It would seem that I'm a businesswoman!

I really can't believe that it has been six weeks since we opened Red Kite Books!

Yes, that's right.  We are up and running!

It's been such a whirlwind and though I often thought about blogging, I'm afraid that I'd fall asleep before I'd finished getting the laptop out.  We managed to secure the licence and the insurance (a steep learning curve in itself!), arrange display units and sort out a lot of stock. 

We've been making ourselves at home on the stall each week and things are finally coming together.  Each week we find a slightly different way to display the books and are learning what works and what doesn't.  We're also learning a lot about advertising and promoting ourselves. 

In fact, we have a Facebook page! The website is a work in progress but will hopefully be unveiled soon enough, our daughter has been helping us with that side of things, which has been incredibly useful.

We have been so pleased to see some of our regular customers from the old bookshop coming along to support us.  We've steadily been taking orders over the weeks and also seem to have a fairly steady stream of sales from the stall as well.  It's still very early days but things look positive so far.

In fact, we were extremely excited to hold our first author signing today.  Local author Carole Divall was signing copies of her latest book - Inside the Regiment - with us and it felt like a huge step forward.

So once the Bank Holidays are over, it will be full steam ahead with trying to grow our business.  We need to sort out more advertising (any ideas on the best way to do that on a limited budget?) and do some more work on some exciting ideas we have!

The Last Day

Well, that's that then.  We went into the shop yesterday morning, it was there just as we left it on Saturday evening after our last day's trading.......not much left on the shelves, all the books turned face out to give the illusion of being stocked.  Saturday was incredible -  the phrase "swarm of locusts" springs to mind.  The first 30 minutes were steady, but after that, it was nonstop ALL day - it was a good thing that all 4 of us were there, we'd never have managed with fewer.  We took turns being behind the behind the counter, two of us at the till and another bagging.  It was a relief to get out onto the shop floor and tidy the shelves, which needed constant sorting due to the sheer number of customers riffling through them.  By the end of the day, we had taken more than £3,000, which, as everything was half price, actually meant £6,000 - more than our busiest ever day in our whole time here.  We were expecting that, as it has happened at our other shops which have already closed, but it was still a shock to us when the final figure emerged at cashing up.  We all had to adjourn to the  pub opposite for a stiff drink to revive us!

Actually,  although of course Saturday was very sad, it was also a very good day.  Courtney, our manager, was determined that we would end on a positive note.  We had been doing our very best for our customers right to the end, ordering books for them, redeeming part-filled Loyalty Cards, so that they would get some benefit at least from their purchases, and generally keeping up our renowned excellent customer service - it slipped only on the odd occasion, when someone - invariably a person who had NEVER been into our shop before, and who was attracted in by the Sale signs - went on and on about how wonderful it was to get such cheap books, never stopping to reflect that they were cheap only because we were closing down and hence losing our jobs!  Anyway, on Saturday, many of our regular customers called in to say cheerio, which was lovely, one lady had made each of us a little survival bag, with a candle, a 2p coin, and a piece of string 'to hold everything together'  as she put it. She'd also written a lovely poem about us.  So sweet, and it made all our efforts worthwhile.

The other things that helped on Saturday were firstly, the fact that Courtney was wearing her Micky Mouse ears - they are beautiful, black on the back, faced with a beautiful dark red, sequinned lining.  As Courtney says, nobody can be sad if there are Ears!  The second thing was that she brought in sparkling wine AND Champagne!  We started off with Mimosas first thing, then went on to the bubbly later on.  None of us was squiffy, but it certainly helped to lubricate the day.  My daughter had made a batch of her wonderful fresh cream truffles for us, and they were much appreciated too.

So, as I said, we all went over to the pub, and the partners of two of us joined us, and we sat and had drinks and chatted, going over things, reminiscing over some of the truly hilarious events of the last few years.  So the day ended very pleasantly.  Then came yesterday, the REAL last day.  Because we had sold so much stock in the clearance sale, there wasn't too much left to be packed up, and we had done it all by midday.  I took the things that I had bought for my new bookstall along to the empty shop where I am storing stock etc, we made numerous trips to the recycling and rubbish compacters in the Centre service yard, and then we went out for a very pleasant lunch together.  After that, we went back to the shop, Pat and I collected our belongings, said goodbye to each other, and left Courtney doing the final cashing up, banking, and all the many other admin things that have to be done when a business closes.  It was very sad, of course, strange to be driving down from the rooftop car park for the last time, but I personally felt satisfied that we had done everything right, we'd seen it through to the end together, and our customers will have good memories of us and our shop.  And we won't lose touch with each other, I'm sure - I will be in the Centre from this Friday, and Pat and Jayne have promised to call by and see me, and Courtney will keep contact from her new home in the West Midlands.

It does seem strange to me to be sitting here at 6.14 am, and realise that I don't have to hurry up and get ready to go to the shop this morning - Tuesday was one of my days there.  I am seeing a bank about setting up a business account this afternoon, but apart from that, I can spend today preparing for Red Kite Books' first day of trading on Friday!  I'm working at our other shop tomorrow - we still don't know for sure whether it will be staying open, but it's looking hopeful - and then Thursday we will be going into the Centre and setting up the stall ready for Friday.  It's beginning to feel really REAL now. HELP!!!! 

It's getting closer!

