The only other way I really can sell anything is to have an item in stock that -- while they're browsing -- they remember they heard about, or remember they wanted, or that they have been looking for.
In other words, my solution to the problem of selling is to have as much stuff as I can, have it at a reasonable price, and have a location that people either seek out or stumble across.
And I always remind people who are trying to sell personal collectibles and having a hard time of it, -- "Look, I'm here 50 hours a week, and I feel lucky sometimes to sell one thing out of hundreds."
I think there are a couple of basic misapprehensions about a store works.
A. That you stand at the cash register and people come up with stuff and buy it.
B. Or that you show them really cool stuff and they'll immediately see its charms and buy it.
Impression ""A" is fueled by a couple of things. One -- they see T.V. shows and movies all the time where the store is bustling and people are merrily buying. Ads especially try to give this impression.
Two; they themselves tend to show when the majority of people are showing, thus giving a skewed impression of the level of sales. The minority is there when a minority of stuff is selling, right?
Impression B is sadly just wrong. It's actually pretty rare that you can sell something to a customer that they aren't already inclined to buy. Oh, you get impulse sales, but mostly in the cheaper range -- and mostly because the customer who is visiting has already shown that he's interested in your kind of store by coming in.
But talking someone into something they've never seen or heard of is nearly impossible.
My friend's problem is that he has to reach out to try to sell his service. And he's going to hit resistance BECAUSE he's trying to reach out and sell his service. I don't know that he can do what I do, which is have a location, fill it with product, and wait for people to come in and find it.
There are "guerrilla marketing" ideas galore; they may save money, but they are hard work. You get lots of resistance, so you have to be clever and subtle. Or you do it by blunt force Cold Calling, and expect a 99% rejection rate but live off the 1%.
I think for my friend, the trick will be to get at least one or two organizations to try his service. I don't think I would advise giving it away, necessarily -- I suspect that sets a bad precedent -- but certainly making it easy -- barter, or generous terms.
And then hope for word of mouth.
Once he's established -- then he can have a storefront (website) where they come to buy or browse.
Looking back on Linda's store, the Bookmark, it took a couple of years before enough people gave her store a looksie. It's has broken even from day one, debt free, but that was because we were very savvy in setting it up. But to reach a truly profitable level took a couple of years.
Pegasus Books, you might say, took 20 years, but was complicated by blown up bubbles and mistakes.
All in all, you usually can't just put something on the counter (or on the net) and expect to sell it easily. Just as likely, it will gather dust, or sell out and not be able to be replaced, or sell just enough to keep you in business....
Monday, May 10, 2010
What you love at age 16...
What you love at age 16, you love forever.
The paintings of Frank Frazetta rank up there with J.R.R. Tolkien and the Beatles in their power to evoke powerful feelings of nostalgia for me. I still think he's the best fantasy artist ever. It doesn't hurt they are connected in my mind with Robert E. Howard's Conan books.
After searching for something to replace Lord of the Rings and finding only kid's books and a few science fiction authors who wrote fantasy-like, I was primed for Conan.
It's one of those moments I can still remember 40 years later. I was at a debate tournament at OSU, and walking through the coffee shop, and looking over at the book spin rack and focusing with laser vision on the cover of Conan the Conqueror. I actually got excited -- like it was Christmas.
Imagine that you had a taste of a dish that absolutely transported you, but when you went to get more everyone told you it didn't exist. That's how modern fantasy was for me. That long drought (for a kid) between LOTRs and Conan just primed the pump.
I bought all the Lancer editions of the Conan books, with the Frazetta covers and gobbled up the stories. Then went on to Elric and Fafred/Gray Mouser and every other Gonad the Spermizoid character I could find.
When I finally finished my own first book, STAR AXE, it was labeled sword and sorcery and had a Frazetta like cover, and I didn't object even though I felt my story was more heroic fantasy, because I loved thud and blunder as much. (Loved it enough to be able to make fun of it at the same time....)
Sadly, I think Frazzetta's license was badly mishandled. There should be nice clean 20.00 editions of the old Ballantine collections. There should be posters on every dormitory wall. Much like the Elfquest license and the Mobius art and stories, I think there is a starved up demand for a nice chunk of appropriately priced material. Instead, we get too little or too much, too expensive or too late.
If I was a billionaire, I'd buy up these licenses and others, and become the American Taschin, if you will, or the American Paper Tiger. That would be a cool way to be a billionaire.
The Deathdealers' been dealt aces and eights, and that's a shame.
The paintings of Frank Frazetta rank up there with J.R.R. Tolkien and the Beatles in their power to evoke powerful feelings of nostalgia for me. I still think he's the best fantasy artist ever. It doesn't hurt they are connected in my mind with Robert E. Howard's Conan books.
After searching for something to replace Lord of the Rings and finding only kid's books and a few science fiction authors who wrote fantasy-like, I was primed for Conan.
It's one of those moments I can still remember 40 years later. I was at a debate tournament at OSU, and walking through the coffee shop, and looking over at the book spin rack and focusing with laser vision on the cover of Conan the Conqueror. I actually got excited -- like it was Christmas.
