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#Post#: 5170--------------------------------------------------
Busy with Business/Pump Up the Jump
By: Jack Date: April 16, 2018, 6:16 pm
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It was pointed out that there isn't even a Spanking Reports for
this month. Of course, my correspondent thought that meant
there'd been no spankings this month. There have been, and I'm
hoping to have time to catch up on them soon (though I have few
details on a couple, and the others are mostly run of the mill).
The honest truth is that I've been very busy these last several
weeks. It's mostly good busy, but it has cut into my blogging
time.
Cathy is getting a bit bored. She and I are business partners
in the Berry Patch (homestyle cafe/restaurant, if you don't
remember).
I don't talk about money matters a lot here, for a variety of
reasons, not least of which is I was raised that it was rude.
However, I do try to reinvest my money, and I try to do a lot of
that locally. A while back, I bought a strip mall with a bar at
one end. The bar has gone out of business, and I was trying to
decide what to do with the location or how to market it. When
Cathy came to me about opening a new restaurant, that location
occurred to me, and we took a look at it.
While it will take some remodeling, it looks like it was a
restaurant before it was a bar, and it won't take a ton of work.
That took us to a discussion of what we wanted to do.
My suggestion, based largely on some things some of my kids have
done, is that we do a brunch restaurant. It won't be open just
for brunch, but it will feature a formal brunch-like menu, and a
buffet on the weekends. One suggestion that was made, and which
I like is, we'll call it 'The Continental' (not actual name) and
then put under that - 'brunch restaurant and steak house'.
We've had a couple of problems along the way. We've looked into
getting a liquor license, mostly so we can serve Bloody Mary and
Mimosas. While that's a pain in the butt, it's easier to get a
beer and wine license. We're still discussing that, or whether
to go with virgin drinks and juices.
The other problem is that Cathy tends to have a sense of decor
that I consider somewhat cluttered and kitschy. If you've ever
been to a Cracker Barrel or a Bennigan's, you know how she likes
to decorate. I prefer something - if not more tasteful - at
least less cluttered. Right now, we're aiming towards European
travel and memorabilia. She thinks I'm silly for wanting the
center of the restaurant to be a 12', lighted model of the
Eiffel Tower.
The one thing we both agree on is staff uniforms. We're working
to supply part of these at costs, but everyone (except kitchen
staff) will have to supply their own black slacks, shoes, and
white tee. Most of the staff will wear a white tuxedo shirt,
and a black bow tie and cumberbund. However, they'll be welcome
to wear buy their own cumberband or vest and bowtie. It's my
idea that we award the top staff (either position or length of
service, with a few other possibilities) with a nicer shirt, and
a set of cuff links/studs to demonstrate their level.
[hr]
Another situation is that a building has come on the market.
It's rather large, and I'm considering purchasing it (the only
option, but it's relatively cheap) to use as either a Main Event
or bounce house/trampoline type place. There are a couple of
problems with that, however. First of all, while I'd love to
not have to go to Dallas for that kind of thing, I have no
interest in actually running it, so I'd have to find an
experienced, trustworthy individual whom I could trust to stay
in the position for a while. Secondly, thanks largely to Kaden
and the Marsh boys, I'm rather cash power right now, so I'd
actually have to take out a loan to buy it and get it running,
which is something I normally avoid doing.
I need to move fairly quickly, while the building is still
available, so I've been moving as if I'm going to do it, but I
always get tense and nervous as I reach the point of commitment.
[hr]
Are you familiar with Pop Vinyl?
They've been around 20 years or so now, but they've been
becoming more and more popular over the last ten or so. We keep
selling out of the things and they keep expanding their
selection. They also have a great marketing plan, which
involves keeping things interesting and collectible (much like
beanie babies did, but with a larger market, because they
license stuff). Because of that, I decided/was persuaded, that
we need to expand/remodel the stores to carry a larger Funko
selection. We're going to go largely movie/TV related at the
Lamar store (which is the one that shares a parking lot with a
cinema), and just carry a larger/wider selection at the Campus
and Old Mall location. The New Mall store doesn't have room for
a huge expansion, but we're checking into ways to change the
displays and carry a bit more stock.
Of course, all of that means buying some new fixtures and
checking into sizes and stuff, then placing orders and following
up on everything everywhere, as well as making time to get
things installed and set up.
[hr]
Finally, I have a special project going on. Someone came to me
wanting to sell a comic collection his father and big brother
started, which he participated in for years, and which he now
hopes to sell to help his oldest son through college. This was
made even more fun by the fact that I know his family - his big
sister and I graduated together. He and his brother and sister
were all in debate, and I actually met him a few times when I
judged while I was in college. We have a number of friends in
common.
Kevin started high school the fall after his sister and I
graduated, and Erin and I started high school the fall after her
big brother, Hunter, graduated.
Because of that, I kind of vaguely remember sometime not too
long after I opened the store, Kevin's father coming in to buy
bags, backing boards, and boxes for his collection. I really
didn't think much of it.
I knew Hunter had collected comics, and we'd talked about it a
few times when I'd met him after he graduated. When Kevin came
in wanting to sell the collection, I felt kind of bad,
especially when I learned that Hunter and their parents had all
passed. I felt even worse when I learned why he wanted to sell
the comics, since most people have this idea that every comic is
going to be worth thousands, or even millions. They have no
idea how collectibles work, much less grading. But he was a
friend, and I always liked his big brother, so I looked at the
collection, while trying to prepare him for the bad news.
