Now it's no surprise to hear that the Christmas season is under attack by the secular progressives who want to eliminate the term "Merry Christmas" in favor of "Happy Holidays". And, I've tried to keep these type of issues out of this blog, but the reaction I sometimes get from people in the store when I say "Merry Christmas" actually saddens me.
I'm not looking for any government sanction of Christianity, but the tradition of this country bears out the importance Judeo/Christian values and ideas have had on our formation and culture over the past 200 plus years. Our schools, businesses and government all recognize the season, not because we all need a holiday - if that was the case wouldn't we do it in the summer? - but because of the importance most people in this great land put on the role God and their faith in God had in the formation of this country.
Now, these days,I know when Hanukkah occurs and when Ramadan occurs. That's great, but let's not forget when Christmas is and why it is so important to the tradition and history of this country.
On the bright side, I just had a couple in who commented that it was nice to hear actual Christmas music being played in the store.
God's Peace
Thankfully we received a significant snow fall early this year. This should spur people to come to our area to ski and snowmobile. Our local economy is so dependent on the weather, especially this time of year. The past 6 - 7 years have been so spotty with snow that we've seen a definite reduction in people coming to the area. But, with some of the best cross country ski and snowmobile trails in the state I hope to see more activity this winter.
Well, we found out where some of our product went. Mika had a woman stop into the store yesterday and by the time it took for the front door to ring to Mika getting to the front this woman had stuffed a couple of picture frames in her purse. Mika suspected suspicious behavior and asked the woman to give her what she had put into her purse. A call to the police followed and another store's product was found upon a subsequent search.
While we suspected that this was going on for some time now, it is still shocking to actually catch someone in the act.
Mika was commenting that a line of small jewelry boxes, letter openers, etc. were selling well. We had to keep replacing them and she was ready to order more. Going through the ordering process she always checks the sales reports for the product to see what sold and how many are left on hand. The reports showed that although we have been selling these products, we haven't been selling as many as have been missing from the shelves.
We know people shoplift, but this was a glaring example of people taking items off the shelf and not paying, i.e. stealing! What's even more distressing is that our clientel is not what one would describe as the shoplifting type. However, we now must change our paradigm of what that type of person is.
The question becomes, do we spend money with security cameras and the like to help prevent this? We are going to do a better job of monitoring the cost to us and determine if it warrants such an investment.
It is frustrating to spend capital dollars on equipment that doesn't help our bottom line. But, maybe it does?
Great comment from one of our customers.
I enjoy listening to the guys, usually older men who have some woodworking experience, talk about our furniture. They all can make it better and cheaper. Especially the hickory furniture. It looks simple enough to do, but I know it is a painstaking process done by craftsmen. One gentleman today commented that he will go into the woods, cut down a sapling and build a chair. Maybe he can, but I guarantee it won't be around for his grandchildren to use like the hickory furniture we sell will be.
I've been waiting all day for something to happen so I can write about it.
We have a couple of really nice leather chairs in front of our fireplace at Lodge. A lady came in this afternoon exclaiming that her back was giving out. She told her friends as they entered that she hated to be a party pooper but she had to sit down on this fine chair. She turned to me and said,'This is a fine party pooper chair!"
'Nuf said.
We get along with the people who drive the trucks that deliver our merchandise, we make it a point to. The drivers from the North Carolina area are especially outgoing, plus we like to hear them talk.
One driver was talking about the quality of our merchandise. He recognized the vendor and knows it is high quality furniture. We were saying that many people comment that our furniture is high priced without taking into account how well it is made and how long it will last. He said the best line he has for people who say they're not rich enough to buy good furniture is, "You're not rich enough not to." (in his slow southern drawl).
His point being that when you buy lesser quality furniture you end up buying more often.
We really do like those truck drivers.
Mika and I travel to markets about twice a year, one to High Point, NC and the other to Atlanta, GA. Thankfully my parents are available to take our kids during this time as we will be in High Point the whole first week of October.
Markets are fun and a lot of work. Trying to describe a market experience is difficult if you can't imagine the shear size of it. High Point market has multiple buildings across the city. They have a bus service that gets you from one building to another. We walk all day from showroom to showroom looking at thousands and thousands of products. Mika is remarkable in how she zeroes in on items to order for the stores. As we tell people often, if we wanted to sell only high end, high priced products shopping would be a snap. The same is true for low end cheaper products. But we try very hard to find nice things for reasonable prices and that can be a real chore.
I'll talk more about the market in upcoming posts.
Finished reading the latest by Clive Cussler - Treasure of Khan. This is very light summer fare, but I've been enjoying the antics of Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino for nearly 27 years ever since the high school librarian suggested Raise the Titanic.
If you're looking for a down to earth action hero, try a Dirk Pitt novel by Clive.
