Trading books!

Today, here at the bookstore we are moving our trade desk...which means there is no possibility of trading books today. This got me to thinking of customers who might not be thrilled if they are turned away from bringing books in to trade today and I wonder if our customers know what it takes for us to trade books. Let me walk you through how our trade system works for us and why on a day like today we can't take any used books.

Our trade desk works separately from our sales desk, it requires a label printer and other hardware that we don't keep up front. When you bring a book in a staff member has to scan it into the system, check our inventory reports for it; we look for frequency of sales, number in current inventory, and publishing dates, assess the book for condition and quality and then label it, and organize it to be shelved. Then, we re-shelve everything according to section, genre and author's name. It's a bit of a process.

But it's a process that we love. Used books are what keep this bookstore awesome and in business. We love seeing trade coming into the store it's just sometimes we don't have enough staff to handle it! That's the reasoning behind our different trade hours and our limit of two boxes or two bags per day. It's also the reasoning that on a day like today with most of our staff taken up by a big move (tell ya about it in a minute!) that we have halted any trade, it's not that we don't want your books, we do! Just bring them in tomorrow!

Now, about our move. We have expanded yet again!!! Yay for a growing and thriving bookstore in Old Town Ft. Collins! The bookstore has acquired another room to the back of the store and are shifting our offices back into it. We will also have a beautiful area set up for book clubs, signings and other events to be thrown back there! It's going to be great. Along with moving our offices, we are shifting the trade desk to the third room (our "novel" room). This move makes so much sense if you consider our "loading and unloading" zone that is in the back- it will make bringing books in much easier for people, that back door leads right to it! It also helps create more shelf room (for more books!). We are really looking forward to the re-organization of the trade desk and the areas we are setting up. Yes, it does mean we have shifted things around a bit and we have a lot of regulars who think we must have a compulsive habit because we move things around so often but we do it to accommodate the growth of certain sections and to keep inventory accurate- not because we love it! :) Please bare with us today with the shifting of furniture and the inability to take your trade, we promise it will be back to normal tomorrow and we will always be around to help you navigate your way through the newly organized sections- just ask!

Thanks for making this a great last year, we wouldn't be growing without you. And we look forward to seeing you and your trade tomorrow (sales will continue as normal throughout today though-come on in!). Happy Anniversary (and moving day) to us!