Okay... It's been longer than I anticipated since an update, so I figure anyone who is "listening" (all 34 of you) might actually want to know what is happening in Gopherland...
A few months back we had another game store open up in town. It is a franchise of a small chain from a nearby city, owned by two guys, who honestly, are pretty good people. This store makes three game stores in town. In the 35+ year history of gaming in this community, I have never known the community to be able to support that many retail game establishments for terribly long. When this store opened, I knew we would take a hit. What I didn't know was how big of one... The hit has far exceeded my expectations...
I had an inkling of the trend a month ago, but didn't want to believe it could get much worse than what it was. I was wrong. Sadly, because of this, I had to do something I desperately didn't want to do. We laid off three employees, and cut hours to the other two (besides me) in an effort to stop the bleeding. Truthfully, I should have done this a month ago when I first witnessed the trend. I, however, don't like to let people I call my family down. It makes me ache inside...
That said, if our business is to survive, I did what I had to do, and on some level, I hate myself for it. Now that it's done, it is time to get back to the task at hand, and that is righting the ship...
- Retract - With the layoffs, we've just done this to some degree. There is a little more room to go if necessary, though I am truly loathe to do to it.
- Refocus - Left with a crew of myself, Loquacious, Skribl, and Snowlady, the workload just increased for all of us, and yet there's still a store to put back on track. Lo, Skribl, and myself have already begun tossing ideas about. We've also taken some input from some of the regulars and former employees. An attack plan is forming, and we hope to have enough things in place to enact it, at least in part, by the beginning of December.
- Recover - This is the long stage where we take back what we consider ours. I'm not one to begrudge anyone their success, and we're willing to share nicely, but not to the point of endangering our business. Sorry. Not happening.
- Reemerge - This stage is where we begin to reacquire some (if not all) of the family members that have been left by the wayside due to the recent happenings. This WILL happen... sooner, rather than later if I have anything to say about it.
- Represent! - Gopher Mafia REPRESENT!!! Weather the storm, come out not only none the worse for wear, but stronger than ever, our family by our side...
We've taken the first few steps, and more will be taken in short order. Do not, however, wish us luck.
Where we're going, we don't need luck...
-- GopherDave
