As part of our summer holiday policy, we've been enjoying a 10am opening, which gives us a couple of extra hours in the morning to recharge. It’s been a welcome respite, especially during the typically hectic retail days.

Once the doors opened today, I kicked off with the usual routine: starting with invoices, and making sure all the numbers lined up before diving into some stock control. It’s always satisfying to get a handle on the inventory, ensuring everything is in its place and accounted for. Today’s focus was on consolidating and updating our daily stocklist, a task that gives me a clear view of what items are back in stock.

There were some exciting highlights as I worked through the updates, especially if you’re a fan of board and card games. Back in stock today are some real gems: Bloodborne: The Card Game, Codenames, Coffee Rush, Monopoly Elf (yes, Christmas starts early in retail), Phantom Ink, and Unlock! Epic Adventures. It’s a board game-heavy day, which is always a good sign as we gear up for the holiday season.

The stocklist update also triggers price changes, which keeps things dynamic. Today, 40 prices were reduced while 23 saw an increase. In total, there are 111 products that needed updating to reflect the latest information. It’s a meticulous process, but essential to ensure our customers always get the most accurate and up-to-date information.

Being Monday, it’s also time to update the “Out This Week” section on our website. The big video game releases this week are Dustborn and Concord, both of which have been eagerly anticipated. Additionally, I made a note of the new release of the Pokémon TCG: Holiday Calendar (Christmas again!), which will hit our shop floor first before making its way online soon.

We've missed a few weeks of our newsletter due to the holiday, and unfortunately, this week will also be skipped. Creating a newsletter takes about a week’s worth of content, and I haven’t had a chance to start yet. However, I’ve earmarked the new releases of Dustborn, Concord, and the Pokémon TCG Holiday Calendar for the next edition’s “Out Now” section. The newsletter also needs to cover the first massive video game release of late 2024: Star Wars Outlaws. Alongside that, we’ll be featuring the start of the Match Attax 24/25 cards and other exciting upcoming releases like the STALKER board game, Outer Wilds physical release, Visions of Mana, Apex Legends board game, and Fallout Factions. It’s shaping up to be a busy newsletter indeed. Has Christmas started already?

Next on the list was checking preorders, with Until Dawn on PS5 newly added. However, there's an embargo set for Wednesday, so it won’t be available on the website until then. After that, I listed the 30-day window preorder games on eBay, which today included the surprise cult hit Balatro and Core Keeper.

Then it was time to move onto the website and list FC 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as promised a couple of days ago. Once those were live, I created a slide for Dragon Age and wrote a news blog about the double EA release of FC 25 and Dragon Age.

To wrap up the day, I conducted a LEGO analysis and prepared a purchase order for the next batch of sets. And since it’s Monday, I left a bit earlier to keep up with my kids' routine—Pizza Night. This little luxury will soon end as Christmas sales pick up in about six weeks time. What fun that will be!

Until next time!