Ahhh...Inventory...

...the time of year when everything in the store needs to be counted and compared to what corporate says we have.

They pretty up the info by breaking down the numbers by department:

"Oh, you have 297 pairs of Men's sneakers, compared to an LY of only 259 pairs...Why didn't you sell more shoes?"

When in reality, it just comes down money.

If we have more money's worth of product than what corporate says we have, that's called a "Swell"...which by the way, isn't.

If we have less money's worth of product than what corporate says we have, (the more likely scenario), it's called "Shrink".

The bigger the Shrink, the more money we lost over the past 12 months.

The more money we lost, the bigger "at risk" our store becomes...and the more we get blamed for it.

**sigh**