Yeah, I was shocked.
This wasn't one of those 'shock the world' type of collections
(look up the Edgar Church collection for one of those).
It was good enough to be getting on with.
My interest got Kevin to share the story, to talk to his big
sister and a couple of aunts, and this is what we could figure
out.
Their father was a retired military officer. He'd served in
Korea and Vietnam and traveled a lot. Their mom had some health
problems before becoming pregnant with Kevin, and she ended up
living with some relatives (I think her parents mostly), while
their dad finished up his final tour. Dad had read comics as a
kid, and, not having his family around, but not wanting to keep
up with the bachelor officers, he went back to reading comics.
Hunter would have been about 7 at this time, and the two of them
would read them together, whenever he made it home. They kept
that up after he retired and they got their home here in
Bransom. They later included Kevin in it.
The thing is, he took very good care of the books, and his kids
learned to follow suit.
While he might not have any of the really great comics, like a
first appearance of Spider-man or the Fantastic Four, or even a
first appearance of Iron Man, he does have a lot of Iron Man's
first series, which came along 5 or 6 years after he first
appeared. While those don't bring the big books like you hear
about on the news, they can bring a few hundred dollars each,
even in medium grade - and some of these are better than that.
I did not buy his collection. Instead, we've been working
together. He gave me a few comics from his collection that I
really wanted (none of the big books that he had, just several
to fit very nice condition holes I had), and he's paying me
basically an agents fee. In return, I bank rolled the start up
to get the best books graded, and we've been listing most of
them online, keeping the number down to avoid driving the price
down with people unable to buy everything. His son, Chase, is a
senior, and will be going to college next fall, but he doesn't
have many expenses now, so they can afford to take time and get
the most money out of it.
[hr]
Anyway, that's what I've been up to lately... besides setting up
the new Bransom Bios wiki.
#Post#: 5173--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: Zyngaru Date: April 16, 2018, 9:17 pm
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Now I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I am Very, Very,
Very LAZY! ;D ;D ;D
#Post#: 5176--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: db105 Date: April 17, 2018, 1:48 am
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That's a lot of work :o
Particularly selling the comics collection (not because it's
more work, but because the others are more regular business) is
a kind thing to do, to lend a hand to the owners. Selling a
collection like that takes work.
Good luck with everything! :)
#Post#: 5177--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: Jack Date: April 17, 2018, 2:30 am
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[quote author=db105 link=topic=515.msg5176#msg5176
date=1523947727]
Particularly selling the comics collection (not because it's
more work, but because the others are more regular business) is
a kind thing to do, to lend a hand to the owners. Selling a
collection like that takes work.
Good luck with everything! :)
[/quote]
Actually, selling the comics collection is part of my regular
business!
Yesterday, I couldn't think of the word 'commission', but I have
done this kind of thing before. While it took a lot of time and
input from me at start, it's pretty well running without me now.
At first, I spent a lot of time working with Hunter, both to
iron out the details of our agreement and to prioritize
everything. We also had to reinvest some of his early sales, in
order to maximize The thing is that comics sales have changed
drastically in the last 30 years, both for good and ill, and
grading comics has become a major industry. It can be
expensive, but it can also make a HUGE difference to the price
of the comic. With that in mind, I am at least as experienced
at grading comics as any of my employees, and I'm not as busy as
the best of them, so I did have to invest a lot of time at
first. On the other hand, his son joined us for much of the time
as we explored the collection - he's interested in comics, and
we had some fun conversations, so it wasn't a real hardship.
#Post#: 5180--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: kalico Date: April 17, 2018, 9:56 am
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Wow.... busy is not quite the words I would use but.....
Good luck on the new adventures and I hope all works how you
want them too...
The comic one sounds very cool and interesting
Hugs kal
#Post#: 5183--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: Jack Date: April 17, 2018, 12:42 pm
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[quote author=kalico link=topic=515.msg5180#msg5180
date=1523977007]
Wow.... busy is not quite the words I would use but.....
[/quote]
I know it's not really that much, but when you remember that I'm
teaching five mornings a week, still handling some of my duties
at the comic store, and dealing with home life ---- it adds up a
bit.
#Post#: 5211--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: David M. Katz Date: April 19, 2018, 2:20 pm
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Why did the bar go out? Are you confident in this location?
#Post#: 5216--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: Jack Date: April 19, 2018, 4:52 pm
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[quote author=David M. Katz link=topic=515.msg5211#msg5211
date=1524165632]
Why did the bar go out? Are you confident in this location?
[/quote]
Yes, they're closing for non-business reasons. My understanding
is that the owner passed away, and his family was unable to sell
it and none of them wanted to run it. I didn't know him well
(that's part of the business that Tina handles), but he was
pretty busy and never late with the rent. His family actually
let me look at the books, in return for me letting them out of
the lease.
#Post#: 5622--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: Jack Date: May 10, 2018, 5:07 pm
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I have purchased that building I was thinking about. It took
some paperwork, because I have to take a mortgage on it, so I
want it separated from everything else.
What made me make the decision was my nephew, Huck, and his
current situation. I'm going to detail that elsewhere.
In the meantime, I'm having the building inspecting, and Huck
and I are checking with some people and doing some research to
decide what kind of business this is going to be.
#Post#: 5638--------------------------------------------------
Re: Busy with Business
By: kalico Date: May 11, 2018, 11:55 am
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Congratulations
I can’t wait to see what adventure you and guck will be
doing....
Hugs kal
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