Imagine that you had a taste of a dish that absolutely transported you, but when you went to get more everyone told you it didn't exist. That's how modern fantasy was for me. That long drought (for a kid) between LOTRs and Conan just primed the pump.
I bought all the Lancer editions of the Conan books, with the Frazetta covers and gobbled up the stories. Then went on to Elric and Fafred/Gray Mouser and every other Gonad the Spermizoid character I could find.
When I finally finished my own first book, STAR AXE, it was labeled sword and sorcery and had a Frazetta like cover, and I didn't object even though I felt my story was more heroic fantasy, because I loved thud and blunder as much. (Loved it enough to be able to make fun of it at the same time....)
Sadly, I think Frazzetta's license was badly mishandled. There should be nice clean 20.00 editions of the old Ballantine collections. There should be posters on every dormitory wall. Much like the Elfquest license and the Mobius art and stories, I think there is a starved up demand for a nice chunk of appropriately priced material. Instead, we get too little or too much, too expensive or too late.
If I was a billionaire, I'd buy up these licenses and others, and become the American Taschin, if you will, or the American Paper Tiger. That would be a cool way to be a billionaire.
The Deathdealers' been dealt aces and eights, and that's a shame.
Iron Man and Thor
Just got back from Iron Man. Despite all my brave talk of all the Marvel movies seeming the 'same.'
Really enjoyed it.
After the movie, Linda overheard some young girls in the bathroom. "I don't understand. Who was the guy with the eye patch?"
"Me too. I thought Iron Man was YOUNG."
"No...that's Transformers, dummy...."
In the car, started talking Black Widow, and Linda didn't know that was the Scarlett character. Why do they miss opportunities like that?
How many of you stayed through the credits? Why does everyone clear out of Marvel movies when, if I remember rightly, they almost always have an epilogue? How many understood that last scene was the Hammer of Thor?
Really enjoyed it.
After the movie, Linda overheard some young girls in the bathroom. "I don't understand. Who was the guy with the eye patch?"
"Me too. I thought Iron Man was YOUNG."
"No...that's Transformers, dummy...."
In the car, started talking Black Widow, and Linda didn't know that was the Scarlett character. Why do they miss opportunities like that?
How many of you stayed through the credits? Why does everyone clear out of Marvel movies when, if I remember rightly, they almost always have an epilogue? How many understood that last scene was the Hammer of Thor?
A measly 3%
I gave it a good try, but my attempt to get my DC orders up higher so I could gain 3% on my margin has pretty much failed so far.
This nitty gritty stuff will probably bore most of you, and yet it is the quintessence of business decision making for a small store -- how much to spend on postage, how much to order to get discounts, how much inventory to stockpile, the timing of arrival, etc. etc.
Despite giving up my weekly direct ship orders (getting reorders in two days but paying higher postage) and turning the extra savings into purchases for DC graphic novels, I've consistently come up short by about 10% for about six months now.
10% short?
The temptation is to try for that last 10%, which would two/thirds covered by the 3% extra margin. Except that I have already overreached probably by 15% to get there -- and have started to pile up the graphic novels extras.
Thing is, I'm already ordering all the DC material I need -- even over ordering a bit -- and I'm reaching the end of the graphic novel extras that make sense, and I'm still coming up short.
Frustrating to get so close, and yet see that I probably won't make it over the hump.
It reminds me of the ten years or so that I consistently came up short on the extra Marvel discount, and would occasionally try to reach it and come up short. That didn't change until Marvel changed their terms, ironically about the time I would have reached their plateau anyway. Now I'm way above the numbers I need for Marvel.
Ironic because during that same time, I was getting a better DC discount.
The two companies have flip flopped, which I'm thinking can't be good for DC since they are the second best seller already, and they've -- almost -- raised the plateau so high that I have no real incentive to try to reach it. Maybe they're smart, because I am trying to reach it. But I'll tell you this; if I convince myself that I can't get there, the next best thing to do is cut orders down to just above the lower discount. (Which, strangely, is probably more money than they gain on the upside.)
Another question now is -- do I continue to save the direct ship reorder fee; about 200.00 per month, instead of using it on DC graphic novels?
It's a change in store culture, almost. I was able to do 'just in time' , 'I'll get it for you by Thursday', orders for an extra 50.00 in postage a week for years, and I liked doing it, and it simplified record keeping. But it cost 200.00 per month -- which is the equivalent of 500.00 in sales. I doubt very much I'm losing 500.00 in sales by not direct ship reordering -- not even close.
If I were to get the extra 3%, I'd save another 100.00, or a total of 300.00 -- equivalent of 750.00 in sales.
The way I was trying to rationalize it -- the 300.00 in savings was the same as getting an extra 50 graphic novels per month. I reasoned I could minimize the damage of running short of product by stock piling the DC best sellers.
I see now that I'll not get the benefits of such a strategy at current numbers -- I have to do yet another 10% in orders; and do it consistently for six months or more.
All for a measly 3% margin.
On the other hand, I haven't had too many complaints about having to wait -- the store is damn well stocked as it is....
.....but it's still frustrating to be sold out of a product for 2 weeks instead of 5 days. (Could I be any more wishy washy?)
