Diary entries so far:
I can't believe it's taken me a month to write a dairy update! Apologies to anyone who has logged in hoping for a bit of news - it's been a tough month. The shop is still doing ok though, which is a relief. I think I'd just hit a personal exhaustion spot and really needed to chill out for a few days. I'm used to working for long periods without much of a break (the wonderful world of retail!) but I haven't really stopped since starting to set up The Gutter Bookshop in September last year so I think my batteries have just been completely worn down. Sadly, I still haven't managed more than 3 days off together but hopefully I can get another mini-break squeezed in before the Autumn season (see I'm trying to avoid the 'C' word honest!) kicks in. Saying that, I've just been updating our September Events page and we're going to be very busy... But I will write more diary entries, honest!
Ahh, Christmas... I know, and I'm sorry, but living in the world of retail that is a word that hangs over us for the entire year and causes both excitement and trepidation. Before opening up The Gutter Bookshop I worked as a book buyer for a chain of Irish bookshops called Hughes & Hughes and when we move into a new job we always take skills and knowledge from our previous careers with us. This means that, despite being a small independent bookshop, I have begun my preparations for the dreaded C (X?) word already...
Most publishers are currently compiling their 'Autumn Highlights' lists, those books which they hope will ignite readers' imaginations, and set tills ringing, this Christmas. Our job, as an independent bookshop is to sift through this information for the books that will work for us and that we are happy to recommend to our customers. Publishers will obviously focus on those books that will sell by the multiple thousands across the big bookselling chains - big women's fiction (if you know what I mean!), celebrity memoirs, famous chefs' latest cookery tome etc. All well and good but it does tend to mean that all the big bookselling chains end up looking the same in the run up to Christmas with the same books presented identically in each shop (normally swathed in an assortment of Half Price stickers). I see our role as offerring an alternative to this selection. We don't have to sell a thousand copies of something to make our money back on it so we can pick up some of the quirkier books out there that probably won't see the light of day in a big bookshop - no doubt they'll have it in stock somewhere but it certainly won't be prominently displayed. This year I've already spotted a couple of hidden gems that I think out customers will love and I can't wait to have them on our front table with an 'independently chosen for you - by us' sign above them.
And it's not all about books - everyone knows that there's more to bookshops than books these days. Last year we had a great success with our range of wonderful puppets. This year we've unearthed some different gifts that we feel compliment our book range. All arriving in September (see you need to plan ahead!)
Now, where did I put my Santa hat?....
Bearing in mind my last diary entry below I've been thinking about a conversation I had with a lady in the shop last week. She came to the counter to buy her book and complimented us on the bookshop - a lovely thing to do and one of the wonderful things about being an independent bookseller - people recognise that it's our business and want to tell us how much they enjoy shopping there. Anyway, as quite often happens she asked how long we had been open. I explained that we had been open for 8 months but that we're still finding our way really, adjusting our stock and layout as we learn more about what our customers want. 'You should try to get some press' she said 'to let people know that you're here'. 'Oh' I said 'Well we have managed to get a bit in the Irish Times and the Irish Independent, and The Dubliner did a nice piece on us, oh, and I have done a couple of telly bits as well'. 'Well, I haven't seen anything' she said to which of course I have no reply. What it does remind me is that Dublin is a big city and that whilst I may think that people are sick of the sight of me by now, in fact most people don't even know we exist so we have to keep trying to reach out to them as many ways as they can. What, of course, is wonderful about her comment is that she wished that she had heard about us sooner - an indication that we must be doing something right.
A very busy week last week with two book launches and our monthly Classics Book Group meeting. It's always great to the do the book launches and welcome new people into the bookshop - it's a constant reminder that although we've now been going for 7 months and I feel that I've managed to get our name into every bit of media under the sun, that in fact we've barely scratched the surface in terms of letting people know that we're here. Now, I'm not expecting everyone on the planet to start buying their books from us (I'd have to put in a second till for starters) but it's great to think that we've still got years of being 'discovered' ahead of us. Although I still have decide how long I can continue telling people that we're new... one telling factor is that when people walk into the shop these day they say 'oh, doesn't it smell nice' but they're talking about the smell of new books rather than the smell of fresh paint!
We've been open for 6 months! Where did the time go?! We're actually not far off 7 months now (we opened on 3rd November 2009) but this is the first time I've really had a chance to think about it. It's getting a bit funny with customers now when they say 'how long have you been here? - I try to say 'only 6 months' in my nicest possible way but you can see them suddenly realise the last time they came shopping in our part of town. I've decided that we can remain 'new' for at least a year though and I feel that we still have a very 'new' feel about us - hopefully in a 'fresh' way, not in a 'haven't got a clue what we're doing' way.
In June we're participating in Independent Bookseller's Week (I know, it does sound like one of those made up industry things like 'Fromage Frais Day' etc.) and I guess it is but it does allow us to shout about our status as an independent business and all the things we get up to - see our Events list for more information and come along and support us if you can!
Last week saw the launch of the UK and Irish branch of IndieBound, an American community-oriented movement set up by the American Booksellers Association to encourage people to support their local independent retailers. Their aims, according to the website are to:
"bring together booksellers, readers, indie retailers, local business alliances, and anyone else with a passionate belief that healthy local economies help communities thrive. Supporting local, indie businesses means that dollars, jobs, diversity, choice, and taxes stay local, creating strong, unique communities and happy citizens."
We've signed up to be involved with IndieBound and received our first batch of posters, bookmarks and other promotional material last week. We'll be using it to tie-in with Independent Booksellers Week which runs 14th - 21st June 2010 in order to maximise people's awareness of our status as an independent bookshop, and to tie-in with various events we're planning for this week.
But why does it matter?
It's a question I'm always asking myself. We can get everything we could possibly need from the supermarkets, the big brand chain stores, and the internet. Small, local stores were important in the days where we had restricted access to goods and information, and relied on our local communities for support and conversation. Why would we stick with small and local when we can have huge and global?
