Some final thoughts for the year

Well, all in all this year's been an odd one.

I've lost 2 customers, both of who will be sorely missed. 3 births help to make up for it though, and 2 more on the way that I can think of as we speak. We even had 2 weddings as well!

I gained 2 new employees Neil and Lucy. Neil has since left us but no matter how hard we try we just can't shift Lucy ;) She seems to enjoy her job and she's pretty good at it too.

The shop has changed a lot, with new ranges and 2 changes to layout as well as numerous tweaks in the way things work behind the scenes.

Iain finally got his way and dragged me kicking and screaming into the 21st century with the rather good website you're now perusing and by persuading me to actually get the power of the internet in the shop too. I owe him a lot for this I now realise. I'd get really bored otherwise ;)

The whole ninja vs pirates debate was resolved in the shop. All I need say on the conclusion is... Y4R!

We said a fond farewell to several customers and friends who either returned home to foreign parts or went away travelling themselves. In some cases they even emigrated. Sorry to see you go guys, keep in touch.

At Conpulsion this year we had an exclusive release of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition which made it one of our most successful conventions to date! (It also made this shopkeeper incredibly happy as its my favourite game and it came back with an even better edition).

I opened an account with some US companies and started buying in Indie gaming products from the US. We also got another exclusive with the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society as we are the only company in the UK carrying their product at the moment. Come check out the mugs and t-shirts.

There's probably a whole load more stuff has happened that I haven't remembered yet and will over the next couple of days. If I've forgotten you then please don't be offended. I just had a shop full of kids from ORC and they can really fry you when you're not prepared for them.

So where to go from here? Whats the plan for the next year you might ask. Well thats all a secret for now. Some things that I can let you all know about is that we should be getting credit and debit facilities early in the new year. We're looking into both an EPOS system and an E-store to help streamline the running of the store. Continue to develop the website and the community we hope it will build.

Oh and of course my own pet project. We hope to be carrying as many Indie games as possible before too long. I have a big thing for Indie roleplaying games. I think that anyone who is willing to put their game out there and their money where their mouth is deserves all the support that I can reasonably give. So I intend to give as much as I feasibly can.

Anyway, I have about an hour and a half left to go and lots to try and get done before I leave. So all the best for the festive season and I look forward to seeing all of you soon in the new year.

Thanks for making this another successful year.

Cheers,

- Liam