Then again, the former system was working well, and I think I may go back to it.
I'm probably going to stay the course until the end of summer. Summer is the time I'm most likely to reach the DC discount levels, so I'm thinking I'll keep trying for 3 more months.
But it doesn't feel like I'm going to get there and even if I do, it's only 3 months of the 6 months rolling discount I need.
This is business, folks. Constant decisions like these, around the margins, without a clear cut conclusion. Obviously, I'm still arguing with myself over what to do. If I could snag that extra 3% and save that 200.00 in postage -- the benefits would compound over the next decade.
Do I trade a year of small losses for ten years of small gains? Since the outcome isn't certain?
Am I overreaching? I've already invested six months into this process -- it would be a shame to give up now, only to have some sort of DC resurgence come along....then again, that may be good money after bad.
So there it is -- a lot of gray and not much clarity.
This nitty gritty stuff will probably bore most of you, and yet it is the quintessence of business decision making for a small store -- how much to spend on postage, how much to order to get discounts, how much inventory to stockpile, the timing of arrival, etc. etc.
Despite giving up my weekly direct ship orders (getting reorders in two days but paying higher postage) and turning the extra savings into purchases for DC graphic novels, I've consistently come up short by about 10% for about six months now.
10% short?
The temptation is to try for that last 10%, which would two/thirds covered by the 3% extra margin. Except that I have already overreached probably by 15% to get there -- and have started to pile up the graphic novels extras.
Thing is, I'm already ordering all the DC material I need -- even over ordering a bit -- and I'm reaching the end of the graphic novel extras that make sense, and I'm still coming up short.
Frustrating to get so close, and yet see that I probably won't make it over the hump.
It reminds me of the ten years or so that I consistently came up short on the extra Marvel discount, and would occasionally try to reach it and come up short. That didn't change until Marvel changed their terms, ironically about the time I would have reached their plateau anyway. Now I'm way above the numbers I need for Marvel.
Ironic because during that same time, I was getting a better DC discount.
The two companies have flip flopped, which I'm thinking can't be good for DC since they are the second best seller already, and they've -- almost -- raised the plateau so high that I have no real incentive to try to reach it. Maybe they're smart, because I am trying to reach it. But I'll tell you this; if I convince myself that I can't get there, the next best thing to do is cut orders down to just above the lower discount. (Which, strangely, is probably more money than they gain on the upside.)
Another question now is -- do I continue to save the direct ship reorder fee; about 200.00 per month, instead of using it on DC graphic novels?
It's a change in store culture, almost. I was able to do 'just in time' , 'I'll get it for you by Thursday', orders for an extra 50.00 in postage a week for years, and I liked doing it, and it simplified record keeping. But it cost 200.00 per month -- which is the equivalent of 500.00 in sales. I doubt very much I'm losing 500.00 in sales by not direct ship reordering -- not even close.
If I were to get the extra 3%, I'd save another 100.00, or a total of 300.00 -- equivalent of 750.00 in sales.
The way I was trying to rationalize it -- the 300.00 in savings was the same as getting an extra 50 graphic novels per month. I reasoned I could minimize the damage of running short of product by stock piling the DC best sellers.
I see now that I'll not get the benefits of such a strategy at current numbers -- I have to do yet another 10% in orders; and do it consistently for six months or more.
All for a measly 3% margin.
On the other hand, I haven't had too many complaints about having to wait -- the store is damn well stocked as it is....
.....but it's still frustrating to be sold out of a product for 2 weeks instead of 5 days. (Could I be any more wishy washy?)
Then again, the former system was working well, and I think I may go back to it.
I'm probably going to stay the course until the end of summer. Summer is the time I'm most likely to reach the DC discount levels, so I'm thinking I'll keep trying for 3 more months.
But it doesn't feel like I'm going to get there and even if I do, it's only 3 months of the 6 months rolling discount I need.
This is business, folks. Constant decisions like these, around the margins, without a clear cut conclusion. Obviously, I'm still arguing with myself over what to do. If I could snag that extra 3% and save that 200.00 in postage -- the benefits would compound over the next decade.
Do I trade a year of small losses for ten years of small gains? Since the outcome isn't certain?
Am I overreaching? I've already invested six months into this process -- it would be a shame to give up now, only to have some sort of DC resurgence come along....then again, that may be good money after bad.
So there it is -- a lot of gray and not much clarity.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Con means Confidence
It's kind of amusing how the OLCC is still covering it's ass over John Doe/Jason Evers.
Of course we did a background check! they say; even though it's clear that many of the jobs and institutions he had listed as background never existed.
But it's been nagging me ever since that first article in the Bulletin about what a "nice" guy Jason Evers is or was.
A con man is someone who is adept at gaining your confidence, folks. A sociopath is someone who can be highly intelligent and manipulative; and without a conscience.
Being nice and playing the bureaucratic game well doesn't make you -- honest, or competent, or reliable.
Frankly, he comes across more as a suck-up and brownnoser. A talented liar.
It should give everyone the willies that he had a woman convinced enough of his charm that she was willing her house to him! How long had they known each other before she told him she was childless -- before he zeroed in on her vulnerabilities?
