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I was worried about paying another staff member, but she’d be working part time, which eased my mind. The girl I discovered, Henry, short for Henrietta, was a caffeine genius. Henry’s shifts would cover lunches and Saturdays, and if we opened on Sunday, she said she would work. Although I had my laptop open, I was listening carefully to the oohs and aahs as people sampled Henry’s coffees. Henry had found a blackboard from somewhere and was running specials of her own creation. She’d worked in several coffee shops and had gained more skills than my little shop demanded. But hearing the customers’ praise and, in some cases, nearly cry over her creations, I thought she’d be worth her weight in gold.
I had ordered a hot caramel chocolate, one of the specials with a hidden flavour, and had almost orgasmed over it! It was my second cup of the day. Shamelessly listening intently to a couple of office workers from Phoe’s HQ raving over the coffee, I tried Henry’s secret spice latte next.
Reid was down in the Vault, showing a theatre nut a few of the original manuscripts he’d picked up randomly. Adam was in the StudentZone, changing the name from mock Bodleian to the StudentZone, as Adam called it. I was down on the main shop floor with Celine operating the register. Zoe had come in on her day off as we’d swapped her days around for this week, and she was helping customers find what they needed. Penny was banging and clanging in the kitchen, and wonderful smells drifted out of there.
So, I sat comfortably in one of the armchairs in the window’s corner and tried to work. I wanted to review yesterday’s transactions and see how well we had done. Andy created an app to monitor the footfall for each day, and I was looking at the figures wide-eyed. Yes, I knew we’d been busy, but the sums were astounding. When I clicked on the sales page and studied the numbers there, my eyes nearly popped out of my head. The opening day purchases had bypassed projections by a long shot. Andy, being Andy, had set apps up, so I’d be able to track each genre’s sales.
The app was simple. When a novel came in, we scanned it into the system and the quantity of the book we stocked. Once on the computer, we entered it into a genre, and it was possible to see how well that genre was selling. Andy organised the top and bottom fifty sellers. Of course, the worse sellers would take a few weeks for the sale figures to kick in. As of yesterday, romance was the leading seller. Closely followed by historical romance, thrillers, and horror. That was good. When an item was sold, the system automatically ordered a replacement. At the end of the business day, the books and items that needed re-ordering would be collated.
Thanks to Andy, because we had multiple suppliers, when we entered the title into the search engine, we wrote in the supplier too. So, we didn’t have to scrabble around to find them to re-order stock. That made everything far more straightforward. Reid and I had decided it was my job to check orders at the end of the business day and take off any that we’d stocked for a while and not sold. Then I’d confirm the order.
Each book had its own space in the system. Andy had worked hard setting it up, but each page told who the author was and when the title was first published. Details such as what edition we owned, how long we’d had it and who the supplier was. Things included were how much it cost, how many we’d sold, how often we’d re-ordered the novel, and how many sales it had. Lots of information on tap, which was nice, as I was admittedly anal.
Sipping my drink, I flicked over to the student’s page and was pleased with the numbers I saw that had signed up for our students’ scheme. The StudentZone was starting off on a large deficit. We’d invested in over thirty laptops, which had cost a whack, and we’d our fingers crossed that this part of the business took off. StudentZone had a long path to walk before it paid back the debt and began making cash.
Andy had devised several packages, knowing how tight money was for students. He’d created a tier system. The basic package offered three hours of internet daily for a weekly twenty-dollar payment. Then up to the higher level, which allowed unlimited access, for a fifty dollar-a-week subscription. I’d baulked at the charges, but Andy assured me as we’d super-fast fibre optic internet (my speech, Andy explained it in speed and so on, and I went blank). Most cafes charged around five bucks upwards an hour for Wi-Fi, so the kids were getting a dirt-cheap bargain. Included was a ten per cent discount card to be used on books and sundries. A five per cent deduction on snacks and coffee.
The students could book laptops upstairs and bring in their own laptop or device and use the Wi-Fi. Andy had liaised with local universities and colleges and set up site links. No one was allowed to bring food or drink into the shop. Andy devised a loyalty scheme. When the customers spent ten dollars, the programme gave them stamps on a saving card. Which gifted an extra ten per cent off a purchase when filled. The loyalty card was offered to every customer, and we gave senior citizens a discount bonus of five per cent. Curiously, I studied the sign-ups for the loyalty scheme and saw they were slightly under what I’d projected. The savings cards I couldn’t track until they were used.
Clicking, I checked the pages that linked to the food counters. There was a page for hot drinks with the purchases that were made yesterday, which exceeded my expectations. Each type of drink we sold was tracked at the till. The cafe cash register confused me. There were so many buttons, but Penny and Henry had a handle on it. Even food items were followed individually to ensure maximum sales. The kitchen had started off in the red too, but looking at the profits from the counters, they’d soon clear the preliminary expenses.
The two things that worried me were the book purchases which were above excellent for yesterday and the internet usage. I was concerned both wouldn’t pay their way despite the incentives offered. On our first day, the Reading Nook had fantastic sales. They’d beaten expectations. Truthfully, yesterday was opening day, and the shop was a novelty in the neighbourhood. It would be interesting to view accounts in a few months.
Not wanting doubt to run roughshod over my fragile confidence, I beat the worries back and concentrated on the positives. Reid and I had discussed theme weekends to bring in more customers, and the first was set for thanksgiving weekend, where we’d dress up and have several promotions. Book signings may also help promote the Reading Nook loads.
“Hey, how’s it going?” a voice spoke that I didn’t recognise. Long legs sat themselves down in the armchair opposite mine. Warily, I glanced up and saw a man I did not know, but I knew the cut. Jett had explained bikers didn’t wear waistcoats; they wore cuts. This guy was from Rage.
“Hi,” I said shyly.
“Manny.” I looked confused. “My name’s Manny,” he replied with a bigger grin.
Oh jeez, Manny was sexy cute in the boy next doorway. Tussled long blond hair past his shoulders and light-coloured amber eyes studied me.
“I’m Sin.”
Manny nodded. “Guessed that. So, business doing well today.”
“Fingers crossed it keeps up that way. I’d hate for Reid to have been fired, and then I mess this up.”
“You’re partners, right?”
“Reid’s like my big brother, a grouchy know-it-all, but we’re in this together.”
“Family can make anything work,” Manny agreed, staring at me for a few minutes. It became uncomfortable, and I squirmed in my chair.
“Is there something you want to say?” I finally inquired, feeling my cheeks redden. Manny’s gaze turned intense.
“Got an ex-husband who’s a whack job?” Manny asked, and I blinked in stunned surprise.
“No,” I replied, with a hint of a question in the word.
“More than two kids?” Manny sought.
“No.”
“Own skills that the CIA would die to recruit?”
What was he on about?
