As the holiday shopping season approaches, I’d guess that every small business that is at least part retail is trying to figure out how they’re going to up their game. For Black Friday, or Small Business Saturday, or just the gift-giving season at large.

Empty Set is, in part, a retail business. We sell books, and t-shirts, and just this month, started selling stickers. We have dwindling inventory for limited edition stock (which is good) and lots of inventory for brand new stock (which is also good.)

We sell non-essential things, which are also aspirational and fun things. There’s not a single thing in our inventory that will save your life in a submerged car, or help you rake up the last autumn leaves. It’s not dangerous for you not to have our most recent t-shirts. Nothing in the Empty Set store is a necessary thing for managing the base of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

So, why buy? What makes our t-shirts worth your hard earned money?  Or our tricked-out books? For me personally, it’s because Scott Sigler stories are an escape from our topsy-turvy reality, and if that’s the case, more is more.

I think everyone benefits from celebrating the things that make them happy. And if you (like me) are a huge Krakens fan, showing your team colors while running a forklift at your day job might just make you happier while you do it. It’s always the little things. And those things matter. Again, they’re not going to save your life, but they will most certainly make the life you have a little more fun. And who doesn’t want more of that?

As we descend into the frenzied end-of-year season, I’ll keep at it, putting out cool stuff for cool people. And when the holiday season is over, you’ll still find us cranking things out. More is more after all.