I do have some answers, but I can't even pretend that I'm sure they're right. I'm not going to offer them here. I think it's a question can consider for themselves and decide what works for them. I hope there's enough people who come to the same conclusions as me otherwise the bookshop won't keep on working. The good news is that it seems to be doing ok at the moment which suggests that small and local does still have a place in a big big world.
I've been struggling for the past couple of weeks. The Gutter Bookshop has now been open for almost 6 months (my, how the time has flown) and I think I've run out of energy! I'm still struggling through a huge pile of work and feel like I'm way behind on where I want to be - lots of emails I've been meaning to write and a to-do list that seems to get endlessly longer rather than shorter.
One problem with running your own business is that there's no-one to give you a kick up the backside when you most need it - you have to dig deep and rediscover your own enthusiasm and energy. At the moment, I'm coming up dry.
Saying that, we are of course succeeding in many ways. Our lovely customers have been so supportive and positive about having us here and our events programme continues to grow and attract new people into the shop. The Gutter Bookshop has allowed me to meet, and get to know, so many wonderfully interesting people and I've learnt so much from them over the last 6 months.
My plan for re-finding my path is to make two lists - one for the urgent projects that I need to get resolved in the next two weeks so that I can concentrate on getting them done. The other list will be those long term goals I want to achieve but don't need to be dealt with urgently. I'm going to write it out and put it away for the next two weeks so that I don't even have to think about it. By giving myself the short-term goals I won't be so daunted by a huge list of tasks I can't possibly complete. The rule is, that even if I haven't finished all of the short-term goals, the other list reappears after two weeks and gets revised - even if I end up with another list of short-term tasks!
Wish me luck...
I can't believe it's been 2 weeks again before I've had a chance to update this diary but it does lead me onto the subject that I wanted to write about - where does the time go?!
We've now been trading for just over 5 months and, whilst I feel a bit more settled into our systems (I've worked out how to pay the bills on time - just about!) I still feel we have a long way to go before we're truly settled into the rhythm of the shop - and have a slight suspicion that we never really will.
I always think of the times when I've started any new job - those first few weeks when you don't really know what you're doing and there doesn't seem to be quite enough work to keep you busy (but that's ok because it takes you twice as long to do everything anyway). Then, suddenly, after about 3 weeks you discover you're inbox is overflowing, you seem to be spending your entire life in meetings, and you realise that there's never going to be enough hours in the day. That's the stage I feel that we're at at the moment.
So many people have contacted us with great ideas of events we can hold in the shop, we have so many ideas of our own on how we can improve the shop for our customers, and there's still all the day-to-day things to be done as well (I really need to find the time to complete that end of 2009 VAT Return!). After the initial period of just getting the shop open everyday and setting up some basic systems we're now deep into a period of trying to grasp all the opportunities that are starting to become apparent. A few late nights might be called for I think...
One thing I must say is how wonderfully supportive people have been - from publishers and authors who have popped in to see us and arranged events with us, to our wonderful customers who tell us how much they love our shop and who keep us going by buying their books from us. It's a lovely feeling, at the end of the day, to know that people like you being there. And it's what makes our business work.
Last Saturday I was out of the bookshop in order to attend the Irish Booksellers' Association Annual Conference and as the taxi driver said to the UK and Irish President Sharon Murray on the way to the hotel 'sounds like a waste of a good day'! But it turned out to be a highly interesting and beneficial day for the bookshop.
Firstly, I have to admit I sit on the Irish BA Council so have a vested interest in promoting the Conference, but from an independent bookshop's point-of-view I can honestly say that the day had benefits for the shop that outweigh the costs (which were by the way €150 for the day conference and €60 for the evening dinner dance). I'm aware that a number of other independent booksellers had decided not to attend given the current economic climate and because they felt that this did not offer value for money. I guess with all these things, you get what you put into it and take from it what you want.
I won't go into details of what we covered at conference, needless to say the Irish economy was dealt with along with the future of printed books as well as practical sessions on cost-cutting and team-building. What interests me most about these kind of events is the additional things you take away from them that recoups your costs so here is a brief synopsis of what I got for my conference fee:
Knowledge that we should have free access to Ireland's Top 1,000 Chart every week to check we have all the bestsellers in stock, lots of free books - some of which are 'proofs' (i.e. pre-publication reading copies to entice you to order and recommend them to customers) but the majority of which can be added to store stock and sold to customers (publishers shouldn't mind this because if we sell one we'll order more so everyone wins!), a new contact who can supply us with travel guides to Ireland in foreign languages - something we get asked for regularly but have trouble supplying, a number of new publisher contacts who we can work with on events and promotions, one new children's event where we just need to firm up details on, and one booklaunch for a very big Irish author which we will announcing in the next few days.
All of which, when put together, will earn us way more than the entry fee. So, would I recommend people to attend their Annual Conferences (regardless of the business they're in)? - Yes. But remember, you only get out of it what you put into it.
Before starting The Gutter Bookshop I'd never been part of a Reading Group, or had any great desire to join one. I felt that reading was a private affair, and what I took from the books I read was mine to do with as I pleased. If I particularly enjoyed a book I would tell a friend about it, or quite often insist that they borrowed my copy in the knowledge that I'd probably never see it again (I wonder how that will work in the age of the eBook?), but being thrilled to know that they would enjoy it every bit as much as me. We knew that running a successful independent bookshop would mean spending a lot of time organising, and participating in, a wide range of events and that reading groups would most likely be a part of that. So, with a slight reluctance, I launched our 2 book groups in January of this year.
I'm now a Reading Group convert! Despite sometimes being a heavy reading load (2 x 600 page giants last month!) that can be a distraction from all those other books I just have to read, I really look forward to our monthly meetings. It helps that both groups are full of enthusiastic readers who, whilst not always enjoying the chosen book, are always interested in talking about it and the things they liked (or quite often didn't like) about the book. It's also very revealing to discuss the books with other people who have often taken a different view of the book, and I always feel that I've learnt something from the other Reading Group members.
