On Pre-Thanksgiving

Yesterday. The XBox 360 launched. System allocations were extremely tight. Microsoft cut allocations twice in the weeks running up to the November 22nd launch resulting in a few customer service issues. But by Monday customers who knew they wouldn’t be getting a system on Launch Day seemed pretty accepting of the fact, and yesterday’s launchContinue reading “On Pre-Thanksgiving”

On a Business Trip

I’m packed. Tomorrow morning I fly from Raleigh to Las Vegas, with a pitstop in Newark, New Jersey. It’s business, not pleasure. The company holds an annual manager’s convention, one year in Orlando, the following year in Vegas. Last year was Orlando in the weeks after the hurricanes, this year is Vegas. Three solid daysContinue reading “On a Business Trip”

On Grand Theft Auto: The Less Naughty Version

I am asked almost daily, “When’s the cleaned-up version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas coming out?” Next week, as it turns out. It seems that we’re the only retailer still carrying the Adults-Only rated version of the game. Our competitors all pulled it, sometimes hypocritically, based on the merchandise they sell. But for thoseContinue reading “On Grand Theft Auto: The Less Naughty Version”

On the Things that Matter

I’ve been mulling this post since Friday. On Friday the company held a Town Hall meeting in Charlotte to provide the latest updates on the corporate merger. I won’t say much about the meeting–in terms of information provided we received little, yet the important aspect of the meeting, the boost in morale it provided, can’tContinue reading “On the Things that Matter”

On Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto, and Bully

Every day at the store I have customers asking whether or not I have Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in stock. Monday I fielded a phone call–the guy wanted to buy ten copies of the XBox version of the game for a quick turnaround on eBay, he said. Unfortunately, since every other retailer on theContinue reading “On Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto, and Bully”