What a mess!

The store is an unbelievable mess. I looked at a random stack of books yesterday and realized that they came from completely different parts of the store. Basically, it's gridlock. To move the fixtures, I have to move the product--the move the product, I have to move the fixtures.

Stalemate!

What happens with all complex tasks is that I put blinders on and try to deal with one small thing at a time.

Toby has been doing all the heavy lifting since Todd left, and he more or less needs me to tell him how to finish up. Looking around, I wasn't sure. I made a big mistake by not taking pictures and measurements before we started. So after Toby left yesterday, I wandered around the store and tried to figure it out.

And then I started thinking of improvements. Uh, oh.

What if I replaced that fixture? What if I moved it over there?

The thing about Pegasus is that everything was placed organically over the years--dictated was possible with the measurements I had. The store is literally spaced by the inch--entire displays are possible or impossible because I either have or don't have an inch to spare.

I started measuring things and realized that there were improvements to be made. I have a basement full of bookshelves (purchased from the guy who bought the Bookmark from us--he didn't want the shelves we had.)

It always helps to be alone when contemplating changes. I can try things without anyone second guessing me--and if something I try doesn't work, I just change it back. I like doing that, even if it means dragging up bookshelves from the basement by myself. 

Once I started thinking of changes, the changes started to escalate. The big problem was--they were clear improvements, not small ones, and thus worth doing.

Which means even more chaos.

Toby had told me he'd come back on Friday to finish up. He needs to start looking for a job. I called him up and asked he wouldn't mind coming back on Sunday, giving me three days to mess around on my own. 

I'm going to try to pace myself. Right now, the focus is on the fixtures. I'll deal with the product later. It's a huge mess, but fortunately, I think we'll have time to deal with it all, and it was be a nice improvement on what we had.