Stuff that stacks.

Pegasus Books has re-upped our lease. It's a great location--probably the only location in Bend that would work for us. Indeed, the store is designed specifically for this location. That doesn't mean I don't wish it wasn't bigger. (Is that sentence a triple negative?) 

We could fill a space two or three times our size.

About 20 years ago, it became obvious that, rather than the cheap rent, out-of-the-way location we'd been when we started, downtown Bend was coming back. Foot traffic was increasing noticeably. New retail spots and hotels were being built to the east of our location making us closer to the center of downtown.

Along with this came higher rents.

Up to this point we'd been mostly a fanboy store--people who were "into" what we were selling would find us. Most of the product was bought in advance and sold as quickly as possible before it became out-of-date. People walking by probably weren't interested in most of what we carried. I'll always remember the looks of dismay and alarm that would overcome middle-aged people when they accidentally wandered into our store. 

Of course, over the last 20 years, much of what we're selling has moved into the mainstream. What was once nerdy--still is nerdy--is now more commonly accepted by a wider number of people. 

At the same time, though, I started mainstreaming the store. I started to design the store for walk-in traffic. As a consequence, more and more of our sales now no longer have an "out-of-date" feature. In fact, really only monthly comics fit that definition and they only represent 15% of our overall sales. 

It wasn't until the changes were made that I realized that I'd been on a hamster wheel for the first half of my business life, chasing product, trying to guess in advance what would sell, and then trying to sell enough of it to move onto the next thing,

By mainstreaming the store, I made budgeting much more predictable, which makes the store much more consistent and steady.

Graphic novels, board games, card games, toys, and novels all have much longer shelf lives than sports cards and monthly comics. I can buy product when needed, instead of having to put in constant preorders.

When you're constantly buying product two to three months in advance, you are always in danger. Anything can happen in three months--war, economic collapse, plagues. And we'd be stuck with the product we'd ordered and the debts accumulated.

Now? The book "The Princess Bride" will always sell. The game "Settlers of Catan" will continue to sell. I don't have to worry about my inventory becoming obsolete overnight.  I quit chasing the dragon. Right now, some comics, non-sports cards, sports cards, and card games (especially Pokemon) are hot again, but I'm not chasing them. That's a trap.

The store has gotten packed. About ten years ago I decided that the only way I could make the store work was by buying stuff that stacks. 

Books, games, and jigsaw puzzles all stack neatly. That means I can buy more of it.

The store has high ceilings, so I used the space above about six feet for toys--and more stacks.

It all seems to be working.