In March our book groups discussed 'The Woman in White' by Wilkie Collins (Classics group) and 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver (General group). Both these groups are currently full but if you'd like to join please email us at info@gutterbookshop.com or phone us on 01-6799206 and we'll add you to the Waiting List.
In April, in conjunction with Temple Bar Cultural Trust's new 'Get Active' programme for the Over 55's we are launching a new daytime Reading Group. If you are interested in joining this new group please see the details in Events or contact Eimear Chaomhanach at TBCT on 01-6772255 or see www.templebar.ie
Apologies for the delay in updating the website - the last few weeks have been very busy (not something I'm complaining about!) The shop finally feels as though it's falling into a steady rhythm but I still feel that we have a long way to go before we're offering the best possible range and experience to our customers. It's difficult when you have a very strong vision of what you would like the shop to be to admit that it will take time and a lot of effort to get there - and that you have to keep on tweaking your vision based on customer's comments and feedback. There's also lots of extra things that we'd love to introduce into the shop that we simply can't afford at the moment - when all of the stock is being funded out of your personal savings you have to keep a tight lid on your spending!
Spring finally seems to have arrived on Cow's Lane though - we've had a couple of week's of dry weather and the sun has been shining which makes all the difference to the feel of the street (and my mood). The Design Market has started again this morning and there seems to be a much stronger selection of different arts and crafts available this year - I hope it does well, not just because it benefits us to have something interesting going on on the street, but because these are the first steps for a few people in starting their own small businesses - difficult enough at the best of times, and twice as difficult in a downturn like now.
What an exhausting week! Ann and Sinead are looking after the store this weekend whilst I sleep for 48 hours. It'll certainly be good to wave a grey February goodbye - March is the start of Spring for me (I know others argue February is Spring but I just can't see it myself!). But I'm not complaining about the store - our customers continue to be wonderfully supportive and we're now getting to recognise faces who are returning to us for more books, always a wonderfully positive sign that we're getting something right. Saying that, we're constantly looking for ways to improve the shop and it'll certainly be a while yet before we feel satisfied that the shop is looking, and behaving, in the way that we would like.
So, thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, do let us know what you think - in person or by email if you prefer. And don't be afraid to tell us what would make the store better - we'll only get better if we listen to what we're being told!
Where does the time go? It's been a busy couple of weeks with various events (both in the happening, and in the planning) taking up lots of time, plus the shop has been busier than predicted - hurrah! - in both January and February, and I've been putting lots of time into tweaking our stock profile and lining up some new stationery/gift suppliers to take us through the Spring. I feel like I've finished that first period you get in any new job where you're getting to learn how things work and are never quite sure what to do next, and am now in the thick of an overflowing inbox and not enough hours in the day. It's a common complaint from me - and a lot of other people - and I know it's all about time management and priorities and there's endless books on how you can be a successful business person on just 5 hours a week but I'm happy to stand up and say that I'm a perfectionist and a workaholic - I love working and it brings me an enormous amount of joy and self-fulfillment. What I need to work on is accepting that I can't do it all today - some of it just has to wait for tomorrow, and always will.
On a different track, I was inspired by Haruki Murakami's book 'What I Talk About When I Talk About Running' and by a friend who is currently training to run her first half-marathon to take up running as a hobby. We'll see how it works out (I've never been a great one for fitness regimes) but I have invested €100 in a proper pair of running shoes so I'd better get out there and use them.
Earlier this week I was made aware of an interesting American campaign called the 3/50 Project. The basic idea is that you choose 3 local independent shops that you value and would like to remain in business, and aim to spend 50 euro/dollars/whatever in those 3 stores over the period of one month. The originator of the campaign claims that for each $100 spent in an independent store, $68 of that money is returned into your local community via taxes, payroll and other expenditure. This compares with $43 if you shop in a chain or $0 if you shop online (presumably this doesn't quite take into account that an online supplier may be based in your area and providing local jobs but chances are that they're not). Obviously, these figures will vary slightly for Ireland and the UK but it sounds pretty universal.
Obviously, as an independent business, there's a straightforward reason why I would favour a campaign like this but it did make me think about the businesses I support, and spend money in. For the past few years I've consciously chosen to spend money in Irish supermarkets rather than UK ones. I've supported local farmers' markets and, where possible, bought from small businesses rather than chains but the power of advertising and big brands can be hard to resist, and when money is tight it's hard to justify spending money in one place when you can get the same product cheaper in a big store just around the corner. But sometimes you realise that shopping isn't always about cheapest, it's often about best value and having an enjoyable experience, with good customer service and a sense that your supporting local people can be worth spending a couple of extra euro on.
So, where does this leave us? I've always said that I wouldn't want anyone to buy books from us out of pity. We aim to provide something different than the chains - we certainly can't afford to sell Cecelia Ahern books at half price because we simply can't afford to buy 1,000 of them at a time. It's telling that our bestselling books never bear much resemblance to the official charts. Our individual Staff Picks remain our best-selling books and we aim to provide great customer service and a personal touch. It's value of a different kind I guess. I certainly don't believe that all independent businesses deserve to be supported - but the good ones, the ones that add something to their local communities and make us smile when we buy something from them, they really do deserve our support.
This month I will be buying my coffee and cakes from The Queen of Tarts or the Temple Bar Bakery. I'll be buying my hardware needs from Decwell's or, for home, from Malahide Hardwares. I'll be buying flowers from Malahide Florist and picking up veggies from the Temple Bar Market. These are all businesses I'd really miss if they were to go, so I'll be spending my €50 in the hope that my extra bit of cash will keep them alive.
Oh, and I'll be buying some greetings cards and books from The Gutter Bookshop, of course!