I had a competitor once who was a very nice guy -- on the surface. But underneath he was manipulative and dishonest. It completely amazed me that people could literally catch him doing very unethical things and they would forgive him -- because they liked him.
If someone comes across as super super nice -- it should actually be a warning. Trying too hard? Being too accommodating? Saying the right thing all the time?
Not saying is might not be true, just to be careful. Because the nicest most accommodating and flattering people in the world are "confidence" men.
Of course we did a background check! they say; even though it's clear that many of the jobs and institutions he had listed as background never existed.
But it's been nagging me ever since that first article in the Bulletin about what a "nice" guy Jason Evers is or was.
A con man is someone who is adept at gaining your confidence, folks. A sociopath is someone who can be highly intelligent and manipulative; and without a conscience.
Being nice and playing the bureaucratic game well doesn't make you -- honest, or competent, or reliable.
Frankly, he comes across more as a suck-up and brownnoser. A talented liar.
It should give everyone the willies that he had a woman convinced enough of his charm that she was willing her house to him! How long had they known each other before she told him she was childless -- before he zeroed in on her vulnerabilities?
I had a competitor once who was a very nice guy -- on the surface. But underneath he was manipulative and dishonest. It completely amazed me that people could literally catch him doing very unethical things and they would forgive him -- because they liked him.
If someone comes across as super super nice -- it should actually be a warning. Trying too hard? Being too accommodating? Saying the right thing all the time?
Not saying is might not be true, just to be careful. Because the nicest most accommodating and flattering people in the world are "confidence" men.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Day in the life, part 2.
Day in my boring ass life, part two.
Get to work. Hit one and a half lights and had to do a u-turn at alley because they're doing fire drills. Uses up 2 minutes of my four minute margin, so arrive at two minutes before 11:00. Clouds have moved in -- which I know from my landscaping days is pretty typical Bend spring weather, threatening clouds which almost never actually rain.
Find a wine cup in front of my door -- '1st Friday' last night; they are actually pretty good at cleaning up after themselves.
First guy in the door will get to help me haul out the book table. I've been forgetting to do that right away, lately, so I need to try harder. Think I'll do some vacuuming of the dust that's accumulated at the bottom of the boxes...Find a religious flyer in amongst the books --
***Young family comes in; I keep cleaning the books after greeting them. Sort of recognize them, from way back. Dad asks 12 year old boy is he sees anything, he shrugs and says no. This will be repeated innumerable times today; I don't understand it, but try not to let it bother me anymore...Hear the Dad say he stopped "collecting". Bought a 1.00 dice.
***Mom and 2o's son, son looking for magic singles. Carrying a Powells candy bag, which is also something I'll see innumerable times this Saturday. Mom looking at books. He buys 3.00 worth of singles. Mom buys 10.00 worth of used books, they're from Baker City and own a business that makes entertainment rides. "Wow. A business that actually MAKES something..." I say.
***Mid-20's guy; my prime age, looking at graphic novels. Shanghaied him into putting the table out....Girlfriend comes to drag him away...He buys new Corben HELLBOY for 3.50
Decide to make new signs for sale table. Bargain bins are usually so forlorn looking that they aren't attractive, and I want to try to avoid that; by putting good books out and keeping them clean.
Pay off a couple of bills before the mailman arrives. Had Linda make me some 1.00 signs off the computer. 'Plasticize' them with tape, cut them out. DC, Marvel, and Image are are printing 1.00 comic reprints of important titles.
***Mom, Dad, young boy and girl, looking at Pokemon, Mom looking at books. Dad asks for a book "Like" DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. I try to turn him on to BONE.
Kid buys Pokemon, Dad buys BONE, smaller kid buys Indiana Jones action figure. Give them a MOUSE GUARD/FRAGGLE ROCK and TOY STORY comic free. Good for the Dad.
***Regular, guy. Buys two DVD's, a bunch of comics, and outspends everyone else in the first two hours.
****Middle aged couple. Wander around, leave.
***Dad and two young kids. Dad offers to buy ALIENS VERSUS MONSTERS book; kid refuses.
Sigh. Dad buys a Disney book. Give them a MOUSE GUARD comic.
****Middle Aged couple, asking about the Jack Sparrow in the window. Son is "channeling" the pirate. They buy it, but leave it to go get a birthday card.
***Young couple. Looking for history books. Immediately leave.
Decent start to the day.
Have to make reorders today or tomorrow. Not sure. Being here, I can make a more accurate gauge of what we've sold but I get interrupted; at home tomorrow, I can do it without it at my leisure. Will wait until 3:00 to decide.
1:00. Eating lunch. Slow patch; vacuum front of store. Check for next week's inventory; usually not up until late Sat. but sometimes I get lucky.
***Older gent. Looking at card supplies. Buys 5.00 worth of boxes.
***30's guy. Goes into comic section. Buys 55.00 worth of back issues -- works seasonally for Forest Service, and says they've already had two fires this year. Wind knocking tree into wires and woman doing controlled burn that gets uncontrolled.
