Steelbook#1Fan

Hello, my local comic shop just moved to a new location. Their original location was in a decent part of town with their own building and 2 parking lots. Now they move to a store on main street in town with absolutely no parking, especially during the day. I mean nothing even close to a parking space for at least 2 blocks. I am pretty sure they moved for financial reasons but why make their customers suffer for it? It has been 2 new release Wednesday's since they moved. The first week I was fortunate enough to park one block away, this week not a space in sight so I parked in a spot that may/may not have been a legal parking space. The only option now to avoid this madness is going on the weekend which sucks. Do LCS want to fail or what? This store is obviously in financial trouble so should I look online for my books?

CaptStormy

Sure it sucks but businesses are getting harder and harder to survive these days. i am sure the owner is not doing this to make life more difficult for its customers. I just hope the deal he made with building management was sweet enough to account for lost business this can lead to.

slop101

I have to drive a little out of the way to get to my LCS, but at least they have plenty of parking right in front of the store. If I had to deal with both "out of the way" and "no parking", then I'd probably go online for books, but dealing with just one of them is no big deal.

But as far as LCSs doing things like this, I blame the comic book companies and distributors that are some of the worst companies to deal with among all business - their margins are razor thin and there's no room to make any real money without gouging the customer, or making some drastic changes like cheaper rent.

Superboy

All my favorite LCSs closed down. It was mostly due to bad business decisions - they stopped specially ordering items and giving discounts for pull lists when new management took over. All the customers just migrated to other shops in the area.

bishop2knight

Most comic shop owners (I think) are comic fans, not business people. I hate to see these shops go out of business. I do. But the customer base is changing, and if they can't adapt, then they will continue to fold.

dadaluholla

I have to drive roughly 45 minutes - hour to get to my comic shop. That's why I now only go every two months or so. He is in a large flea market though, so he doesn't really have to worry about parking issues or anything.

The good thing about the flea market, is you always have people find your shop when they are just walking around browsing, where as with an actual store in a town setting, if people aren't looking to specifically buy a comic or something you're not going to get a lot of casual browsers/new customers.

The Bus

They may be getting a lot more foot traffic at the new location.

MrTerrific

Keep buying books there and tell your friends to do the same!

Bronkster

Just noticed your location - do you go to Comics, Toons and Toys?

To address the original question, over the years as I've watched Comic Stores come and go, one thing that seems to be a major factor is the landlord raising the rent or lease to the point where the poor comic store owner can no longer afford to stay there. The new location then is crappier due to the cost factor. It sucks, but that's life in our capitalist society.

slop101

Yup - and it's not just because it's pretty much the only comic shop in my neck of the woods, but Matt runs a real tight ship there, and his is one of the only stores that's been around since the '80s the has actually expanded each time it's moved - he actually just bought the adjacent space next to his shop and moved all the manga in there, which I'm sure helps make him money in order to stay in business.

Bronkster

Yup, once I discovered the place, it became "home".

Josh-da-man

I think there's a lot of truth the statement that most comic shop owners are fans before businessmen.

It's actually really easy to start up a Diamond account and get a shop going. The trick is in maintaining a profitable business against the fickle tastes of the consumer.

Point of fact, I'd also add that the major publishers, Marvel and DC, aren't that great at business either. (Look at Marvel's attempt to self-distribute and DC's disasterous "Countdown".) They seem to be running on the business plan of throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks; and they're essentially doing it on the backs of the direct market retailers. Who aren't exactly well capitalized for the most part.

fujishig

Well, the pros of being a comic book fan who owns a store is that you're heavily invested and enthusiastic (for the most part) about the product. The con is that you have to have some business sense, and learn how to stock things that you don't like or don't even pay attention to.

I don't think the LCS in the above post is doing it to inconvenience his loyal shoppers. Even the one in Superboy's post doesn't sound all that bad... they had to make tough business decisions. You can give loyal readers discounts, but how much of your profit does that take away? Maybe they weren't pulling large enough orders to special order stuff from Diamond without it getting reallocated (or maybe they got burned by people that preordered and never picked up or paid).

I know I wouldn't want to run a comic shop in this day and age. I don't even think there are any comic-only shops around, without having to cater to the action figure and card collecting/playing audience.

madcougar

You know this thread has triggered a funny memory. You'd think (or at least I would) that every comic book store owner is a fan right? Well I was in a shop in Houston several years ago and the owner was having a discussion with a customer about comic books. After a few minutes the owner kinda rolled his eyes, sighed and said "I don't really know. I don't read any of this shit."

alfredog1976

I recently discovered this shop, it is my "home" as well...great shop

Bronkster

Okay, all DVDTalkers wear a red carnation in your lapel this week.

DarkestPhoenix

Who are you, the Joker?

I've often thought about getting a comic book store. But economically, especially in Iowa, I can't see any way to make it work. Unless something else is sold on the side like coffee or food or other newspapers/magazines.

That's why if and when I ever get a comic shop it will be because I have other investments/real estate paying me my actual income and the shop will allow me to supplement my hobby and be a tax write off, to boot, because of its horrible ability to not make money.

Chew

"DarkestPhoenix's Strip Club and Comic Shop"

Jackskeleton

If you're in So Cal you always have the clear choice to go to Frank's and take your pick at which shop owner you give your cash to for cheap books.

I've seen stores come and go and a lot of it has to do with the market in general right now and those little factors that are more than often out of the control of the comic shop owners.

madcougar

That's not going to work. The average comic book geek is going to end up giving all his cash to the strippers, and the uber-geek is not going to part with one red cent for a sweet, sweet table dance.

DarkestPhoenix

All my strippers have comic-themed outfits. You should see Supergirl when she takes it off. Yowza.

And everybody knows to give me the kickbacks, or else...trouble!

CaptainMarvel

What in particular about Iowa would cause the problem? I can rattle off quite a few shops that have managed to thrive in Alabama, so I can't imagine Iowa would be hugely different. Especially if you built one in a college town.