One of the more frequent questions I get asked, especially when my stock is low, as it is right now, is if I am closing. The short answer is - no, I’m just broke.
The long answer as to why my stock is so low right now is that in preparation for my planned rennovations, when I was going to have to compact the book shelves, I reduced the amount of restocking I was doing. And then this slow sales period hit, and I decided to not do the renovations. But the slow sales also meant I didn’t have the money to increase my stock again.
As reported earlier this week, Grimoire’s Books in New West is the latest independent retailer that I’ve heard is closing their doors. In a blog post about it, the owner, Pixie, says “I feel as if I’ve been climbing Everest with a yeti on my back for two years, and am now one pooped Pixie!” I know exactly how she feels…I’ve been doing that climb for 5 1/2 years now!
Last summer, when I re-signed for another 5 year lease, I thought I’d at least been able to put the yeti down though. Business, while not booming exactly, was continuing to grow steadily and was pretty much breaking even every month. Then things shifted. The fall saw a steady decline in sales, readings & workshop attendance. The weather in December did not help in the least either. Up until this year, I’ve been able to count on the fall sales to not only pay for the stock brought in for those months, but to also allow me to bring in new stock through the slower months of February & March (January is actually a good month for me!).
But fall sales weren’t enough to even pay the incoming bills this year, so that doesn’t leave much for ordering new items. In years past I was able to dip into my personal savings to cover any short falls….but after 5+ years of dipping and not receiving any income from the store to replenish them, there are no savings left.
So, no, I’m not closing….just going through a rough patch. I really hope that things continue to pick up as they have this month, because I don’t want to close, but if this rough patch doesn’t give way to greener grass, I may have to look at the possibility.