Comic Book Retailers - What do they need to do?

[David Wright]

Hands up first. I have a vested interest in improving how this works as I'm opening a shop in the next couple of months that will sell comics and games.

My thinking is to engender a more community orientated store by looking at some of the things that happen in the USA.

Events seem to be key in this and with my aim for the first year is to give them a really good stab. Have at LEAST 1 event a month whether that be a signing or taking part in something like 24HourComicDay along with various other things. Ultimately as a brick and mortar shop I need to be doing more than simply being a stockist as in many respects internet/mail order traders are doing that at a cheaper price.

I'm toying with the idea of a "book group" style approach with a nominated trade or graphic novel for a month (on special obviously) and see what happens there too.

With respect to signings I've already had confirmation from 3 people (1 writer, 2 artists) to come to the shop. The writer has the additional strength of being a writer for some of the games I'll be stocking.

Obviously (?) I'll be doing things like having a subscription service with shipping options for those who can't come into the shop that often. But there must be more I could offer that doesn't necessarily impact on my bottom line.

So really my question is what else can I be doing and in turn what else are shops doing?

Thanks for your time.

[David Wright]

*gentle bump to try and get some feedback*

[Malcolm Kirk (M.I.K.)]

You might get a better response to this question over at the Smallzone ning site.

http://smallzone.ning.com/

Someone has to invite you to join (if you're not a member there already), but I'm sure someone will oblige if you're interested.

[David Wright]

Thanks.

So does anyone have the ability to invite me?

[Malcolm Kirk (M.I.K.)]

Ah. I posted some stuff here which has now been rendered irrelevant, 'cos I see you're now a member over there. Move along now. Nothing to see here. :)

[bambos georgiou]

David,

I presume that by now, you may well have opened your shop, or given it a second thought and not opened.

I've always been suprised that comic shops don't carry the Beano, and make sure they have plenty of back issues on sale cheap. I think it's a good way to get kids and parents coming into your shop and stopping it from becoming a place where only weird blokes go. I wouldn't expect to make any money out of the Beano, but I would expect it to pay dividends in the long run by creating loyal customers.

Apart from that comic shops seem to fall into two categories; those that concentrate on superheroes and those that push indie books. I buy Previews from my comic shop, so I can see what I'm not going to buy in three months time.

Why don't you try science fiction and fantasy paperbacks as well, you can order direct from publishers. That should be of interest to your gaming customers, especially if you get US books that aren't carried in the big book chains.

Good luck.

[David Wright]

I haven't actually opened yet, lease should be signed this week though with a view to opening in June.

The Beano is an interesting one as I spoke with DC Thomson about that and they said that unless I was selling Newspapers they couldn't sell me the Beano. I haven't gone back to them to follow up on this but it just didn't sound right.
I'm very keen to stock comics suited to kids and not just UK titles like the Beano. Specifically looking at titles such as Owly, DC's Tiny Titans and the recent launch of Boom Studio's Kids imprint.

I'm avoiding the full range of sci-fi/fantasy paperbacks at first but will be stocking the Games Workshop / Black Library range of books. The other benefit of this is that the majority of the writers for Black Library are also comic book writers and indeed write the Boom Studios Warhammer range.

Cheers,

David

[bambos georgiou]

You should be able to order Beano from a newsstand distributor. I know Dave's Comics in Brighton could order it but don't like the mark up, which I think is a mistake. On the other hand they have instituted a little stand of kids comics in the front of the store, which I think is a good idea.

DC Thomson don't distribute. If you think there's a demand you might be able to order uk versions of Transformers and Spider-Man, unless there are distribution restrictions.

Have you checked out whether all that Black Library stuff is already available in bookstores in your area?

Good luck with the shop.

Bam!!

[David Wright]

I spoke to DC Thomson before and they said that if I was either also taking newspapers (not planning on it) or happy to collect my order from a newsagent then they would be happy to work with me.
This might seem like a dumb question but can you give me the names of some/a newstand distributor? I can't seem to find one!

Waterstones tends to carry a pretty full line of Black Library books as well as the usual Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror and D&D related books.
Cheers again.

David

[bambos georgiou]

In my day Comag was a distributor and of course there's W H Smiths who distribute as well as owning shops.

[David Wright]

The WH Smith point reminded me of Menzies Distribution so I've just sent them an email. Ta!

[David Wright]

Menzies apparently require £1800 deposit... Rules that avenue out then as I would doubt I'll be getting THAT volume of stock via them.