Well, it's just after 5am on Thursday, March 17th, St. Patrick's Day.  Today is going to be my last "normal" day at the bookshop, before we close on Saturday.  I am on with Courtney, our manager, and I am expecting that we will have yet another hectic day of selling off our stock - everything is half-price now, so the volume of sales has gone through the roof - on Monday, the Reorder screen crashed, due to the sheer number of items on it - that is the screen on which sales appear, it's linked to the till, and every time we scan an item we're selling, when the scanner beeps, it goes onto that screen.  If we were selling stuff at the normal price, our profits would be very healthy, it's so galling that we are having to do this.  But actually, we would rather see everything go, I think, especially to our regular, loyal customers.  On Monday next, we will be packing any remaining stock into boxes, and two guys will come up from our owner's warehouse and take it all back there to be redistributed amongst the few shops that he is keeping.  Then that really will be the end for us.

Anyway, as regards my new venture, things are moving along there too.  I've signed the agreement with the shopping centre, so I have my licence to trade, I've arranged Public Liability Insurance, I've got quite a lot of stock ready, AND.....yesterday I went and collected our stamp that I had made up, so that we can stamp receipts, etc!  It's got our trading name, Red Kite Books, and address and phone  number, in lovely bold black letters, and it makes me feel like a real trader, that a week from tomorrow Robin and I will be setting up our stall and (hopefully) selling books!

But first I have to get through the closure of the shop.......

Well, it's a quarter to three.....nearly

I woke up at 12.40 (am), after a couple of hours' sleep, listened to the end of Book Of The Week on Radio 4, & at 1 o'clock decided to do something for a change, instead of just lying in bed listening to the World Service as I usually do. So I went & made a cup of tea, put some bread on to cook in the bread machine, loaded the washing machine, &, after persuading the cats that it was NOT time for breakfast yet, came back to bed & fired up the computer. Had a frustrating time getting connected to the internet, & for some reason my emails are not opening properly, so I thought I'd write something.

Yesterday, (Wednesday), was quite an emotionally draining day.  I was at my 'second' bookshop, the one where I do two days a week.  It looks as though that will be closing, on the 25th of March, unless someone buys it.  All day long customers were coming in, having either seen the Closing Down Sale signs, or having been told the dread news by others.  We started a petition last Saturday, Save Your Local Bookshop sort of thing, & have about 400 signatures so far.  The shop manager thought it would be a good thing to have, so that any prospective buyer can see how much support there is for the shop.  It's very heartwarming to know just how much we are appreciated by our customers. A reporter from the local paper also came yesterday, so there's more publicity, & maybe something will come of it.  People are genuinely concerned about the shop particularly, & about the High Street generally - as in other towns, more & more businesses are closing.  In the three & a half years that I have been working in the town, I've seen a real change in the High Street, & as it's a town that is a real tourist destination partly because it still has a large proportion of independent shops, it's a real concern. From a personal point of view, if we do close, I shall miss my colleagues & customers just as much as those of my 'first' shop.

Anyway, the insurance  documents for our new business arrived in yesterday's post, so now we can go ahead & get our trading licence, so that's another step forward. On Monday, I bought our first books for stock, so I'm beginning to feel like a real business woman!

Now I'd better try & get some sleep, as it's 3am & the alarm will be going off in just over 2 hours' time.  We'll see what the new day brings forth.

To begin at the very beginning........

Well, here I am then, starting my first ever post(?) on my brand new blog.  I wouldn't have ever thought of doing this if several things hadn't happened - but "twas ever thus", as someone said.  My lovely daughter became a blogger a year or two ago, and now has quite a following.  Before reading hers, I'd always said that they (blogs) were a total waste of time, but I rapidly changed my mind, & now I am a big fan.  But what has really decided me to start my own blog is that one of the two bookshops where I work is about to close due to falling sales, & the future of the other - same owner, different town - is looking rather uncertain.  I'm really upset, as I had to wait until I was in my fifties to find the perfect job for me, & now, four & a half years later, I'm losing at least half of it.  It's not just the money I earn that I will miss, but my colleagues - there are just four of us, a full time manager, & three of us part-timers.  We are like a family, covering each other's holidays, rejoicing at each other's good news & commiserating with bad news.  We have to be at death's door to be off sick.  It's the first time in my working life that I've experienced this.  We are all dreading the final day, when we close the shop for the last time.  It's the same at the other branch where I work.  There is some prospect that that branch will stay open, we just can't be sure of anything yet, & that doesn't alleviate the sorrow of the other closing.  Anyway, as a result of all this, my husband & I have decided to try & fill the gap that will be left in the town as a result of the shop closing, & will be opening a bookstall in the same shopping centre where the shop is/was, so that the customers who don't like to order their books online will still be able to obtain them.  We at the shop have been telling our customers about it since we thought of it - only eleven days ago! - & the reaction has been very encouraging.  So it's all systems go, we're frantically arranging renting space, insurance, suppliers, business cards, & all the other paraphernalia which goes along with running one's own business.  Luckily for us, we have lots of very supportive people on our side, from the shopping centre manager to local independent traders.  Our daughter (the blogger) is also being an enormous help on the publicity side of things.  It's frightening, but also very exciting.  This blog will be in large part about our progress, as well as goings-on in our family.  I look forward to reporting back very soon, but for now this chronicle of the doings of a bookselling granny has reached the end of its first chapter.