So why are all of your indie booksellers (and probably all retail workers) weeping? The pandemic did 3 things: Limited staff, shifted sales online, & disrupted our supply chain. Thread of info!

In a normal holiday season, PSB could have 10, 12 booksellers working at the same time to handle the increase in sales. Now, in order to be as safe as possible we have 5-7 & those 5-7 stay in set stations...

which means that it's really hard to multitask. We can't shelve when customers are in the store. Those of us working the registers can't help with online orders. Etc....

Speaking of online orders, they are a lot more work for us than in store sales. Like a lot. (That's why Amz's warehouses are such terrible often dangerous places to work.) Items need to be gathered individually, incomplete orders need to be stored somewhere...

and they need to be completed as special orders come in. Sometimes that's easy, sometimes there are many specials to complete an order and they come in over several days...

And speaking of those orders coming in. Publishers, printers, wholesalers, warehouses, shippers are all short staffed just like everyone else, and can't do the seasonal hiring they normally do to cope with holiday says so...

special orders take longer to arrive and sometimes don't arrive at all. And, of course, these three things compound. Books being out of stock adds work to the online orders as we have to follow up, which can create new orders, and their labor...

And speaking of that labor, not only can we not fit more workers in the space, more people have to call out sick. Feel like you've got a cold? You can't come in to work. In contact with someone who tested positive. You can't come into work. And this is...

on top of the normal challenges holiday shopping presents. Sooooo, booksellers (and probably other retail workers) are doing tons more work for fewer sales with fewer supports and running out of more of what people want than ever. The vast majority of y'all...

are being patient and supportive and wonderful. Reader twitter has been a beacon in these dark times. So if you're one of those great readers, that's where we're at. Thank you!