Hey Folks!
This has certainly been an interesting week. As some of you may have noticed, I am currently experiencing a serious issue with the store’s light fixtures. “Serious” is defined by the fact that they are all going out one by one and plunging the store into darkness. As you can probably imagine this has caused no small amount of consternation for me. I mean, Steve and I have been having problems with the light fixtures going on and off for years, but until now the problem was generally dealt with by flicking the lights on and off until it fixed itself or by simply waiting for them to eventually click back on their own. A couple of weeks ago one of the fixtures gave up the battle and simply blinked off never to return. Last Friday another fixture “burned out” although it has intermittently flickered back to life only to bank down again. This morning when I opened the store another light fixture gave up the ghost. I figure that if I don’t do something soon I will have more darkness in the store than Cloak’s cloak.
So, it is with heavy heart that I had to make an executive decision. My first year renovation plans included giving the store a paint job (walls & racks) as well as replacing the cruddy carpet with some nice new flooring. My plan was to get these things done before Free Comic Book Day in August so that the I could unveil the renovations to the largest possible audience. My master plan was to tackle the light fixtures (and, indeed, the ceiling as a whole) next year during Phase Two. Unfortunately it looks like I am going to have pull a switcheroo and replace the light fixtures this year and focus on the floors next year. My reasoning is that it is more important to see stuff then worrying about the crappy carpet.
I’ve got the electrician scheduled to come in next Wednesday in order to give me a quote on what the job will end up costing. Being ME I have no clue what new LED light fixtures for the whole store will run and maybe the price will be reasonable enough to enable me to do the floors as well, but I have a feeling that I need to be sitting down when he drops the price bomb on me. In any case, please excuse the mess and hustle and bustle that I expect will descend on the store in a week or two when the project gets started. I can’t wait to see how I’m going to have to move the racks around to accommodate the technicians…lol.
I wanted to take a moment and let everyone know that I will be opening the store late on Tuesday, May 1st, as I have a memorial service to attend at 11am. I can’t say exactly when I will be open as I’m not sure how long it will run, but I will not be attending the wake afterward in order to get the store opened as quickly as possible. I will still, of course, be unpacking and getting the new comics ready for Wednesday and I am currently planning on still doing the live show albeit at a later time than usual. Thanks for understanding…
There is probably a whole lot more for me to blather on about, but I have a rather tight schedule today between preparing all the sub stuff for posting as well as completing initial May orders for Diamond, so I do believe I will bid you all a fond adieu. I suppose I should also mention that Monarch Comics will be closed on Memorial Day which should come as no surprise as I am closed every Monday anyway. Have a great weekend, Folks, and a safe and happy holiday!
Eddie