Well folks, Nick here. The tumultuous year that was 2025 is in the rear-view mirror. And as has become a bit of a tradition for me, it's time to sit down and take stock of where we are, where we’ve been, and where we hope to go as the new year crests the horizon. There’s no big policy announcements, no new promotions in this little musing. Just a few thoughts of mine I wanted to share.

State of the Store 2025

As I write this, someone in our neighborhood is being “that person.” It’s half-past midnight and still they’re launching fireworks to celebrate the new year. I’m sitting in the living room with one of my partners hard at work crunching numbers on a spreadsheet while the other is doing his best to sleep in spite of the fireworks. I hope that, however you chose to celebrate this moment of transition from one year to the next, you enjoyed yourself. 

This year was one helluva year. Politically terrifying. Financially amazing. And the workload? Overwhelming and yet somehow manageable with help from a great team of people. I cannot stress how hard Elise, Sloane, Mads, and the rest of the team have worked to overcome the challenges this year has set before us. 

New Systems and Growing Pains

One of the biggest challenges of this year hit us right at the start of the year with Diamond’s bankruptcy. For those of you not aware: once upon a time Diamond Comics Distribution was the be-all-end-all distributor for all things comics. The pandemic hit them particularly hard, fracturing their monopoly on the comics industry. Fast forward five years later, and the slow hemorrhage of publishers to other distribution outlets finally took a decisive toll. In January 2025, they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

Diamond did a lot of good for the industry in its heyday. For all its (many) flaws, they did pioneer some point-of-sale solutions on which we had learned to rely for ordering books. And with the bankruptcy came an immediate question: who’s going to maintain that software? We realized almost immediately that the answer was “no one” and jumped ship over to Shopify. Since we’d been using the service already for our web store, the transition was mostly painless, though certainly there were bumps along the way. Some things – e.g.,ordering and singles management – have gotten so much easier. Other things have definitely had a learning curve to working with them (looking at you, barcode-scanners-that-don’t-scan-whole-barcodes).

Overall, the transition did derail a chunk of our 2025 plans for the store. It’s hard to source solutions for things like table reservation systems / rentals when you’re not sure on which point-of-sale solution it’s going to have to run. That said, we did make some progress on a few of our original 2025 goals such as getting our ordering and inventory management under control. A lot of credit goes to Sloane and Elise on that front - the two of them have been extremely consistent in getting weekly orders in and making sure that your orders, your books and games, get to us in a timely fashion.

Lastly on a personal level… 2025 was a hard year for me, and for a lot of us here. Every person working at Phoenix has been impacted negatively by the current federal administration’s policies and attitudes. Even apart from that, I think we have all felt an increased level of stress and tension in our lives. Everyone does their best to work around it, I think, but there are some days where we’ve all said to each other, “we’re not okay today, but we’re gonna do our best, even if that means leaving some things for tomorrow.” 

Financial State

In maybe the best news I have to share,  Phoenix did financially really well this year, and we were able to pass a lot of that success onto our team. We had double-digit growth that resulted in two sets of raises going out to everyone - one set mid-year after Magic’s Final Fantasy set came out, and one cost of living increase that’s part of the union contract at the end of every year, plus bonuses on both occasions. It continues to be my hope that the store does well and grows at a steady pace to accommodate my desire to pay everyone who works here a living wage, not just a subsistence one. 

And of course, it’s worth mentioning that this financial success would not be possible if not for all of you. Our wonderful customer base who visit and buy our comics, games, Magic cards, and everything in between and beyond that. By participating in our events and shopping here, you’re supporting not only us, but a community of queer people and their allies. We appreciate you so much for that.

In Memoriam

One of the things that I think made this year harder than most was the number of people we’ve lost. Subscribers, regulars, and friends - this year we said an unexpected goodbye to too many. Jim, Adam, and Jer - we miss seeing you here at Phoenix. You were, all of you, forces of nature and personalities that we remember, and you will all be missed dearly. To all your families - we hope that you find a little joy in knowing that we remember them fondly. 

The Year Ahead

Looking forward into this new uncharted year I find myself cautiously optimistic. The things that fueled our big leap forward in growth are mostly still there. And I know that infinite and continuous growth is one of the biggest myths of capitalism. Still, there’s a lot to anticipate, I think. My management team and I are sitting down in a week or so to chart our course for the rest of the year. We’ve set aside an entire day to talk and plan, and it feels really good to be able to do that. 

I’m looking forward to going to GAMA again this year. Last year was my first con and I came away from it with new contacts and a ton of new ideas for the shop (some of which still need to be implemented). It marked a change in the nature of my job, stepping back to let my management team handle the day to day operations of the store while I handled the administrative end of things and focused on making sure the larger vision for the store was handled. I’ve always wanted Phoenix to be both a game store and community space, and I cannot help but think that dream is moving closer and closer to being a solid reality. I think with our team’s help and dedication, we can do just that. 

And that's a wrap on this year folks. I hope that my musings have given you something to think about or be grateful for going into the year ahead. We'll be back in just a few days with a recap of Sloane and I's top picks for 2025, along with a fun little rundown of our top 10 best-selling graphic novels this year. Until then, I hope the new year treats you kindly!