Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Christmas to Christmas comparisons.

The biggest surprise was how little difference there was between Christmas 2010 and Christmas 2009. As I said, we were all but even in sales, overall.

Comics: Were down about 7%, which considering all that has happened and is happening with comics, tain't bad.

Anime: I really need to just drop this category. Not a player, anymore. Sell a few hundred dollars worth, here and there.

Game cards: Almost exactly the same as last year, which considering I have two competitors established I didn't have then, tain't bad.

Sports Cards: O.K. There was change here. Down considerably. And I don't care.

Sorry -- deserves a bit more than that after our long and sordid history. There are fewer brands, which means less attention, which I think means less sales -- in the short run. Like the cheaper comics coming from DC and Marvel, though, I think this will help in the long run.

Games: After all my crowing about how well boardgames were doing, I came out a few percentage points ahead of last year. But that just means LAST years was really good, too. I still think this is an encouraging category.

Graphic Novels: Were up a third. But that's because last year's sales were surprisingly down, and I attribute that to the fact that art books were more often put into the New Book category last year, which would explain:

New Books: Slightly down this year, but I think the boundary between G.N.s and Novels is a little vague, and varies a bit from month to month. Probably should just choose if art books are one or the other.

Toys: Almost exactly the same as last year.


So, I feel like the space, time, energy and money devoted to each of the sections is appropriate to their importance to the store. For the first time in a long time, I'm not wanting to make any major changes, just incremental improvements.

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