I consider today to be the real start to the Christmas shopping season.
People are buying in-store from here on out. We get out-of-towners and tourists and vacationers and families. They LIKE downtown -- and I'm sure it's not as interesting to them to visit the exact same giant chainstores that they have where they came from.
Up until today, I've been having a hard time gauging the Christmas sales right. Too early, I suppose. I usually only do a bit above average in the first half of December, and then have a huge last 10 days or so.
I've been ordering tons of books -- and also anything else I think the store needs. My instinctive response is to order more material, not less, when in doubt. I can probably get a couple of more weekly shipments in before it's too late.
I also ordered a lot of boardgames, especially the big three: Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and Carcassonne. These games can sell in spurts -- like yesterday. I'm getting an order in today, which I thought would be the last of it -- but now, I'm thinking, I need to make one last -- just to be safe -- order. Not like I can't sell these games next year.
This time of year is kind of nerve-wracking because I just don't know what's going to happen and it matters. Trends are amplified. If something is selling good, it might sell even better. If things are on a downward track, they can go down even farther. Last year I sold more boardgames than I thought possible, but I was very aggressive in promoting them. This year, I'm just letting things happen. I'm not sure, but I suspect these games are more readily available elsewhere.
I mean, no matter what, (knock wood) we'll have one of our best months of the year. Despite threatening and blustering, the Sheriff of Nottingham hasn't quite managed to "Cancel Christmas!" yet.
I've kind of fallen out of the habit of comparing "This Day" to last year; and I haven't missed it. Except at Christmas. Then I kind of want to know what the trends were last year. Still, I haven't quite felt compelled to dig out last years records.
It will be what it will be.
People are buying in-store from here on out. We get out-of-towners and tourists and vacationers and families. They LIKE downtown -- and I'm sure it's not as interesting to them to visit the exact same giant chainstores that they have where they came from.
Up until today, I've been having a hard time gauging the Christmas sales right. Too early, I suppose. I usually only do a bit above average in the first half of December, and then have a huge last 10 days or so.
I've been ordering tons of books -- and also anything else I think the store needs. My instinctive response is to order more material, not less, when in doubt. I can probably get a couple of more weekly shipments in before it's too late.
I also ordered a lot of boardgames, especially the big three: Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and Carcassonne. These games can sell in spurts -- like yesterday. I'm getting an order in today, which I thought would be the last of it -- but now, I'm thinking, I need to make one last -- just to be safe -- order. Not like I can't sell these games next year.
This time of year is kind of nerve-wracking because I just don't know what's going to happen and it matters. Trends are amplified. If something is selling good, it might sell even better. If things are on a downward track, they can go down even farther. Last year I sold more boardgames than I thought possible, but I was very aggressive in promoting them. This year, I'm just letting things happen. I'm not sure, but I suspect these games are more readily available elsewhere.
I mean, no matter what, (knock wood) we'll have one of our best months of the year. Despite threatening and blustering, the Sheriff of Nottingham hasn't quite managed to "Cancel Christmas!" yet.
I've kind of fallen out of the habit of comparing "This Day" to last year; and I haven't missed it. Except at Christmas. Then I kind of want to know what the trends were last year. Still, I haven't quite felt compelled to dig out last years records.
It will be what it will be.