"Stanley the mailman, the best mailman that ever was, kept leaving us plastic corrugated USPS tubs. They seemed to multiply at night. We'd been shipping a lot more books--even before we knew what was coming--so Stanley picking up packages became a daily thing. He'd bring two empty tubs and swap them out for the two tubs full of books. But the in-store stack of empty tubs kept growing.... Last week, Chris finally asked Stanley to take away the extras, leaving only two. Why the heck would we ever need six USPS tubs anyway?
"The first day we offered free delivery in Lawrence, last Saturday, I hopped in my little red hatchback and delivered three packages. The next day, maybe six. By Tuesday it was 15 books and they were sliding across my trunk. We shouldn't have given away the tubs. Wednesday we asked Stanley for more. That day, two of us delivered 50 books. Thursday it was 75 books and three delivery routes....
"The main interactions I have with customers these days involve me standing beside my still-running car in the driveway as the customer waves from their porch. Sometimes they yell 'thank you!' and I yell 'thank YOU!'...
"We reinvented this business in a matter of a weekend. Our community has unleashed an absolute outbreak of support. The creaky old shop has proven resilient in its first week of reinvention. But these days any Same could be over in hours.... I'm afraid of falling in love with delivering books because I don't know how long it will last."