Where does the time go?! It's all been very busy over the last week or so with our events - Poetry Night last week, and the launch for Tiffany Murray and our Reading Group this week so I haven't had the chance to catch-up on lots of things including the website. Anyway, I've updated our February Events on the Homepage and it's shaping up well - the Reading groups and Poetry Night were all successful so we're doing them again next month, along with a launch for 'Saving Darfur' by Rob Crilly and our first schools' event with Irish children's writer Garrett Carr. It's great to see a strong events programme coming together because it's what will make us different than the other bookshops - we may not be able to offer you Jordan signing 'her' new 'novel' but hopefully we can bring like-minded literary people together for interesting and enjoyable events.
So, what else? Well, the iPad landed this week and after all my wittering on below it didn't rock my world in the way that I thought it would. Personally, I think it looks great and as a leisure PC I can see it appealing to lots of people - but I don't think it's going to stop people buying books. Strangely I can see it working well for magazines and newspapers where you dip in and out and where additional content could really add something, but for a linear storyline like most novels, where you are reading text ongoing for a couple of hours I don't think it'll be great off this kind of device. Strangely I'm more worried about the iBooks website which will be glitzy enough to make people want e-books whatever their device. But with no plans to make it available in the UK/Ireland anytime soon I'm not too worried just yet.
In other news... the shop continues to settle in and find its way. I sometimes forget that we've only been there for 10 weeks and it'll take a while to get everything in place. I've never been known for my patience... We've ordered more greetings cards to give a better range, we're developing the literary fiction side of things as this does well for us and we're hoping to bring in graphic novels too. We finally started selling stamps and we've agreed on February New Titles which means we will be better prepared next month. I'm still having some sleepless nights around cashflow and the overall financial position of the shop but despite a horrific start to January due to snow and ice we seem to be holding up well. Here's hoping February stays mild and dry!
This week I've been thinking about e-books and e-book readers. This is in no small part due to my Twitter addiction where the future of the book, and of writing, is one of the hottest topics under discussion. As a new, small, independent bookshop I feel it's important that we think about what the future may hold, and what our part in that future will be (and indeed, if we have a part...)
First of all, this will be a personal piece and you should know where I stand. I'm not particularly excited by new technology and I don't profess to have a huge wealth of knowledge about things technological. I'm not an 'early adopter' who runs out to buy the latest gadget and scans the internet for new and improved models of existing technology. It took me a long time to get around to buying a mobile phone and I still don't use it much, I do have an MP3 player but I've never had an iPod or iPhone, and whilst I taught myself web design (my family are all computer programmers so I was brought up with computers) I tend to use technology to communicate with real people rather than living in a virtual world. I rarely shop online (apart from things like plane and concert tickets) as I prefer to physically see what I'm purchasing before committing and I never seem to be around to accept deliveries. So, the first question that raises is - how outdated am I?
Last year saw the UK/Irish launch of the Amazon Kindle - an e-reader supplied exclusively via Amazon that allows you to wirelessly download books and read them on a screen that utilises new technology to give an experience similar to reading print. Sony Readers have been selling steadily on the High Street for the past couple of years. In the next month or so Apple will launch their own e-reader (possibly called the iSlate) which, like the iPod and iPhone, is expected to quickly become the market leader due to its combination of usability and design. The prediction in some camps is that books will follow a similar course to music with the adoption of e-readers growing and the sales of 'books' moving online where e-books can be downloaded onto the device quickly and easily. Physical bookshops, especially the large chains, will find it hard to make enough sales to cover their costs. Independent bookshops may survive through strong community links and by catering to a specialist market who still want printed books, like independent record shops who sell vinyl to enthusiasts.
So, is this what will happen? And if so, how quickly? Firstly, there is a difference between books and music. Listening to your favourite band is the same whether you use an MP3 player or a CD player. But reading a book on an electronic device is a different way of accessing the media, and the experience is different. I'm 37 and whilst I believe many people under 25 may be as happy reading text from a screen as in a book I think there's a lot of people who will struggle to switch their reading habit into an electronic format. Then there's the format itself - carrying a mobile CD player was bulky and you had to carry CDs as well, MP3 players were smaller, better and had numerous immediate benefits over the CD players. E-readers don't have a lot of these benefits (yet?) - yes, they can store large quantities of books at a time, but only a minority of people want more than one book at a time and the cost difference between a printed and a downloadable book is not currently that great. E-Readers require charging and looking after, and they can't be swapped or left behind like a lot people do with their books whilst travelling. These may seem like weak arguments in the face of new technology, but I'm genuinely interested in the idea that large scale adoption of new technology is always based on the fact that it is easier and better than that which it replaces. As e-readers become more multifunctional - with access to magazines, newspapers, documents and photos perhaps the benefits begin to make it a better format for reading than a printed book.
One thing that also intrigues me is what happens to book festivals, author events and signings when the physical books don't exist anymore? A big draw for these events is to obtain a signed copy of a favourite book. And how does anyone actually make any money when (if the music industry is the closest example) everyone begins to believe that they should have access to the material for free? In a world where people can talk to their favourite authors via Twitter or other networking sites, do they need to have a book signed by them? Events, launches and readings are big parts of how independent bookshops survive these days and whilst fans will pay good money to see their music heroes play live gigs, and thus create a new form of revenue for the artist, does the same apply for writers? Authors need to make money from their writing to make it a viable career so how do they create that income?
I'm sure I'll come back to this topic again in the next few weeks - it's done me good to get some thoughts out of my head but I'm well aware that I've not reached any conclusions and have certainly asked more questions than I've answered - something tells me that everyone else in in the same boat. For now, we're watching the development of e-readers and e-books and wondering if it's worth us selling them, and their accessories, as another revenue stream. Or are we better off letting the new technology look after itself whilst we cater to our possibly-soon-to-be specialist market of people who like printed books?
Darn, ended on another question...
I've drawn from lots of different places to write this little piece, but the people who have interested me the most in the e-reader debate so far have been Jose Afonso Furtado and Eoin Purcell - but you can't move on the Net at the minute for e-reader debate, even Margaret Atwood has a say in her own inimitable style!
