A good result.

I'm feeling extremely proud of myself right now.

I didn't have to make that big step toward gaming and new books a few years ago. It was a risk. I could have just tried to keep making what I do work.

And I did do that. Sales this Christmas were higher on comics and graphic novels than last year, so I haven't lost any ground there.

But sales on boardgames actually beat comics in December, which is totally unexpected. Sales on novels beat graphic novels, also unexpected.

So I'm proud of diagnosing the problem and coming up with a solution and making it work. I've managed to bring in two strong product lines without displacing existing product lines, which with my limited space, was a very creative effort.

I'm now trying to imagine how my store would be doing if I hadn't made the investment in games and books. Ouch.

Throwing more money at comics and graphic novels and card games and sports cards and anime and toys wouldn't have boosted sales all that much. They were already fully developed and mature categories.

Now that I've established games and books, I'm taking a second look at all the other categories, and trying to rejuvenate them, as well. Toys, (starting the carry the standard DC and Marvel action figures), cards, anime (brought in all the Myizaki movies, for instance), etc. etc. Small increases would be acceptable in all these categories.

I never did ease up on comics and graphic novels. I've been buying them full bore all along. And especially in comics, I've actually increased the numbers I order. I'm not letting them fall away.

Basically, books and games are doing about twice as well as my initial hope for them, with room still to grow.

I haven't had the urge in the last three years to bring in more categories, though. It simply isn't possible....


I'll have more detailed totals later in the day, for both the month and the year.