A Brick and mortar approach

I read about Barnes and Nobel on NPR  It’s an interesting approach to rebuilding for retailers:

The biggest change borrowed from the playbook of independent bookshops: Daunt gave local Barnes & Noble stores much more authority to order what their readers, in their area want to see.

It's "a huge shift, frankly, in philosophy for us as a bookseller," DeVito says.

"It's not an algorithm. It's not something that's dynamically pulled from a code," she says. "It's very much a — I read this, I loved it, I know this area really gravitates towards beekeeping books, so I'm going to create the best beekeeping display I can because this is my local store."

[https://www.npr.org/2023/03/07/1161295820/how-barnes-noble-turned-a-page-expanding-for-the-first-time-in-years]

The part that struck me is that they relied on their people. Often you go into a chain store in any city, and it looks like the same chain store in any other city. For many this can be reassuring for the customer, but in the case of a bookstore or other more specialized retailer, I can see where, carrying the product that the people in your area want to purchase is the best approach. 

It is especially interesting that the store is not only choosing products, but re-organizing to emphasize those products and gain additional sales. More stores need to realy on their people and not some computer algorithm to boost sales. The people in the local store are the ones that know what their clients want. Use their ideas for product selection and placement.

By extension, you need to listen and understand your customers. We aren't all the same, especially across a country as large as the United States. Know what people want and will buy. Don't rely on your suppliers (kickbacks), but talk to and watch your customers.

The idea is that people will tell you what they want, but you must listen, understand, and then act on what they are telling you. Then enjoy the profits.

Fewer Blogs

 Reduced number of blogs. I have reduced blogs to three:

• Bob Breedlove: Juat general ramblines
• Old White Dude: Thoughts about being an old white man and all that implies vs. the reality of my beliefe
• Bob's Third Place: places that I am on the internet

Things certainly have changed in my life. I retired at the end of 2019, then came the COVID thing, and now, I am doing retirement things. I have been lax in updating these, but will attempt to make more efforts to keep my thoughts up to date.

The Drought will continue

Even if California were to have above-average rain and snow this winter, warming temperatures mean it still likely won’t be enough to make up for all the water California lost. This past year, California had its warmest ever statewide monthly average temperatures in June, July, and October 2020.

Jeanine Jones, interstate resources manager for the California Department of Water Resources, said people should not think about drought “as being just this occasional thing that happens sometimes, and then we go back to a wetter system.”

“We are really transitioning to a drier system so, you know, dry becomes the new normal,” she said. “Drought is not a short-term feature. Droughts take time to develop, and they usually linger for quite some time.”https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2021/10/21/rain-end-drought-united-states/

We need to realize that it may be wet today, but we are in for drier times due to climate change. Don’t be fooled by the rain over the next several days, dryer, hotter climate is here for a long while and will be the new normal. 

I’m back

 More to come…

Goodbye My Friend

My good friend and neighbor, Bruce, passed away unexpectedly, recently. The emphasis is on "friend". It was very unexpected. I was outside when the EMT's arrived. When his wife, Pat, came out and told me that Bruce had a major heart attack, the only thing that came to mind was "Damn!". I drove Pat to the hospital emergency room and, when her friend who met us there came out to tell us that Bruce didn't make it, my only thought was, "Damn!".

Bruce was the kind of person who stays with you. He was intelligent, educated, experienced, and the consummate story teller. He was committed to the environment and, especially to trees -- oh, and big horn sheep.

His tribute was a tree planting -- actually three trees. They were planted by the Sacramento Tree Foundation along the North Sacramento bike trail right in front of trees that Bruce's team planted 15 years earlier as part of the first planting by the tree foundation. It was a fitting tribute to this man who gave so much to so many people. There were a large number of people there and all participated in the event. Some of Bruce's ashes were spread in the holes where the trees were planted so that his essence could help the trees grow and flourish.

 Bruce will be missed, but he will never be gone. He left a little here, on your mind . . .

and a lot here, in your heart.

Goodbye, my friend!

One Week of Retirement

I have been retired for one week. Managing to keep busy -- writing this is one of the things I'm doing. Just got a call from a retired friend, so I'm taking my time to write this. He and his wife -- also retired -- are giving me pointers. So I'll continue in a while . . .
OK, that was fun. Don't want to overtax myself.

I went my first volunteer shift at the Habitat for Humanity Restore. 3-1/2 hours of warehouse work. Not strenuous and benefiting the work on Habitat for Humanity. If you have a Restore in your area, and you want to do some work on you house, need some appliances, or home decor, lighting, etc. you should check them out. Many of the things are unused or very lightly used, can save you a bunch of money and benefit a great cause. I'm signing up for more shifts just to keep busy.

I'm also starting to investigate day trip options. I have been keeping articles that I see online and will start to evaluate them. One of my first trips will be to Breedlove Road in Georgetown, CA. It's only about 54 miles from home (about 1 hour 10 minutes). Nothing particular there, other than the name. Curious. There is a "Robert Way" within walking distance of home that I've written about. The weather will have a lot to do with my timing. Right now, it's snowing in Georgetown and I don't necessarily want to chance that.

More on my adventures in retirement soon.

Longevity

I have with the same company for 22 years. I just found that I am employee 15 still active out of about 600. I have been working since I was 14 years old and am now 70. That's 56 years. I have been unemployed for exactly 1 day in all that time. It's time to not be working. Looking forward to 12/31/2019.