Fair’s Fair “For Book Lovers”

I love starting a new year - it is like being handed a clean slate to right all the wrongs I created in the previous year(s).

Even though my son broke off his key in the lock of our Inglewood store on January 1st - presenting us with an atronomical bill from a local locksmith who has been unhelpful in solving the problem of a sticky lock on two previous occasions and even though my daughter was called out to our Macleod Trail store the next morning at 3:30 AM because someone took some time out of their busy schedule to break a window at that location (that monetary expense is covered by our landlord’s insurance). S0 … the new year is not really starting off so well and the slate is a little less clean than normal … smile.

Nevertheless 2007 seems to have set the stage for some incredible opportunities for 2008 and beyond.

The technological changes we made in 2007 put us leaps and bounds ahead of where we were in 2006.

Even though sales in our Mount Royal store fell off by just under 10% for the year the Inglewood store did a bit better than it had the previous year and our Macleod Trail store is progressing quite rapidly (especially considering it has just completed its second full year in operation). The June opening of our Ranchlands store was received enthusiastically by residents of the area as they are finding us one by one and are spreading the word to their friends and neighbors.

Last year our sales were adversely effected by the financial hardships our customers faced first of all by increased gasoline prices, then their landlords increasing rents by amounts seldom seen in this area and lastly by the psychological effects of the Canadian dollar reaching parity with the U. S. dollar.

Unfortunately, none of the above changes are within our ability to change or control so we are forced to continue doing what we do best - work to improve our methods and processes to provide the best experience possible for our customers.

So we start the year with yet another dose of unbridled optimism and hope that this time we can get it right.

Happy New Year to all.