***card guy. Sometimes buys a Beckett. otherwise....he buys online. Yep, leave.
***20's guy. Because he looks a little lost, but my type of customer, I give him my Stewardess presentation: "Used books in front on that side. New books on this side. Graphic novels and comics in the back on that side. Games and toys and cards in the back on this side." He bought a new copy of THE STRANGER, by Camus.
***A regular. One of my oldest customers, who has pretty much quit buying anything, except two titles that never show up. Can't get him to look at anything else.
***Guy asking for Dark Angel comics out of Portland. "Dark Horse?' I ask. He needed them for a publication that was doing a story on the Portland comics scene. Bought a STAR WARS, AGE OF REPTILES, BUFFY AND HELLBOY. Talked to him for awhile, and he bought a new copy of GO DOWN, MOSES, by William Faulkner, for himself.
***While talking to above guy, another guy made a quick loop and left. Typical if I don't give catch them and give the book (Stewardess) spiel.
***Guy bought 5.00 bag of "polies" (comic bags, I figure out).
***A comic shelf guy. Bought one comic off his shelf, and STAR WARS: DARK EMPIRE graphic novel.
2:30. Day half over. Reading the above list makes a very stark case for why Saturdays wear me out so much. Mostly people I don't know, who spend small amounts; as opposed to the regulars I get throughout the week, who pretty much know what they want and tend to spend much more. 30 people so far. I would've thought more, but there have been slow patches. I think Jasper is perfect for Saturdays. Heh.
Put a Darth Vader cutout in the window to take the place of Depp. Realized I'm taller than Darth.... That's just wrong.
Listening to CD's my employees bring in -- because they're mixes, don't always know who I'm listening too. Figured out after days, that one of them was Pink Floyd (never was a fan); and on comes the James Bond Themes. Cool.
***Regular. Likes art books, but knows what he likes, and sometimes buys and sometimes doesn't. Looking at Philip K. Dick books. Bought 3 comics and a bottle of Tru Blood.
***Mom and older daughter, asking for game Robo Rally. Fetched my ladder, brought it down, and handed it to her and heard her say, "This is the one I ordered..."
***Two gothy teenagers. Looked at the Twilight Graphic Novel and said, "Oh, my gawwwddd."
***Mom and two older girls. They asked the prices on a couple of books, put them back and left.
***Regular. Looking at comics. Wants to talk Iron Man movie. Haven't seen it, not all that interested in seeing it. I can predict every element without seeing it. Much more interested in movies like Kick Ass and Watchmen and Scott Pilgrim, than your everyday superhero extravaganza. Spidy/X-/Hulk/Iron man/ starting to blur for me.
***Mom and older daughter. Things have slowed down to people browsing and wandering around downtown.
***Father and son. Looking for Mother's Day cards.
***Guy buys two books from sale table.
Gives me a chance to do my reorders, so I think I'll start and see how it goes. Then again, looked at the list and it's three weeks long. I think I'll wait until tomorrow. Haven't really seen a real regular today, the kind I'm used to talking to.
***Young couple. Leaves. They come back and ask some questions about boardgames. Buys Seafarers extension, which I'm pretty sure is the wrong thing, but cheaper than the right thing...
***One 30 something. Asks if we do subscriptions. He has thirty years worth of Amazing Spider man's, but let subscription lapse. Buys the last four issues.
***Two teenage girls. One gets excited by Twilight Graphic Novel, I offer her 20% off. She stands there and appears to read the whole thing. Puts it back. Other girl asks for Banksy art. "Who?" She giggles. I google, and I see his art. Cool. I learn something new every day. They buy manga and Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.
***Middle aged woman. Seems to run out the door; not sure what that was.
***Young guy and Mom. They leave. 'Browsing' feeling has just been oozing off everyone in the last hour.
***Regular, who sometimes spends a bunch. We can hope. -- Spent pretty good.
NOTE: In hindsight, the last real customer of the day, around 3:30.
***Young couple. Looking at books. Gone.
***Father and two boys. Gone.
***Father and son. Gone.
***Mom and daughter. Looking at young adult books. Gone.
***Mom and small boy. Asked about Star Wars standups. Quoted price. Gone.
***Young couple asking for D and D basic set. Tell him I don't think there is such a thing. Tell him about Player's Handbook. Gone.
***Young guy asking for "Old" comics. "What era?" "60's". "Don't have any. I think that's why nature created the internet..." Stays for an hour and half. Ends up spending 49.90.
***Three teenage girls. Asked the price of my Ugly Dolls. Gone.
***Mom and two small girls. Looking at the Ugly Dolls. Gone.
***Woman buys 1.00 book from table.
Day just seems to be dragging. Haven't had more than half a good conversation all day.....I'll be glad to hand this day back to Jasper next week. Wow. Saturday really is a different kettle of fish, even more obvious to me now that I've been away from this day for a month or two. Just different, not necessarily bad, I guess. Lots more browsers, less regulars. More price resistance -- which implies they are used to buying from discounters. The sales still add up, just from the sheer number of people, and maybe I should be happy to make money off people I don't usually make money from.
But I prefer weekdays and regulars, I think.
Ended up just below average, about 76 people. Not great, not horrible.
END PART TWO.
That's all folks. Evening is mine.
