Cats and dogs rise to the top

Stayed late and rearranged shelves. 

I don't know...it feels like I made changes that will matter, and then again, it doesn't really appear all that different. I never know if these types of changes are going to have an effect. 

Mostly, I consolidated some parts of the store and weeded out old and worn product. The store feels crisper, somehow. What happens is that when I bring in a new section, such as coloring books or drawing books or whatever, I tend to order quite a lot at first to fill in all the holes, this before knowing how well the section will actually do. Then, over time, I realized that I either overdid it or or under-did it. 

I could've ended up with two new shelves, even after adding Japanese fiction, but instead eliminated a tight shelf for a more open look. The final shelf will be used for Japanese "art" books. This may not work, but I got a deal on some very cool books, so we'll see.

I've opened up two shelves near the counter, and at least for a week or two, I'm going to highlight new books there by putting them on face-out stands. There is no way in my store that I can leave two shelves open, so eventually they'll be filled. Mostly by quirky, impulse style books. There are always books that sell based on covers or themes. For instance, I think at least one shelf will be cats/dogs. Yes, a whole prime shelf devoted to cats/dogs. 

I'm going to weed out the young adult section. I rapidly grew that section over the last few years and there were a fair amount of experiments that didn't work. Basically, stand alone graphic novels have a harder time hanging on, whereas series continue to sell. 

After that? God knows. Everytime I do something like this, I think it will be the last time, and then I get another brainstorm.

Meanwhile, it's going to be raining cats and dogs.