I've become addicted to Twitter recently. It was something I avoided at first because I couldn’t work out how it would drive customers into the shop to buy things, and therefore didn’t seem relevant to expanding our business. But I thought I’d better give it a go with my ‘no stone left unturned’ kind of attitude and now I can see why it’s completely relevant to what we’re doing with an independent bookshop.
The first thing that hits you with Twitter is the constant stream of information – like listening to 20 conversations at the same time, but it’s amazing how quickly your brain learns to filter and adapt to new methods of communication, and whilst it can still feel overwhelming at times, it soon becomes second nature like any other new IT habit. But how does it help my business? Well, one thing you quickly find is that it’s not simply a marketing platform. If you spend your time shouting ‘come to my shop and buy things’ (in 140 characters or less) nobody pays you any attention and you may as well give up. In my mind, if email was stage one, and social networking sites such as Facebook are stage two in terms of keeping in touch with people around you, then Twitter takes it to stage three. People who choose to follow you, and people you choose to follow, are like friends. At first you may not know them that well but as you listen and communicate with them you discover they each have individual voices and opinions - and most importantly, stacks of knowledge that is just dying to be utilised. You also tend to find that they are ‘early adopters’ (as I believe the marketing term is) – they’re interested in discovering new things, and ways of doing things, that may not have hit the mainstream yet – which can give you an insight into new opportunities and ideas.
All well and good but, in practical terms, what has this done for my business? Well, at least three of our followers have made the trip into our store and spent money because they know (and like) us via Twitter. Ok, not a life-changing figure but we’re still very new and I'm not about to sniff at any sale. We’ve also been offered a great children’s book event via Twitter – which will bring in more people and create more coverage for the store. But Twitter users are also incredibly supportive and enthusiastic about we're doing - and on a day when you're down and wondering if you've made the right decisions, a band of like-minded people around you offering support and encouragement is a truly wonderful thing.
So, it's almost the end of the year - and so it's time to reflect on the year that's been. Well, unlike the previous 3 years at least I actually have a shop this time around! So, I reckon that means it's been a good year for The Gutter Bookshop... It's very quiet in the store today - as you'd expect for that weird period between Xmas and New Year. It does surprise me how few people are working though - apart from a sprinkling of tourists, this side of town seems particularly dead. I suppose it's because for the past few years I've either been locked away in an office tapping away at my buying spreadsheets, or I've been in a big High Street store that has a post-Xmas Sale capable of bringing in the punters. This year, all we have to offer in terms of Sale merchandise is some half-price calendars and Xmas cards - hardly likely to draw the crowds...
So, next we look to 2010 and what it might bring. Well, after the rush of getting the shop open and trying to judge out stock needs for Xmas I'm expecting a quiet couple of months until tourist season begins again in March. There's still plenty of stuff we need to get sorted out for the store - I'm still struggling with my invoice paying system (it seems somewhat clunky! I may be requesting a little bit of help from the lovely Hereward at The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop on that one...), we also need to make more of our Oscar Wilde connections as tourists seem rather obsessed with our name (I think a little Oscar Wilde section in-store may be called for with a range of Wilde related merchandise!) We also need to work on our events programme and a good range of 'different' promotions to show our difference from the chains. And at some point I really need to put together a new website using our proper branding and colour scheme... and I'm also considering a look into making the website transactional so that we can build up some web sales. Money's going to be tight this year though so we'll just have to see how that one goes.
There are some great books due out in 2010 though - we've compiled our list of Most Anticipated on our Top Tens page.
Anyway, Happy New Year to you all! We look forward to meeting you in 2010 and we wish you a healthy and positive year.
It's Christmas! Hurrah! The store is actually relatively quiet today as everyone has headed to Grafton Street to join the frenzy... but that's ok... we're having a slightly more chilled Christmas and spending a bit of time with the customers who have chosen to come to us which is actually lovely. I've got my mindset out of the 'I must be stressed out of my head and frantically trying to do everything' mode that used to mean Christmas on the High Street and have got into the 'Christmas is supposed to be enjoyable and pleasant' mindset instead.
Saying that, I do of course have a few pressies of my own to buy and will be heading out shortly to purchase a few (not everyone can get books...). But my motto for today is 'chill, relax, enjoy, and be nice to people because it's nice to be nice'.
Happy Christmas lovely people and thank you for being here.
Bob and The Gutter Team.x.
And here we are, the Saturday before Christmas - "so, how do you have time to write this diary?" I hear you cry... possibly... Well, it's just gone 6 o'clock and we've still got a few customers to look after but the lovely Sinead is dealing fantastically with all questions so I've snuck into the back room for a bit of website updating. It's all feeling a bit odd at the minute - one lady said to me that we were "an oasis of calm" today which is a lovely compliment but after many years on the High Street I feel like I should be stressed out of my head and running around like a mad thing... and then I reminded myself that this was exactly the reason why I left! (Well, that and a few others that I'm too polite to mention.) Anyway, I've managed to give myself stresses of a different kind by repeatedly re-doing the cashflow forecasts in the hope that they'll get better if I keep fiddling with them. Needless to say they don't... things aren't so bad, we'll definitely be here next year - I'm determined of that - but sales are significantly lower than I forecast (and I thought that I'd forecast low) so we'll need to be incredibly careful of costs over the next few months. I knew the first year was going to be tough but I wasn't expecting it to be quite this tough - that'll teach me to have a permanently positive outlook! (Mind you, that won't change either - I'm still looking at the stars!)
If I don't get a chance to update again before Christmas - The Gutter Bookshop team wish you a wonderful and happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year!