Get to work. Hit one and a half lights and had to do a u-turn at alley because they're doing fire drills. Uses up 2 minutes of my four minute margin, so arrive at two minutes before 11:00. Clouds have moved in -- which I know from my landscaping days is pretty typical Bend spring weather, threatening clouds which almost never actually rain.
Find a wine cup in front of my door -- '1st Friday' last night; they are actually pretty good at cleaning up after themselves.
First guy in the door will get to help me haul out the book table. I've been forgetting to do that right away, lately, so I need to try harder. Think I'll do some vacuuming of the dust that's accumulated at the bottom of the boxes...Find a religious flyer in amongst the books --
***Young family comes in; I keep cleaning the books after greeting them. Sort of recognize them, from way back. Dad asks 12 year old boy is he sees anything, he shrugs and says no. This will be repeated innumerable times today; I don't understand it, but try not to let it bother me anymore...Hear the Dad say he stopped "collecting". Bought a 1.00 dice.
***Mom and 2o's son, son looking for magic singles. Carrying a Powells candy bag, which is also something I'll see innumerable times this Saturday. Mom looking at books. He buys 3.00 worth of singles. Mom buys 10.00 worth of used books, they're from Baker City and own a business that makes entertainment rides. "Wow. A business that actually MAKES something..." I say.
***Mid-20's guy; my prime age, looking at graphic novels. Shanghaied him into putting the table out....Girlfriend comes to drag him away...He buys new Corben HELLBOY for 3.50
Decide to make new signs for sale table. Bargain bins are usually so forlorn looking that they aren't attractive, and I want to try to avoid that; by putting good books out and keeping them clean.
Pay off a couple of bills before the mailman arrives. Had Linda make me some 1.00 signs off the computer. 'Plasticize' them with tape, cut them out. DC, Marvel, and Image are are printing 1.00 comic reprints of important titles.
***Mom, Dad, young boy and girl, looking at Pokemon, Mom looking at books. Dad asks for a book "Like" DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. I try to turn him on to BONE.
Kid buys Pokemon, Dad buys BONE, smaller kid buys Indiana Jones action figure. Give them a MOUSE GUARD/FRAGGLE ROCK and TOY STORY comic free. Good for the Dad.
***Regular, guy. Buys two DVD's, a bunch of comics, and outspends everyone else in the first two hours.
****Middle aged couple. Wander around, leave.
***Dad and two young kids. Dad offers to buy ALIENS VERSUS MONSTERS book; kid refuses.
Sigh. Dad buys a Disney book. Give them a MOUSE GUARD comic.
****Middle Aged couple, asking about the Jack Sparrow in the window. Son is "channeling" the pirate. They buy it, but leave it to go get a birthday card.
***Young couple. Looking for history books. Immediately leave.
Decent start to the day.
Have to make reorders today or tomorrow. Not sure. Being here, I can make a more accurate gauge of what we've sold but I get interrupted; at home tomorrow, I can do it without it at my leisure. Will wait until 3:00 to decide.
1:00. Eating lunch. Slow patch; vacuum front of store. Check for next week's inventory; usually not up until late Sat. but sometimes I get lucky.
***Older gent. Looking at card supplies. Buys 5.00 worth of boxes.
***30's guy. Goes into comic section. Buys 55.00 worth of back issues -- works seasonally for Forest Service, and says they've already had two fires this year. Wind knocking tree into wires and woman doing controlled burn that gets uncontrolled.
***card guy. Sometimes buys a Beckett. otherwise....he buys online. Yep, leave.
***20's guy. Because he looks a little lost, but my type of customer, I give him my Stewardess presentation: "Used books in front on that side. New books on this side. Graphic novels and comics in the back on that side. Games and toys and cards in the back on this side." He bought a new copy of THE STRANGER, by Camus.
***A regular. One of my oldest customers, who has pretty much quit buying anything, except two titles that never show up. Can't get him to look at anything else.
***Guy asking for Dark Angel comics out of Portland. "Dark Horse?' I ask. He needed them for a publication that was doing a story on the Portland comics scene. Bought a STAR WARS, AGE OF REPTILES, BUFFY AND HELLBOY. Talked to him for awhile, and he bought a new copy of GO DOWN, MOSES, by William Faulkner, for himself.
***While talking to above guy, another guy made a quick loop and left. Typical if I don't give catch them and give the book (Stewardess) spiel.
***Guy bought 5.00 bag of "polies" (comic bags, I figure out).
***A comic shelf guy. Bought one comic off his shelf, and STAR WARS: DARK EMPIRE graphic novel.
2:30. Day half over. Reading the above list makes a very stark case for why Saturdays wear me out so much. Mostly people I don't know, who spend small amounts; as opposed to the regulars I get throughout the week, who pretty much know what they want and tend to spend much more. 30 people so far. I would've thought more, but there have been slow patches. I think Jasper is perfect for Saturdays. Heh.
Put a Darth Vader cutout in the window to take the place of Depp. Realized I'm taller than Darth.... That's just wrong.
Listening to CD's my employees bring in -- because they're mixes, don't always know who I'm listening too. Figured out after days, that one of them was Pink Floyd (never was a fan); and on comes the James Bond Themes. Cool.
