I sold my first item

Many takeaways

I gained a lot of takeaways over this three-day weekend. I had many interactions and discoveries, such as appraisals by antique dealers, conversations with local residents, customers who dropped by, friends who visited out of interest, learning that it is more economical to dispose of items as oversized trash rather than using a collection service, and the importance of cleaning the front of the shop early.

Decluttering

Of course, I basically value things, but I believe items that are clearly damaged, moldy, or broken must be discarded. In particular, I intend to put the large chests of drawers, cupboards, and storage cases in front of the shop out as oversized trash. Once this space is cleared, I will be able to display the tableware and small items inside the shop.
The street in front does not have much car traffic, but since it is close to the station, many people pass by, making it a location with potential for running a shop. To make the most of this location, I want to clear the front of the shop as soon as possible.

Long-tail style

It is a common story that something that seems worthless to me might have value to someone else. In fact, customers who dropped by yesterday and today looked around the shop and bought a broken wall clock and an old picture frame. This shop might be a long-tail place where many niche products that appeal to a minority are lying dormant.

Proposed by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine in the US, the term "long tail" was coined because when you arrange products along an axis of "best-sellers" and "everything else," the group of products with lower sales (the tail) is illustrated as low and long, resembling a dinosaur's tail, while the best-sellers look like the dinosaur's head.
The long tail is a marketing strategy for the internet age! Understand it correctly and increase your sales

Mental exercise

A comment from a customer who visited today left an impression on me. They said that figuring out how to utilize old or seemingly worthless items is "a mental exercise." This is a very apt way to put it, and it feels true. I feel once again that an editorial approach—how to utilize existing things, places, and spaces, and how to breathe new value into them—is important.

The photo is of cherry blossoms near Inokashira-koen Station. Despite COVID, Inokashira Park was quite lively.