Phase One (Mostly) Completed...

A lot of blank (and dirty) wall space where  we had put tables/game space...

Another section of the same wall...

Same wall, different angle...

Work comences...

We're still a game store and the Gophers worked around a couple of guys playing 40K...

The furring strips are up...

The first two panels are up...



Gophers admiring the progress...



Once the first couple of panels went up, the Gophers got on a roll...

All the panels for this phase are up and we have started transfering stock from our old, jankity shelves...

Our revised minatures section...



Role-Playing in the middle...




Board Games at the far right...




Fuzzy pic... just to keep you on your toes...




Better shot of the middle section and the board games...




Great shot of the middle sections...


This is just the start of it all... We did a bit of work on the back as well in terms of terrain storage as well, and reorganized the storage unit. A *TON* of work got done...

Huge thanks go out to... HiSign, TreeRat, DDS, KnightErrantJR, D-Man, Longbowman, Z-Mor, A-Bomb, P-Web, EG, and CafeSushi... This would not have happened without your help and hard work...

-- GopherDave, Loquacious, and Skribl

We Stand On The Edge Of A Precipice...

See..? Still doing it... Can't wait for trained employees, though. Working on that one...

Okay... this is the day for one of the major changes to the store. After today, if all goes well, one half of the front area will be covered in slatwall panels, and the all the old, cheap-looking, ankle-biting shelving will be in the storage unit awaiting convention use...

The store already looks different with the additional case and register stand. It feels different. I'm not entirely certain I like it yet. The changes are not complete yet, so it may grow on me. Mostly, I attribute my unease to the fact that I typically hate change.

Speaking of change, we finally have all the parts for the new point-of-sale system in our possession. Just drifting through the program... ummm, wowwwwww... this thing is great! Sure wish I knew what I was doing with it all... The manual is 500+ pages, but it's Microsoft, so the book is full of white space and unnecessary "helpful tips" sections. Broken down, it's probably closer to a 260-page book of actual, useful reference. On cursory glance, it looks like we will have issues doing some of the things that our current point-of-sale does easily, but I'm pretty certain I'm just not finding everything in the new software yet.

In comparison, the current POS software is like a nice, local grocery store. It has most of what you want, easily found due to its small size, and what it doesn't have can be made up for using substitutes and workarounds. The new POS software is like walking into the largest supermarket on the planet. It's got EVERY EXACT ITEM YOU COULD EVER WISH FOR... you just have to go find it... ...and on your shopping cart is a map of the store, with general sections labeled, but no other specifics, so you have to brave the expanse to find what you are looking for...

It's a big store... and it won't let me bring my shopping list (former inventory) with me... This will not be ready by the end of the weekend. Hell, it may not be ready by the end of the month.

We'll see how it goes...

GopherDave

Progress Is Being Made...

We got the new display case and the register stand put together last night. Today, I'm going to try to call the POS folks and see if they can give me my training. Barring that, I'm going to see if they will at least let me have the password for our software so we can start setting things up on our own end.

To help with that, Hi-Sign (with little to no training on our current point-of-sale) will be helping me watch the store. I imagine I'm still going to be up and down, but it will be better. Thanks once again, sir.

Tomorrow... Slatwall!!!

I'd love to write more, but I've got a store to open...

-- GopherDave

I Really Can't Complain...

Okay... I am in pain and ache terribly from having to unload all the new shelving, the hardware for said shelving, the new register stand, and the new display case that arrived yesterday. I did the work pretty much on my own. Apparently "Driver Assist" does not mean what I thought it did. I got it all in, and that's what counts.

I cannot complain about it, however, as later on yesterday Hi-Sign, DDS, and I went to another game store (out of town) to get seventeen sheets of slatwall from them that they had leftover from their remodel. Given what I had done earlier, Hi-Sign and DDS did pretty much *ALL* of the work. Also given where this stuff was stored and how heavy it was, I started to feel heinously guilty by about sheet five. This would not have been accomplished without them. Not in the slightest... Thank you, guys... *A LOT*

The new point-of-sale tower should arrive today, and we should get the register stand and the new display case assembled tonight. Saturday is the installation of the slatwall, and rearranging of the storage unit to hold the old fixtures so we can continue to use them for conventions.

Work proceeds apace...

-- GopherDave

Stumbling Into Place...

Suck it, Blue!

Okay... the storage unit never got rearranged due to the weather, but we did get furring strips bought for the slatwall panels that we are picking up tonight. We did clear a space in the store for the stuff that was supposed to go into the storage unit , and then we'll assemble it as best we can over the next two days. The only snag I can see with this is Friday, when we have Friday Night Magic, which typically packs the place. It'll get kind of tight if we have ANY sort of crowd.

Progress is being made by the new point-of-sale system. The main part is at least in the state as it makes its journey from the west coast. Soon, it'll be in our dysfunctional hands...

As an added bonus, Skribl is still not feeling well, so he's not going to be of any help for toting and carrying of slatwall. Osmosis has offered to step in, but knowing where the slatwall panels that we are getting  are currently being kept, I'm doing him a favor by saying no. Os is very asthmatic and the place where the panels are is currently *REALLY* dusty.

That's it really... the calendar for the store website got fixed (Thanks, M-Bee), thus the event schedule is as up as I can make it. Now, off to go pay rent and sign a lease...

-- GopherDave

Stupid Weather...

Not even one day into the schedule for the week and it's already been thrown askew. The weather was such yesterday that it would have been inhumane to have anyone rearrange the storage unit out in the cold yesterday evening. On top of that, Skribl is currently ill, so his help tonight will not be available. Sigh...

With all of this happening, I also still have to maintain the usual cycle of orders, supply, and receiving, plus, make sure rents for both the store and the house get paid. Oh yeah... somewhere in all of this, Loquacious and I have to find time to sign a lease to stay at our current spot. Then there's the store calendar, which would have been done by now, except the site software got a "fix" during an update and broke how things are supposed to work. It took our web guy about two days to track down what happened and repair the "damage". Thanks, M-Bee!

Anyhow... I need to jet and make sure things get done. I'll just leave you with a picture...



Dinero... Fur-covered Valium on four legs...



Big Week Ahead...

Okay... The upcoming week promises to be big. If everything pans out and the weather doesn't hamper us too much, then we'll see and accomplish the following..

• Monday, rearranging the storage unit to accommodate more stuff...
• Shopping for reinforcement and mounting strips for the upcoming slatwall on Tuesday...
• Said storage stuff arriving Tuesday or Wednesday, with the assembly of two pieces accomplished sometime this week...
• Picking up seventeen slatwall panels from another game store on Wednesday...
• The arrival of the main piece of the point of sale on Thursday...
• The hanging of slatwall on Saturday morning and afternoon, with the shifting on inventory happening that evening...
• The entering of current inventory into the new point-of-sale system by weekend's end, so we can be up and running with it a week from today...

It's quite a list... let's see what kind of progress we can make, shall we...

-- GopherDave

New Year... Same GopherDave...



It's a new year... and I've pretty much decided to continue with the pictures on the days I work, and skip the days I don't. Makes sense, right?

The reasoning behind continuing to do it at all is mostly due to a fair number of private communications with folks who seem to like what I've been doing, and have started to step up their "big boy" clothing habits because of it. I didn't set out to inspire anyone, but if that is the result, then I guess I sort of have a responsibility to continue.

The plan to improve Gopher continues apace. Once I'm done with this blog entry, I'm off to send e-mails and make arrangements to pick up some slatwall panels, order some shelves and brackets, a register stand for the new point-of-sale, and take care of other business.

Here's hoping your new year is a great one!

-- GopherDave