Steady
Josie, the one and only, turned 15 today. She is a remarkable animal.
So, almost 11 years in and I think — I hope — we are staying true to our vision of keeping things very simple. We still keep track of sales by hand, on paper, still have no computerized inventory, no point-of-sale system. No speakers in the ceiling. No logo. (Literally; we have no logo; we have bookmarks — which we love — but they do not feature a logo.) We do not have a counter or a cash register or printed bags or a discount program. We don’t advertise, do not serve coffee. Some stores do these things and have these things, and that’s fine, but we do not. Everything we have goes into the inventory, into keeping it full and interesting. That’s really all we do down here. It isn’t much, I guess, but it is a satisfying thing to be able to do. So we’re just going to keep doing that — keep it simple, keep it personal, and keep it going, if we can, one day after another.
We are thankful for so much support.
Coming soon, a few words about some of our favorite books of 2008.
2 December, 2008 at 11:53 am
Josie rocks my world.
2 December, 2008 at 1:04 pm
What are you getting Josie for her birthday?
2 December, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Happy B-Day Josie. 15 is quite the marker!
Looking forward to your best of 2008 list…for gifts and all that. NYTimes put theirs out this weekend, but I’d much rather see your list.
2 December, 2008 at 10:02 pm
ever since running into you at the old store in the spaghetti warehouse i knew you were the perfect book store proprietor. skinny guy with a skinny dog and some great taste in literature. be in soon. happy b-day and thanks for being there for missoula garth. means a lot to me and the S.O.
3 December, 2008 at 8:23 am
Computerized inventories, ceiling-mounted speakers, and fancy logos are overrated anyway. Long as you keep sellin’ ‘em, I’ll keep buyin’ ‘em!
3 December, 2008 at 10:39 am
Thanks, sweet people.
Josie doesn’t have much use for play-toys anymore but she got extra of everything she normally gets — treats; dinner. Today she had her nails done. She’s having a good week.
5 December, 2008 at 10:51 am
Congrats man. I can’t believe it that I’ve known you that long already and that the shops been alive and well so long. Hope all is well and have a great XMas season if I don’t talk with you otherwise. Drop me an update sometime.