ATMV: Now Open – progress update
I know I promised to report sooner about opening the doors at our new All That Music “Collector’s Market location. I apologize, but getting ready for your first visit has absolutely dominated my time, thoughts and energy, especially in the past two weeks. I can paint you a picture of what level of mayhem that has been preoccupying me and I’m sure you’ll understand. But first, we’re open! And I’m happy to report that our LP stock is at 80% and should be completely available by this weekend. Also, we’re rapidly moving from the old listening stations to a brand new system of 20 that more than doubles the listening opportunities for visitors. Our new boutique will be in place by the weekend, too. We’re 90% ready, but that percentage is going up fast, so we welcome you to come in now to say hi, do some shopping and get a feel for our new digs. It’ll take us another 10 days to wrap-up some important details, just in time for our official grand-opening, coinciding with National Record Store Day Saturday April 21st.
Now, welcome to my nightmare. We’ve had to start a new inventory system that requires replacing 40,000 active bar-codes. Technology literally bit me when we went to 64-bit technology. Mark Luna with Excellent Networks saved us with his expertise in software, hard drives and the rest of the virtual mess upgrading can cause. We have a new VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone system which will eventually provide some easy options for customers. Not so easy for us to install and get on-line with though. To top it all off, our “All That Music & Video” signage is installed, but we have to wait a few days to get the “Collectors Marketplace” portion up. Not to mention placing and replacing power lines, placing and repositioning display cases, receiving too much carpet and not enough tile, piles of junk neatly hidden from view from the sales floor. Incidentally, after seeing all this junk from past incarnations of the store, I’m tempted to have a huge garage sale later this summer or fall. In the meantime we’re finding our essential stuff and trying to make sense of it all. Good thing we’ve got a large temporary warehouse. If this isn’t enough to make you as dizzy as me, trust me, I’ve got more.
The bottom line is that we’ve made it through most of it to keep our promise of only being closed for four days. I’m anxious to get going on our Museum of Rock ‘n’ Roll with a definite El Paso slant. My intent is to showcase all the neat stuff that I’ve accumulated over the years. I’ve seen how people really get a kick out of seeing these artifacts, so I’m bringing many items out of hiding in my office and onto the floor to share with other El Pasoans. It’ll include my many Beatles items, Crosno shrine, and Bobby Fuller Four items to name just a few, but there will be many other items never before seen by others except to my friends. It’ll be a work in progress, but I promise to have a few things on display by April 21st.
That’s it from here … get the picture? No need to wait till grand-opening April 21st … stop in and see our new store today at 8900 Gateway East. We’ve expanded our hours, which will be subject to change based on the shopping patterns of our new location. We’re open earlier, starting at 10AM, Monday through Thursday, then closing at 8PM. Friday & Saturday we’re open 10AM to 9PM, and Sunday we’re sticking with Noon to 6PM. My trusty Canon camera finally gave-out so I bought a new Nikon cool-pix which lasted a total of 15 days before it too ended-up defective. I promise to post some new photos soon … so stay tuned. The store is evolving, so it’s taking a lot of effort and imagination to make it picture-perfect. Through it all, however, we’ve been making and are making great progress daily. We sincerely look forward to seeing you soon. Thanks again to all for your patience, and support during this important and transitional period for your local independent music store.
