Buying arc.

Over the last few weeks, I've gone on a bit of a buying binge.

The following posts are done chronologically from my initial enthusiasm, to my eventual slight buyer's remorse.

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January 10, 2011.

I am being extremely aggressive right now in my ordering. It feels right. It feels like the time.

First of all, I don't think the economy is going to collapse. It's always on the verge, you know, but not much more than usual, right now.

Secondly, I don't think my store's sales are going to collapse. Christmas was good, and this month has held up so far. I'm confident I know where the bottom is -- and how much more than that I'm likely to do.

Third, I don't think the product lines I'm selling are going to collapse. Indeed, I think I can actually build on sales in books and games, and shore up sales in card games and comics and toys. Even sports cards and manga. I feel as though I have a good sense of where all the product lines are headed and what can be done about it.

Fourth, I think Bend is still floating downward, but that I'm taking that into account and working around it.

I'm betting that I can get back to my target average, if not this year, then next. I'm betting that I can spend my target budget and at least break-even. I'm betting that by aggressively stocking the store, I can get sales moving upward again.

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January 20, 2011.

The store is completely stocked, top to bottom.

Now all I need is customers...

Heh.

I probably have made a huge mistake. If so, I'll be carrying the balance through until the summer. No real harm done.

I continue to find ways to stock everything. My instincts seems to be pretty finely honed. For instance, I got 3000.00 worth of retail games yesterday, and there was just enough room to put them out, with nothing to spare. Literally, I spent the last half hour trying to find a space for the last box.

A few days ago, I stacked all the Penguin books on one shelf, and probably made room for another 20 books. I've got three bookcases devoted to fantasy art, and I always figured that would be winnowed down to about two cases, so that will free up room for another 75 - 100 books. (I've got another 300 coming, but I'll deal with them when they show up...)

And so on.

As long as everything goes out on the floor for sale, I'm cool with it.

I've packed the store because that seems to be the thing that works. It sometimes feel a little over the top, but I can't argue with results. If product starts having to be stored in the basement, I'll know I reach the limits. So far, except for except toys that come in every case, and unsalable back issue comics, most everything has found a place on in the store.

Makes life interesting.

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January 25, 2011.

I may have overdone it a bit.

It's not that I can't sell the product. It's not that I can't afford it. It's not even that I can't find a place to squeeze it in.

It's that...well, it's slightly unnecessary. I've already got a full store. This is...extra.

I have a tendency to want to fill in every single niche, to fell that beer stein to overflowing.

It's like I can't accept a weak product, even when it's weak. I've been ordering manga, for instance. I've been ordering superhero action figures.

I have to say, though, I've been a pretty good boy through most of the Great Recession. It's only been in the last couple of months that I have felt comfortable enough to buy to my limits.

Now we find out if the store is rewarded with sales, or not...

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January 28, 2001.

What I've done is spruce up categories that I was letting sit fallow. There is a time to do these things, and I gauged it was time to reinvest in action figures, manga, and especially magic cards.

Magic sales have gone up, for whatever reason. So I decided to bring in all the affordable packs I could get.

I can see a path to growth in manga, though it remains to be seen if it actually happens. Picking the best ongoing series and filling them in.

On toys, I just decided that it was time to fill in; so I ordered Iron Man, Marvel Superheros, Spider-man, Twilight, and Star Wars. All were slightly discounted, so the 10% or so I save, makes it slightly easier to justify.

The book orders, which I enjoy immensely, are probably where I didn't really need to order, but did anyway. Because they were available.

Thing is -- they are always available. That's where I question my spending.

But, I also know that a healthy store needs to be somewhat aggressive to keeps it's edge.
Time to flex my muscles a bit.