Grabbing a quick cup of tea in our staff room/office/storage area/everything else out the back of the shop (when I originally did the floorplan with the shopfitters I was completely against giving up any floorspace to make an office - they convinced me that I really needed one and so begrudgingly I let them build one... and thank goodness! I'd be lost without it, and would have ended up working in the toilet which can't be a good thing!) Anyway, with just a fortnight before Christmas I've been desperately hoping that trade will pick up. We're doing ok but not as well as I'd hoped, and it was always going to be difficult in the first year. Thankfully, it's been a busy day and people keep saying the magic words "I'll be back". I'm incredibly grateful for the support that people are giving us and I hope that we really can offer something a bit different - I get the feeling that our customers enjoy buying their books from us and that's very important - shopping is supposed to be enjoyable, and both sides should feel that they've benefited from the exchange - it's not just about money, it's a social thing and I hope we can give people the service that they're struggling to find elsewhere.
One quick thing - we've started stocking a range of good quality puppets from The Puppet Company, based on a recommendation from the lovely Mary who runs my local independent bookshop Village Books in Malahide. They're fantastic - really good quality at a decent price - and they're flying out the door which is wonderful to see!
Where does the time go? The days are flying past at the moment and I can't believe that Christmas is just around the corner... and not all of our stock has arrived yet! We're getting a range of children's puppets in next week - they're good quality and have an educational angle so I think they fit in with our shop quite well (and they'll certainly add a splash of colour!) It's always difficult to make sure you get the mix right in a bookshop - books have to lead the way but a good range of non-book products can give the store that little bit extra interest factor. And let's be honest - we couldn't survive selling books alone, there's simply not enough margin to be made. Anyway, as long as our customers feel we have something good to offer them, we're happy.
I've also been lining up our Events programme for the New Year (see the Homepage). Part of being a successful independent bookshop is to make sure you're offerring something to your local community and I'm really hoping that we can do this. Next weekend will see us trying our first Kids event - a 'make a tree decoration' craft session - I'm kind of nervous but with a couple of willing volunteer teachers on board I think it'll be ok! Then January sees us launch our two book groups - one for people who want to read the Classics, and a more general one, plus we'll be launching our first Poetry Night. Another one that scares me a bit but I'm hoping that we'll get a bit of support and that it'll turn into a regular enjoyable event.
Otherwise, support from the local community continues to help us grow slowly and steadily and little pieces of press here and there continues to encourage people to hunt us down. Everytime I hear someone say 'I'll be back' my heart sings.
Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks (thank goodness) but we are still finding our feet. We held the Launch Party on Thursday and were over-whelmed with the turnout and the good wishes that flowed from everyone on the evening. See our photos page for a glimpse of the fun! It was so wonderful to have so many authors attending the party as they're the people that give us something to sell - and they're so enthusiastic about what we are trying to achieve.
We also have a little snippet in today's Irish Independent Magazine which is great. Every bit of publicity really helps us to get where we need to be.
In all honesty, I think we are going to have a difficult first year. Sales are steady and still growing but we're still not quite hitting target and Christmas is just around the corner. Hopefully as word spreads around that we're here, and we tweak our stock a bit to suit our customer's needs we should continue to build.
14th November 2009
10 days in and we're ok! Not exactly where I want to be but better than I had expected so that's not so bad... We have got a lovely write-up in The Irish Times today which is great - click here to read it!
So, what else is there to tell you? It's been a busy enough week with all manner of things to fix and get organised... we're arranging an official launch for the bookshop to celebrate the fact that we finally made it. We've already got a number of great authors on board (with much thanks to the lovely Sarah Webb who has been as hugely positive and helpful as ever - Sarah seems to do 20 things in the time it takes me to do 1!) as well as publishers, journalists, friends and family. Do join s if you can.
We're also looking at getting our book group organised. I don't think we'll have time to meet up before Christmas but it's top of my list for January priorities! We'll also be organising a Kids' Crafts Day in the run-up to Christmas to make some great tree decorations, and we're also considering some more eclectic events (poetry night anyone?) for early next year. Oh, and we need a Christmas Shopping Evening with mince pies as well! So, lots to do...
We're open! I can't quite believe it... 15 years in the 'wanting' and 3 years in the 'planning' and we finally opened our doors on Tuesday morning. It's been a strange week, and slightly surreal, but everyone has been lovely (well apart from the one man who told me that the name of my shop was bringing down the 'tone' of the place... I did my good management thing of listening to his comments, assessing them to see if I could anything valuable from them, and then deciding he was just a bit odd...)
So, the last few days have all been about meeting people, talking to people, and selling books (and lots of greetings cards and postcards) to people.
We've got a lot of work to do in terms of promoting the business, we're working on an official launch party and a kid's Xmas Crafts Saturday (I'll be getting help in for that one!)
Thank you to everyone for all your warm wishes. We'll do everything we can to make The Gutter Bookshop the friendliest, most exciting and best bookshop in Dublin (if not Ireland..)
Well, the shopfit is complete, see updated photos. We're now in the process of taking in deliveries and unpacking the stock. The till and PC are due for delivery on Tuesday, and installation on Wednesday so if we're lucky we might be able to open for the weekend which would be great - I don't think we'll have credit card machines in place though which is a bit of a worry but we'll see what we can do.
I have to be honest and say that I'm completely tired out at this stage. I feel like I could sleep for a year, never mind a week. It's not even that I've done that much heavy lifting, I think it's just the constant mind-buzzing and waking up at 4am in a blind panic that does it. I'll be much better when we're open and selling our books though... it just seems to have taken so long to get this far!
It's the Temple Bar Chocolate Festival this weekend coming (Hallowe'en wekend) - do pop down to Cow's Lane and have a look at what's going on - there's bound to be some treats on offer!
Another week gone and I can't believe it's Friday already! But we've made good progress this week and I'm finishing on a high note with all the opening stock orders having been sent to the suppliers for processing.
A lot of people have said to me how enjoyable opening your own shop must be, but in all honesty I've found it much tougher than I expected. When you realise how much hard graft, negotiation, planning and stamina is involved in putting all the pieces together you get a whole new perspective on the idea of 'living the dream'. And I'm well aware that we're not out of the woods yet! Next week the shopfitters move in to do their work, so I finally have to face up to my decisions in terms of look and feel in the store. They've been a great company to work with so far and I'm really excited to see all the elements come together, I just hope that it turns out looking as good as I think it will.
