July Sales Report

Need to get back in the habit of doing these, but I seem to forget every month.  So, here goes.

April may be the cruelest month, but July is the hottest.  And this July was particularly hot.  So hot, in fact, that we kind of crossed the line from "hot enough to drive people inside to shop in cool stores" to "hot enough that people don't want to leave their damn houses for anything."  And, it showed.

Still, despite the heat, I had a record month at the Peddlers Mall.  Most of this was due to one sale--a large, and for me, quite expensive item.  In other words, this was an aberration.  Opportunities like that do not come along all the time, unfortunately.  Taking that piece out of the equation yields a normal month--not spectacular, but pretty good, all things considered.

Unfortunately, the same doesn't hold true for my other spot.  Consistent sales at a consistent level continues to elude me.  And, at this point, I'm not sure what to do about it.  I held a sale over the 4th that didn't really help.  I've cleared some stuff out.  I've rearranged.  I've stamped my feet and held my breath until my face turned blue.  Nothing seems to help.  I do have very good days there, don't get me wrong.  Just not nearly enough of them.  And the ones that aren't good are very not good.  I'm stuck.

I'm hoping when we enter the busier time of the fall that things will pick up there for me.  If not, I may need to make some tough decisions.

Regardless, this month is going to be a challenge everywhere.  August brings both back to school and the State Fair, which is held here in Louisville.  In other words, a double whammy of income drain that leads to lower sales for re-sellers.  Such is the life.

Still the nice thing about having to lower your expectations for a month is that it's easy to be pleasantly surprised.  We'll see what happens.