Sadly out with the Old but happily in with the New.

Since May we have hired 5 new staff members. Not in the 18 years of being here has there been such a transition.  Usually after about 3 weeks of training a new staff member (did you see I wrote 'a', yes just one) the shop rhythm is back in place. Rhythm only as it takes about 6 months before one is really on top of everything. We had a little perfect storm in Sept where we had to hire and train our three newest employees. So after the normal three weeks I was surprised that the rhythm hadn't reestablished itself. At first I couldn't figure out why but then it dawned on me that circumstances were very different this time with three rather than just one. I keep saying it is a work in progress and each shipment day I can see an improvement however small.

I miss the staff that moved on but I am so pleased for all of them, as they grabbed hold of new opportunities. A changing of the guard has brought some wonderful personalities, and new interests into the workplace. Welcome Jodi, James, Jessica, Brian, Jeremy. ( Yes sometimes I do get tongue tied with using the right J name!)

With Twitter!

My attention has been drifting to and away from a blog post. So the other day when I checked to see when I last wrote I was surprised to find that I hadn't done anything since May. That fits though because it was in April that I attended a five week course on social media. (I have to tell you that I really enjoyed going to "class".) l threw myself into Twitter, it completely fascinated me. I loved the medium, the quick bites of information, and the repsonses to some of my tweets. However, like a young passionate love affair it too has moved on to the next stage. Now it is the day to day mechanics but still very fun! I find it a fantastic avenue for Atlantic News. New magazines, great covers, interesting stories are so easy to share through Twitter. So to my newsletter / blog readers my absence has been explained. I will find the balance for all my communications, at least I will try!

By the way my Twitter name is @magsstore 

For another Top Ten List!

It has been 4 years running that People and New Yorker have remained in the top two spots. I love what the selection of top ten domestic titles says about the variety of customers that come through our doors. We always maintain that we have something for everyone. Halifax Magazine has moved up the ranks to knock Dwell off the list. Go Halifax!

For the imports, there is no doubt that Country Living UK is #1. It is the one title that our regular customers wait with bated breath for and can't help but ask "When will it arrive?" It also far ahead of the number 2 spot by almost double the copies sold.

Further to my last post on how kind our customers are, we've been touched yet again by more thoughtfulness. One customer made sure he came in before he moved away to say " I officially wanted to say thank-you for being so gracious." Another dropped off a sweet card plus some yummy chocolates because she appreciated the phone calls letting her know her publication arrived. How lucky we are to have so many great customers.

Recently there have been several occurances that have lodged themselves in my mind:

Twice now this week our customers have warmed our hearts by coming back to the store to let us know we haven't charged them properly! After an engaging conversation at the cash, a lady got home and realized that one of her magazines wasn't rung in. Down her husband came to pay. Today a customer ate a chocolate bar in the store and then came to the counter with a second one. He paid for it, left and actually made it across the bridge when he realized that he hadn't paid for the one he consumed . Immediately back he came, all for $ 1.48

How fortunate we are in our customers, our gratitude for your kindness....

Just the other day a customer came to the counter carrying a Lapham's Quarterly. I thought I heard his companion ask what the magazine was about. It appeared to me that the customer was struggling to reply. It was great to be able to let him know how Lapham himself describes it.  At a conference I attended, his quip was " The council of the Dead." The magazine is like no other and is beautifully executed, from its single themed issues, unique simple covers, paper quality to the contributors of course. Abraham Lincoln, Charlotte Bronte, Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Karl Marx, Zhuangzi, Emile Zola are just a few.

Scotia Bank currently has online, the " Small Business Big Impact" challenge. I LOVE Local Halifax has signed up believing we are doing the right thing for our community, customers and businesses by collaborating on marketing initiatives and community projects.

Please take a minute to support I love Local HFX and add your vote.  

http://challenge.getgrowingforbusiness.scotiabank.com/entry/4188459

Is in the air

We sure can see each season's pending arrival even before it is truly here. Our baseball & gardening sections are bursting with abundance. Magazines have fresh greens and bright colours. Our cooking magazines are heralding spring dishes and Bon Appetit proclaims "Spring Finally! 33 Market Fresh Ideas" Of course with Spring comes cleaning but I think most people really like the act of airing out their homes and the work that accompanies that. I certainly do. Real Simple would like to help us make the job easier with their "Spring Cleaning Shortcuts." V magazine arrived with covers that really remind me of Easter colours ( even though the subject isn't exactly sweetness and innocence!)