***Regular. Likes art books, but knows what he likes, and sometimes buys and sometimes doesn't. Looking at Philip K. Dick books. Bought 3 comics and a bottle of Tru Blood.
***Mom and older daughter, asking for game Robo Rally. Fetched my ladder, brought it down, and handed it to her and heard her say, "This is the one I ordered..."
***Two gothy teenagers. Looked at the Twilight Graphic Novel and said, "Oh, my gawwwddd."
***Mom and two older girls. They asked the prices on a couple of books, put them back and left.
***Regular. Looking at comics. Wants to talk Iron Man movie. Haven't seen it, not all that interested in seeing it. I can predict every element without seeing it. Much more interested in movies like Kick Ass and Watchmen and Scott Pilgrim, than your everyday superhero extravaganza. Spidy/X-/Hulk/Iron man/ starting to blur for me.
***Mom and older daughter. Things have slowed down to people browsing and wandering around downtown.
***Father and son. Looking for Mother's Day cards.
***Guy buys two books from sale table.
Gives me a chance to do my reorders, so I think I'll start and see how it goes. Then again, looked at the list and it's three weeks long. I think I'll wait until tomorrow. Haven't really seen a real regular today, the kind I'm used to talking to.
***Young couple. Leaves. They come back and ask some questions about boardgames. Buys Seafarers extension, which I'm pretty sure is the wrong thing, but cheaper than the right thing...
***One 30 something. Asks if we do subscriptions. He has thirty years worth of Amazing Spider man's, but let subscription lapse. Buys the last four issues.
***Two teenage girls. One gets excited by Twilight Graphic Novel, I offer her 20% off. She stands there and appears to read the whole thing. Puts it back. Other girl asks for Banksy art. "Who?" She giggles. I google, and I see his art. Cool. I learn something new every day. They buy manga and Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.
***Middle aged woman. Seems to run out the door; not sure what that was.
***Young guy and Mom. They leave. 'Browsing' feeling has just been oozing off everyone in the last hour.
***Regular, who sometimes spends a bunch. We can hope. -- Spent pretty good.
NOTE: In hindsight, the last real customer of the day, around 3:30.
***Young couple. Looking at books. Gone.
***Father and two boys. Gone.
***Father and son. Gone.
***Mom and daughter. Looking at young adult books. Gone.
***Mom and small boy. Asked about Star Wars standups. Quoted price. Gone.
***Young couple asking for D and D basic set. Tell him I don't think there is such a thing. Tell him about Player's Handbook. Gone.
***Young guy asking for "Old" comics. "What era?" "60's". "Don't have any. I think that's why nature created the internet..." Stays for an hour and half. Ends up spending 49.90.
***Three teenage girls. Asked the price of my Ugly Dolls. Gone.
***Mom and two small girls. Looking at the Ugly Dolls. Gone.
***Woman buys 1.00 book from table.
Day just seems to be dragging. Haven't had more than half a good conversation all day.....I'll be glad to hand this day back to Jasper next week. Wow. Saturday really is a different kettle of fish, even more obvious to me now that I've been away from this day for a month or two. Just different, not necessarily bad, I guess. Lots more browsers, less regulars. More price resistance -- which implies they are used to buying from discounters. The sales still add up, just from the sheer number of people, and maybe I should be happy to make money off people I don't usually make money from.
But I prefer weekdays and regulars, I think.
Ended up just below average, about 76 people. Not great, not horrible.
END PART TWO.
That's all folks. Evening is mine.
Day in the life, part one.
A day in my boring ass life (to steal a title from Kevin Smith.)
Get up at the usual 7:00 or so, scarf down coffee, visit Linda in her office (she's checking out the pictures from our recent trip.) Panga cat ensconced on her shoulder. I make the mistake of touching her shoulder, and she immediately whines for a scratch. I'm talking Linda, not the cat. We watched CLICK last night, and a running joke is the women asking for a massage and Linda and I both laughed because it's an ongoing theme.
I go to my office next door, turn on the heat, and settle down at the computer. Check the blog. Buster is insulting me again (and everyone else); nothing new. Yesterday's blog, which was one of my 'throw-off' blogs (just sort of tossed out there without much thought) has gotten 22 comments.
Hmmm. Think I'll leave it up there for most of the day and see what happens. Milk it for all it's worth.
Get the idea to do a 'day in the life' entry, instead.
Panga cat bursts into room, does a few shark circuits and finds the catnip sock under the desk. All the warm air escaping the room. How rude. I close the door. She goes to the outside door and I let her out. Open curtains -- a BEAUTIFUL day, and I love my new green lawn...
By the time I can finally walk on the lawn, it'll need to be mowed. Thinking of getting an electric mower.
Linda comes in room, looks out window and says, "the lawn looks great. Someone told me that lawns aren't ecological -- they don't give anything back."
"Yep," I say. She leaves to take shower.
She leaves open the door, and all the hot air is escaping. How rude. I close the door. (Linda and the cat do this EVERY MORNING!) I almost have the cat trained.
Play solitaire, start the clothes dryer, do my morning grooming. Get more coffee, check all the usual internet sites. Weekends are always slow online. Read the Bulletin.
