Retail is a very simple business.
You buy a product at a low price, and you sell it at a higher price. The trick to it all is finding what people want, and being able to keep that demand going knowing that it changes with the season.
There are many seasons in retail. Super Bowl…short food season. Valentine Day, again a short season. Easter. Memorial Day. Graduation and wedding season. July 4th. Clothing clearance season. Back to school season. Halloween. And the rip roarer of them all…..the Christmas/New Years season.
In most areas of the country all of those seasons just mentioned fall into one of the four seasons of Nature. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Working in retail for 40 years, all of those seasons worked their way into my DNA. I could feel when the season was going to change.
And then I moved to Florida.
I lost touch with when Spring ended, and Summer began. With warm weather, and sunshine most of the year it really messed me up. Moving to Arizona hasn’t helped.
I cruised into Mallwart the other day looking for a couple of gardening tools. As I sauntered back to the garden center I knew I was in trouble. Christmas was everywhere. So. Much. Christmas.
And it struck me once again, I am out of synch with my younger self. Without the cold weather, and rain, and snow…..I no longer really know what time of year it is. Hell, since retiring I no longer really know what day it is. I don’t have to set an alarm to get up. I don’t have to keep track of my work schedule because the company I work for sends me an email reminder of when I am work.
I am completely untethered in this world.
Kinda scary isn’t?