Christmas business update.

Two busy (too busy?) 9 hour days in a row and I'm near done in. At the same time, it's invigorating to have so much activity. As always this time of year, I fantasize about all the things I could do if we had this much business every month.

I mentioned that we were briefly -- briefly, I tell you! -- sold out of a couple of boardgames. But we are restocked -- almost completely stocked in everything. So it was a bit dismaying to have a couple of people comment on the brief -- brief, I tell you! -- shortage.

We have had shipments every day this week, to keep up. In fact, that has been the theme of this Christmas; to make sure that I order everything we need. I've been all in. I can already tell that I won't need to do as much restocking in January and February as I usually do.

I can tell that I have a whole lot of work ahead of me convincing locals that Pegasus is not some fanboy dungeon. I'm getting constant remarks that the store "Has so much more of what I like than I expected."

Well, I've really made the effort to have a nice selection of books -- for every reader. In fact, I think I filled quite a few wish lists of people who totally didn't expect me to be able to do it.
(At the same time, I had a huge number of specific requests that I doubt ANYONE could fill.)

When people ask how we're doing, I never know quite what to say. It's been the medium range Christmas. I always forecast a high, a low, and a middle.

Pegasus is almost certain to beat last year, though the first half of the month was slower than I would have liked. It's been a good week, so far. But -- not to sound ungrateful -- but such largesse is Expected. It is Factored in. It Needs to happen. So, yes, it's busy -- but it's absolutely supposed to be busy. ("Is there no satisfying the man!")

We still have shipments coming in today, and I'm pretty certain our stock level right now might even be higher than normal. It was a bit of experiment to do it this way. Usually I try to sell through and make more profit; (and then spend all Spring trying to gear up again) but I decided I'd rather keep the store strong all the way through the holidays. So I traded higher sales and higher inventory for a bit of profit, which I think is the right move in the long run.

Boardgames and new books are the stars of the season -- again. I'd been wondering if the Euro-style boardgames had become mainstream enough that we'd be undercut; but they are still a mystery to the majority of customers. I didn't do as much handselling this season as last year, but we'll sell about the same.

These days, I'm not so much congratulating myself on taking the step of bringing in new books and boardgames -- as trying to imagine how my store would be doing without them. I dreamed last night that some 'interior decorator' type person was complaining about the store displays, and I patiently explain that my store only does well if it is as packed as I can get it.

It will be interesting to see how the store does in the week after Christmas. This can actually be more revealing of popularity than the week before, because that's when we become more of a 'destination' than a downtown browsing experience.

(sorry about all the "I"s in this entry....I never know when talking about my business whether I should say 'I' or 'we' or 'Pegasus' or 'the store'. It's all about me, me, me. heh.)