Go up to kitchen and make lunch. (I don't eat breakfast.) We have some small banana's, which I like because truth be told I usually only like a little bit of banana, and make some sandwiches -- ham and sour dough bread and mustard -- and throw in a yogurt and energy bar. I have a couple of big water bottles I fill with lemonade everyday.
Linda bought some Dandy burgers on her way home last night (she has always called them Pandy's and now I find myself calling them Pandy's). Only ate about half the fries before I was full. I'll microwave the burger tonight when I get home, because it's too messy for work.
Getting a bit wound up for a Saturday workday at Pegasus Books.
Jasper asked for the day off and since he worked extra while I was on my trip, I agreed. Saturdays are different -- lots more browsers and not so many regulars. I always have to take a deep breath and try to be patient. A successful day is a day where I've kept my equanimity all the way through...
Wish me luck.
Drive to work. I have the timing down to a science -- how long each red light takes, how long a straight shot takes, how to find the quickest and nearest parking spot. Heh.
I have enough time to drop by Linda's store (she opens at 10:00, I open at 11:00.) I like to check out the new arrivals. "Oh, you have the Studs Terkel book, WORKING," I say.
"How did he ever get the name Studs?" Linda asks.
"I suspect that he got it from STUDS LONIGAN, a book written by a guy named Farrell, can't remember his first name.... look it up on Wiki." Linda rolls her eyes, but does so, and there it says exactly what I guessed -- a fellow writer nicknamed him Studs because he was reading the book by Jame T. Ferrell.
"O.K. you all. You can now be impressed."
I sit down and put up my feet. "You shouldn't put your feet on the desk," one of our employees says.
"I have too. My feet are tired from holding up my HUGE BRAIN!!!"
I leave before they start throwing things at me.
END PART ONE.
Get up at the usual 7:00 or so, scarf down coffee, visit Linda in her office (she's checking out the pictures from our recent trip.) Panga cat ensconced on her shoulder. I make the mistake of touching her shoulder, and she immediately whines for a scratch. I'm talking Linda, not the cat. We watched CLICK last night, and a running joke is the women asking for a massage and Linda and I both laughed because it's an ongoing theme.
I go to my office next door, turn on the heat, and settle down at the computer. Check the blog. Buster is insulting me again (and everyone else); nothing new. Yesterday's blog, which was one of my 'throw-off' blogs (just sort of tossed out there without much thought) has gotten 22 comments.
Hmmm. Think I'll leave it up there for most of the day and see what happens. Milk it for all it's worth.
Get the idea to do a 'day in the life' entry, instead.
Panga cat bursts into room, does a few shark circuits and finds the catnip sock under the desk. All the warm air escaping the room. How rude. I close the door. She goes to the outside door and I let her out. Open curtains -- a BEAUTIFUL day, and I love my new green lawn...
By the time I can finally walk on the lawn, it'll need to be mowed. Thinking of getting an electric mower.
Linda comes in room, looks out window and says, "the lawn looks great. Someone told me that lawns aren't ecological -- they don't give anything back."
"Yep," I say. She leaves to take shower.
She leaves open the door, and all the hot air is escaping. How rude. I close the door. (Linda and the cat do this EVERY MORNING!) I almost have the cat trained.
Play solitaire, start the clothes dryer, do my morning grooming. Get more coffee, check all the usual internet sites. Weekends are always slow online. Read the Bulletin.
Go up to kitchen and make lunch. (I don't eat breakfast.) We have some small banana's, which I like because truth be told I usually only like a little bit of banana, and make some sandwiches -- ham and sour dough bread and mustard -- and throw in a yogurt and energy bar. I have a couple of big water bottles I fill with lemonade everyday.
Linda bought some Dandy burgers on her way home last night (she has always called them Pandy's and now I find myself calling them Pandy's). Only ate about half the fries before I was full. I'll microwave the burger tonight when I get home, because it's too messy for work.
Getting a bit wound up for a Saturday workday at Pegasus Books.
Jasper asked for the day off and since he worked extra while I was on my trip, I agreed. Saturdays are different -- lots more browsers and not so many regulars. I always have to take a deep breath and try to be patient. A successful day is a day where I've kept my equanimity all the way through...
Wish me luck.
Drive to work. I have the timing down to a science -- how long each red light takes, how long a straight shot takes, how to find the quickest and nearest parking spot. Heh.
I have enough time to drop by Linda's store (she opens at 10:00, I open at 11:00.) I like to check out the new arrivals. "Oh, you have the Studs Terkel book, WORKING," I say.
"How did he ever get the name Studs?" Linda asks.
"I suspect that he got it from STUDS LONIGAN, a book written by a guy named Farrell, can't remember his first name.... look it up on Wiki." Linda rolls her eyes, but does so, and there it says exactly what I guessed -- a fellow writer nicknamed him Studs because he was reading the book by Jame T. Ferrell.
"O.K. you all. You can now be impressed."
I sit down and put up my feet. "You shouldn't put your feet on the desk," one of our employees says.
"I have too. My feet are tired from holding up my HUGE BRAIN!!!"
I leave before they start throwing things at me.
END PART ONE.
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