In a time when many people are still unable to go to work (in spite of, in the United States, most areas re-opening without much concern) I’ve been fortunate in that my job has stayed open, in so far as providing goods and services, during all this, under normal hours. In fact, on a whole, we’ve experienced an incredible increase in overall business during all this.
For those unfamiliar, I work in a one-off used game store which specializes in repairs, in addition to the normal buying and selling of used games and systems of all types. With many people being off work and school, having effectively nothing to do, games have become something to sink the hours into for both adults and kids to sink time into, and as such whatever we’ve been able to provide to our local community, or people online via our internet sales channels. Additionally, of course, and even more lucratively come the repairs. Oh man, the never ending stream of repairs. I’m not going to use this as a space to attack certain pieces of hardware, not at the moment, but I will say for as much as the PlayStation community acts like it’s the greatest thing ever, they sure as hell don’t take care of them; that, or these machines break without much reason. It’s one or the other, that’s for sure.
On topic, we’ve been at a never ending stream of repairs since the Pandemic really broke into reality for our area. We’ve always been busy with repairs, but there was a surge that hasn’t really stopped since this chaos all started, and it’s been pretty good for our pocketbooks. Normally, following Tax time, Spring and Summer are pretty dry months, but given all of the above that’s not been the case for April and May so far — things have been pretty damn good.
Of course, we’ve been cautious – the store has been “curbside only” since late March, and even with other places opening we’ve said no to it — you call, and we take care of business over the phone, with items exchanged though a drop box outside. Of course this annoys some people (deal with it) but most are fine with it — honestly, quite happy that we are even active, and some are glad we’re taking the precautions we are.
That all being said, the end result is that I’ve been quite busy, hence the lower output of entries over the past few weeks, in spite of my efforts. This especially includes the way last week just kind of cut out on Thursday – working seemingly nonstop gives you minimal time for hobbies, so it is what it is. Such is life and all that.
I just found it interesting that, during all this, the little shop I work at is actually doing far better than one would think. It’s pretty chaotic, to say the least, at times, but still good, and it’s keeping my income steady, thankfully. It’s an added bonus that I’m helping fellow gamers enjoy the hobby.
There, there’s some positivity during all this. Next up is something not so positive, but something that regardless I feel must be said. Beyond that, more to come, as always.