The start of this week was tough, I've been having a few sleepless nights fretting over our ability to take enough cash to make the business work, something that I simply won't know until we open the doors but that doesn't seem to stop my head worrying about it. I did even invest in a copy of 'Don't Sweat The Small Stuff... And It's All Small Stuff'. Now, I'm not a huge fan of these kind of books but I've always heard good things about this one and it's doing me well. Admittedly, I'm still waking up at 4am but at least I can rationalise it now.
The end of the week has been much better with all kinds of things falling into place. There's still a way to go but I'm starting to get excited. And I've even managed to make my to-do list shorter rather than longer for the first time ever!
Finally, we've just had news that the new store may be featuring in a TV commercial this Xmas! More news when it's all confirmed but could be a stroke of luck!
Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks. I've finished up in my previous job, which as ever was a desperate rush to the end trying to finish off all those loose threads and give an effective handover at the same time but it's finally done and I'm happy that I managed to move on without leaving too much devastation in my wake...
So, now all my energies are being poured into the Gutter Bookshop. I've had confirmation that the shopfitters will be arriving on 19th October, bringing a big lorry full of lovely bookcases with them, and it will take about 5 days to fit the shop out to its exciting new look. Then I just have to make sure I've got lots of books to put up on the shelves so I really need to get a move on with getting my orders in! Oh, and before all of that I have to get the phone lines sorted, the bank account set-up, the IT system installed, the electrics moved, the signage organised, oh and the small matter of a gas tap sticking up out of the shopfloor needs dealing with as well!
So, I'd better get back to it...
A bit of a racing around day but managed to pick up the keys this morning and spent some time in the shop cleaning down the windows and putting up my 'coming soon' posters! At least it might look a bit more interesting than an empty space and hopefully it will encourage people to look up the website - so if you're new to the Gutter Bookshop - Welcome! And thank you for being interested!
With the shopfitters scheduled to be over from October 19th we're getting there... I'm aiming for a last week of October opening so I really need to get my stock ordered. All the 'core' or 'backlist' stock (as we like to call it - basically all those normal books that sit on the shelves!) is ready to go. Now I just need to look a New and Promotional Titles to go on the tables and at the front-of-store. Oh, and there's stationery, cards and gifts to do as well. Guess it's going to be another busy week...
It's been a busy old week, with the lease and shopfit finally signed off, full on Christmas in my current job and handover in place for my successor. Looking forward to getting into the empty shop on Monday to start cleaning down and getting things sorted but really must make a huge long list of things to do before I open. Today was spent working on the opening orders... 75% done with Sport, Travel and everyting after 'T' left to do!
Thank you for all the support and lovely feedback I've been getting. When you're waking up at 4am thinking you're utterly crazy it's great to hear positive words.
You can now visit us on Facebook. Make friends with us and we'll be forever grateful.
Just a quick update - lease is looking good, serving notice in the current job (who have already been lovely to me), and the shopfitters are over tomorrow to measure up. The ball is rolling and I can't wait to be open. Now, back to those opening stock orders...
Ok, we're getting there. Hoping to sign off the lease this week if at all possible and I'm going to meet my chosen accountant this morning to make sure everything is looking ok. The two bits I have to get sorted, and admittedly I keep putting them off, is to fill in all the paperwork to register the business as a Limited Company and to open the business's bank account (I can't do the latter until I've done the former). I've also got to hand in my notice on my current job - which I'm dying to do but have been vey wary of the lease falling through and finding myself without anything to do.
I've also been revising the shop layout after discovering that I can't afford my original plan. I know compromise is the answer but any step away from the ideal is difficult given that I want the most professional and enticing shop I can manage. Anyway, I've reduced the amount of 'gondola units' and tables slightly which means less initial cost, and they're elements I can add at a later stage if need be. I'm also eyeing up our newly opened Dublin Ikea for some additional tables and seating at low low prices.
And finally, I've started to prepare our opening stock orders. Luckily this is the easiest part for me as I've already done it for other new stores more times than I care to think about. Once I know how much shelving I have to fill, I work out how many books per metre for each section and times it all up. Then I go to my lovely book lists and start choosing. No doubt I'll want more books than I can fit in but at least I've got a check in place to stop me going too crazy.
Thank you for all the support I've been getting already, and I look forward to meeting you all in the Gutter very soon!
Well, time is flying by and progress on opening the bookshop is slow but steady. As of today I have confirmation that the lease has gone to my solicitors for approval and the unit is vacant once more with my tenancy all ready to go! There are a few issues to be ironed out, as you would expect, but we're getting there.
It doesn't help that I'm bang in the middle of planning Christmas for my current job so I feel that there's a mountain of work bearing down on me, and nowhere near enough hours in the day to complete it all. And just to add to the fun I've come down with a stinking cold that's making thinking all the more difficult (and no, it's not the dreaded S.... F.., thank god... - although given my capacity to catch any cold going I'm sure it'll get around to me at some point, I'm just hoping I get one of the mild cases!)
I did spend some time last week with the lovely Hereward from The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop in Tetbury, Gloucestershire who managed to both reassure me and scare the living daylights out of me in one go. He certainly made me realise that the first year was not going to be easy, but that pursuing the ambition of running your own independent bookshop was well worth pursuing.
So, I've made a big long list of things I need to get to work on and I'll be ticking them off one by one. And when I've got to the bottom of the list... I'll probably have to write another one... but as some point the Gutter Bookshop will be up and trading and I'll be smiling like you wouldn't believe.
Just back from a short holiday... and luckily it was wonderful because it may be the last one I get for quite a while! The thrilling news is that I think we've finally found a good home for The Gutter Bookshop. The lease is just in the process of being agreed which means we're not quite 100% confirmed yet (so don't uncross those fingers just yet) but it's all looking good and I'm very happy with the location and space available. Inevitably my mind has already raced ahead onto what we can achieve in the bookshop so it'll be a hard slog for the next couple of years... and I can't wait! Have a look at the Photos page for a first 'look and feel' hint!
