We ended the year at 5% over 2010.
Overall.
However, we were 10% down in the first half of the year and up 16.5% in the second half.
Six months of better than last year sales, July through December.
I'm not going to feel the recession is over until we not only beat last year, but we beat a positive month from last year. So far, every time we've seen an increase, it was over a decreased month. So, if I can string 10 out of 12 months where we not only beat last year, but we beat months where we beat the year before that -- then I'll believe we're on the upswing.
The biggest increase was card game sales. 53%. My two competitors both took a bite out of my sales in the last 3 or 4 years, but we seemed to regain some ground last year. I just tried to be steady and have the product available at all times. Plus, Magic just seems to be having a resurgence.
Games (boardgames and rpg's) were up 7% for the year, but the second half was pretty big.
Same with new books -- they were up 10%, with the emphasis on the second half of the year.
Toys were down, 16%.
Comics were down 6.5%. The New 52 kept it from being worse that. I was able to restock or newly stock a ton of graphic novels which should hold us in good stead. I'm going to save several hundred dollars a month in a better discount rate -- and that on top of saving several hundred on shipping costs. Add in, constantly jumping on any "sales" and I think this category will be stronger this year. (Comics and graphic novels.)
Graphic novels were up 2%. Some of this is bleeding into the New Book category, I believe. It still feels vibrant.
Sports cards and anime aren't significant movers in the store, anymore. I actually rededicated myself to restocking them this year, so I haven't given up.
Toys -- that's where my big push is going to be this year. Can't sell what you don't order, and over the last few years I was ordering pretty slim numbers of new toys -- except when they went on sale. So I've decided to get at least a couple of series of new toys every month and see what happens.
We matched 2009 sales in 2011.
So my goal would be to match 2008 sales in 2012. A 10% increase, which is a lot.
And then, the biggest year on record -- 2007 sales in 2013 or 2014.
Then we'd be back to square one....Mr. Greenspan.
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Interestingly, if we get back to 2007 sales in 2014, it will have been 7 years --which was what a lot of us predicted before the crash.
I think it is going to take longer than that -- but I'm going to try.
(Also, I'm only getting there through bringing in two new categories that account for 30% of my sales -- and through increased prices of product. So in real terms, it will be much longer....Mr.Bernanke.)
The other thing that isn't quite comfortable about this increase is that it was due to card games to a large extent.
I don't really feel like I have much control over that. I carry the product, but the rest comes down to popularity of the game and what my competitors do.
Oops.
On rereading this, I realized the numbers didn't add up.
The new comics sales weren't up 6.5%, they were actually down 6.5%.
So I've rewritten the post to reflect that...
I think I spent more at Pegasus in 2011 than any prior year. Don't know if there was more good stuff or if I just noticed more of it. It certainly wasn't because I had more disposable income!
BTW, you should read Mike Richardson's editor's note in the front of Dark Horse Presents #7.
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