We did 27.00 in business yesterday, which has to be the worst day in years.
I blame the Beer Fest.
Yes, it was the day after the event. But this isn't an isolated incident. It happens almost everytime they close the streets that we will have an extremely slow few days afterwards.
Meanwhile, we're having a great month overall. We may even match August numbers, which would be unusual. It will be the third month in a row that we are up, so for those keeping track, from the moment Lehman brothers collapsed, we had 12 months down, 7 months up, 15 months down, 3 months up. I'm betting I can keep this trend going.
As usually happens in my store, it takes product lines suddenly getting hot to increase sales. Magic is doing very well compared to a couple of years ago, and of course the New DC 52 have been helping sales on comics.
I'm hoping those two trends are going to continue.
I decided to spend the profits from this unexpected increase on more product. Big book and game orders this month, as well as Magic. Also sold some boxes of sports cards this month, probably to only one or two people, but for sports cards sometimes that's all it takes.
I'm pleased that I can build on increasing sales, instead of just bailing the water out of a leaky liferaft.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
"It happens almost everytime they close the streets that we will have an extremely slow few days afterwards."
Do you have hard data to back that up, or is it just an impression? There doesn't seem to be any logical reason for it.
Just a pattern I've noticed.
Nowadays, I'll do a little less on a Saturday event as I would if the event didn't happen, and maybe slightly better on a Sunday, and then a slower following few days up to and including the next weekend.
So, I'm not hurt by the events the way I used to be. Mostly because I've tried very hard to mainstream my store.
I still think they aren't a great idea overall; especially the sheer numbers of events, the constant expanding of events, and the positioning of them on peak weekends when we'd do good business no matter what, and the lack of consideration the event planners have toward retail stores. (Who after all pay full rent all year long, not just come and open on the busiest weekends.)
The latest flurry of activity going on in opposition to the closures are coming from the art galleries that were affected by the bike race eating into 1st Friday, and some restaurants that are hurt by various closures. It is going to take some of the bigger movers and shakers to change things, but I think maybe we are at least headed in that direction.
I agree that there are too damn many events both downtown and in general; I'm just saying I can't see how a street closure one day can negatively impact business a day or two or three later.
Post a Comment