Where does the time go? I thought I'd written an update only last week and somehow it's been almost a month... They say that time speeds up as you get older so now I feel both disorganised and old, hardly seems fair!
Anyway, exciting news! I think I have found a home for The Gutter Bookshop! I don't want to give too much away until it's signed, sealed and delivered but I'm feeling very positive and excited (and a little bit scared). Presuming all goes well and the agreement goes through in the next couple of weeks though I should be open in Sept/Oct with a nice run into Christmas and the landlords seem to be keen on the proposal and willing to support me in creating the business which is another positive step forward.
So, keep your fingers crossed, and as soon as I've got everything confirmed I'll post up some 'before' shots so you can watch as an empty unit gets slowly (but not too slowly!) transformed into the all-singing, all-dancing Gutter Bookshop.
Still waiting... I had a call from the Commercial Agent at the end of last week saying that the landlord still hadn't made a decision on whether to let me the property. They think he's going to hold out for more money though which doesn't bode well. I've done my sums as best I'm able and have put in the best offer I can so I think it might be time to reluctantly walk away from this one...
The problem is, is that it's very hard to judge what people are likely to spend with you when there's no similar stores in the local area. I know how much a similar size store may take in a rural town but this is in very much a tourist destination area so I can't rely on the Christmas sales to carry me along. I've counted footfall in the area and used some standard conversion rates but you just don't know. I'm left in a position where I have to walk away from a property which is ideal for what I need, and where I may have had the potential to take lots more cash. Very frustrating!
It's been a funny old week. Still no news on my fresh proposal for a Gutter property. I'm reluctant to chase the agent as I don't want to appear to eager, but I'm worried they may have forgotten about me! I think a phonecall might be in order...
Apart from that, last week was the first week of my 4-day working week and it was both great and awful. Last Monday was spent catching up on those things that I've been meaning to do for ages - quotes for insurance, updating the website etc. And I did manage to pick up on my kid's book again, getting another 1,000 words down on paper/screen. All in all, a good day. But it was surprising how much missing that day then threw me for the rest of the week. Somehow it's very hard to get back into the swing of things when you've missed the start of the week. Maybe it's just a first week thing but I know I'm walking back into a load of meetings tomorrow that I won't have prepared for... and Friday was awful. With most people taking Friday off the office is like a ghost town, but for those of us who remained it was a day spent chasing our our tails and answering all the questions we could on behalf of people who weren't there. Think this may cause issues down the line as we spend so much time covering each other's bases that we achieve even less that our restructured 4 days.
Another month has flown by and still no closer to securing my shop... I was asked to submit a second proposal for my favoured property (with a higher annual rent obviously...) which is kind of encouraging but the landlord still hasn't made a decision on whether to let me go ahead or not. I guess that's not a direct 'no' but still... In the meantime I'm continuing to look around for other properties and there's a couple which may be of interest so we'll see how things progress.
The economy in Ireland shows little signs of improving in the near future which means retail sales have dropped dramatically. In bad terms that means I'm currently working a four day week for my present employer in order to cut costs, and it does make you wonder if now is really such a good time to open a new business. But in good terms it means that I have more time to work on the bookshop and other projects (i.e. that novel that I've been rattling on about for the past 3 years whilst achieving very little). And it has finally given me a bit of time to sort out my FTP connection to this website which has stopped me from uploading any new info the website in the past month - despite being from a long line of computer programmers I seem to be constantly bamboozled by modern technology...
Still waiting to hear back from the agents as to whether my proposal is a go-er or not. I'm doing the old 'should I phone?' thing - which will last about a day before I just phone anyway. So fingers are still crossed. In the meantime, I've been reading loads of great books, will try to write up some proper reviews for the Reviews pages but if I don't manage that soon - the new Sarah Waters book is wonderful! Fantastically written, completely absorbing and with a 'this is going to end badly but please let it end well' ending... A bit too English to be huge over hear but I'll be recommending it to everyone. I'm now halfway through the new William Trevor novel, due out towards the end of the year, and it is equally, yet differently, superb. That's the thing with books, get a good one and it takes over your head!
Well, I'm trying not to get too excited yet but things may be on the move... I've just submitted a proposal for a commercial property right in the middle of my preferred area. Not sure if it will come to anything but you never know, fingers crossed and all that! (This is me trying not too get too excited too early...)
And time marches on. Things in Dublin are pretty quiet and depressing at the moment. We have a 'special' budget next week to deal with the economic downturn and whilst, like most people, I'm not an economic expert it will certainly mean more taxes and less spending money for most people which will make people even less inclined to buy books.
Now, saying all that, I'm feeling remarkably cheerful. Probably due to the lovely sunshine we've been getting for the past few days - those Irish winters can really take their toll, but also because I've realised that moaning and groaning is not going to help things. I'm lucky as I still have a job and can afford to do the things that I enjoy, but also because however tough it gets we will get through this and things will get better. I'm still toying with the idea of opening the Gutter as soon as possible if the right property comes along because that will be so important. And I did decide that it might not be such a bad idea to open in a downturn - if you can make it through that year then it can only get easier!
Well, it's been a hard few weeks for everyone, but the recession is hitting hard and deep in Ireland. It has amazed me how many people I know have lost their jobs, and it looks like it's going to keep on getting worse for a while. The flipside of that, of course, is that everyone tells you how lucky you are to have a job and that you should hang on to it for dear life - despite the fact that all you really want to do is move on to something you really want to do (like opening a bookshop...)
I'm so undecided at the minute, in terms of commercial property there seems to be more and more coming on to the market and at a much better price, but I'd be foolish to ignore the fact that hardly anyone is spending at the minute and I'm not sure that books are top of the list for those that are. Given that the first year is always the toughest, I'm not sure that opening a bookshop at the minute is really such a clever idea. But then the thought of not opening a bookshop is even worse!