Bring on Spring.

Lots of great new issues

I love Tuesdays, which we call Magazine Day. It is our largest shipment day so it is always interesting to see if anything intriques us on the covers while we are trying to process the magazines. It can get quite distracting at times. With teasers like "Google, Is the coolest company already over the hill?"- Canadian Business; " 1 Million Workers, 90 Million iPhones, 17 Suicides...Should you care?" - Wired and " Just Food, How to fix our food system" - Alternatives, I was indeed intriqued. Plus there was " Print me a Stradivarius, The manufacturing technology that will change the world" - The Economist and Why machines will never beat the human mind" - The Atlantic. Now it is just a matter of figuring out when I am going to read them! ( I just linked the magazines and strangely the first three were previous issues that were still listed as current issues on their websites. Nice to think that newsstands have the magazines available first!)

 I am also very proud to let you know that we received the Bronze Award for Small Business of the Year at the Halifax Business Awards. The Chamber of Commerce put on a special evening

We'll find out next Thurs.

Next week is the Halifax Business Awards put on by the Chamber of Commerce. We have be nominated for Small Business of the Year along with Be Well Spa, Bishops Cellar, DSM Telecom, and Moksha Yoga. I am so pleased to have our business nominated and really feel that that is the award in itself. It is wonderful to know that someone thinks enough of our business to put our name in. There is a very satisfying sense of validation that comes with this nomination.

And what a wonderful time it can be.

I love this time of year at the store. Around Dec 1 we start to get our Christmas window organised. For the last four years we have built a stage into one of our windows and set up a reading room. For two weeks up to and including the 24th we have a person sitting and reading for 2 two hours shifts, one during the lunch rush and the other during the early evening rush. Customers and passers by get such a kick when they realize it is a real person sitting there enjoying their favourite magazine and a cup of tea. You would not believe how many people have come in asking to have that job. Who wouldn't want it, I'd love to have that job myself!

The other part that I really enjoy is helping people find the right magazine. For well over a month, people have been coming in looking for a gift or stocking stuffer but are unsure where magazines are or even what they want.  I find it very rewarding to ask questions and then make suggestions especially when their response is "That will be perfect" 

So heres to finding your favourite magazine under the tree this Christmas.

 Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2011

Its a winter wonderland this year, a great time to curl up with a magazine

and my world...

 I was just at a large trade show in Toronto over the weekend called Print World 2010. I really do enjoy trying to learn about various aspects of the magazine and newspaper industry. Needless to say printers are a big part of it, on the flip side periodicals (5%) and papers (2%) are a small portion of their overall industry. That being said, one of the printers to speak at one seminar was Transcontinental. They are the fourth largest printer in North America and is Canada's leading publisher of consumer magazines and when they said that they believe in print and that they have invested a billion dollars on improved technology that makes my day! Bring on those magazines...

 Also part of my world is my manager Angela Carlsen, photographer. I just want to pass on something from her 

Images on first page are on 16x20 paper, hand-printed by yours truly in a darkroom. That's right,  these prints are old school. They are all on sale for the low price of $50, which is 1/3 of the original $150 price. The first 20 sold come packaged with a mat. All are signed.

Plus, I have just added some digital prints to the mix. These images are of buildings that no longer exist. They are digital prints on 13x19 paper and are also selling for $50 a piece. Mats are available while supplies last.

http://angelacarlsenearlyworkssale.weebly.com/
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But with different magazines this time.

I think it is rather interesting that  magazines covers rarely mirror each other (mind you, womens fashion covers are rather formula driven so they do look very similar!) . Yet here in the span of four weeks it has happened twice.  In the case of these two covers, the grey mastheads , same words in bold white, similar placement  and dark backgrounds are so similar you have to wonder how that can happen, especially when they arrive on the newsstand the same day. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of the art director and editors office after the magazines had hit the stands.