Two

What a week we just had.  To say nothing of the Aether Revolt prerelease, which went great, and which I will discuss next week after the regular release weekend.  But more than that, we finally had some completion on the business side of things.

"Keep on pressing through the changes.  The momentum that moved you will not stop now." - The Neal Morse Band, 2012

DSG shocked the region back in November with a massive merger-expansion announcement, one that would add three existing stores to our repertoire and set the table for the opening of three more in the next two years.

That ambitious plan sounded gargantuan, which of course is an impression we were happy to cultivate.  In reality it was very reachable by means of incorporating existing, operating stores into the DSG business entity, and then proceeding with a capital-infused plan to add locations to that structure at roughly six-month intervals.  It was going to be a lot of work, of course, but we were not having to reinvent the wheel to achieve it.

Then, the other shoes dropped, and we found ourselves with an inbound store dying on the operating table before we could acquire, and also in a questionable position with comics, a product category so primary it's right there in the store name.  Our option on the Chandler lease expired.  Our venture capital did not come in as promised -- though that didn't have as huge an impact on our plans because I held off on committing to spending for funds that were not yet received.  But the bottom line was, the great seven-store ambition was clearly not going to take place.

Fortunately, we did not sit down and stop, nor did we give up.  Behind the scenes, I continued working with the various ownerships involved.  Some of the business plan did not work out, and that is disappointing, but it happens.  But some very big parts of the plan did work out.

That brings us to today.  Last week we finally completed the incorporation of Tempe Comics into the Desert Sky Games LLC business entity.  Thus, Tempe Comics LLC is no more and the store at 1523 E. Apache Blvd is truly Desert Sky Games and Comics - Tempe.  Proprietor Mike Griffin has fully joined the ownership group of DSG and is an LLC partner, and we have already begun the process of adding massive resources in equipment, fixtures, and inventory to the Tempe location.  

Once fully catalogued and racked, the DSG Tempe library of comic books will be among the biggest and best around, as it will contain everything Tempe Comics had plus everything DSG Gilbert had no room to exhibit... plus even more comics we had in storage.  There are some really great comic mainstay stores in town and we aspire to build toward the level of their impressive offerings.

I have taken two moving trucks full of material from Gilbert (and my garage in Chandler) to Tempe thus far, in addition to many, many minivan loads of merchandise.  And we're not even close to finished; there is so much more still to go.  DSG Tempe has a lot of space we can leverage to make up for lack of space elsewhere until more locations can open.

And when will that be?  Soon, but not as soon as we thought.  As I mentioned before, we have our leisure to build at Superstition Springs, and the plan right now is to spend the bulk of the spring and summer saving up to have a better resource base to do it.  And as I also mentioned, Payson is on deck and will still be there when we are ready to move, likely next year.  This does not prevent us from exploring other options, including bringing in more capital and/or finding another way into Chandler. But after pushing a little at the edges to make the seven-store blowout happen, and having that not work out, we are content to move forward at a more deliberate pace now.

I am basically a walking bruise at this point; all that moving things around was as much as my aged and infirm body can withstand.  I could probably sleep through a day, but no time for that as Business is Happening right now at Gilbert and Tempe alike!  I hope your 2017 has been healthy and prosperous as well.