Genesis Comics

19 hours ago, Domo Arigato said:

 

 

You're killing me smalls!!  I couldn't log on yesterday for some reason until later on and didn't get a chance today...I'll do my best to update in the next day or so...

Hey folks,

Things have been going well for the most part...ran into a few issues, which I will detail tomorrow morning...comic sales are getting better every week which is good...had some really nice books walk in and MTG sales continue to lead the pack.  Update coming tomorrow morning/afternoon!  

3 hours ago, mccollect said:

Sorry for being slow to respond, I stopped by the store and was very impressed by not only how great the store looked, but also how accommodating and friendly you were. I got some great books too!!!  If anyone is in the area, you should stop by!!

Thank you for the kind words!  Do you have any recommendations or things you thought could be improved?  I want the good with the bad lol!  If people don't tell me what's wrong, I can't fix it!

22 hours ago, netherxvoid said:

I think your assessment of those other stores is very accurate. Not to be the downer of the thread I just don't see the service your providing that's different from any place that will set you apart from the pack (strictly business aspect) also if gaming is going to be a large portion how do you deal with golden memories, the war store and brothers grim? The have the lock down on eastern island gaming 

I'm guessing you are from Long Island...have you stopped in yet?  You are very familiar with the local landscape (or are using google maps at least).  

Brothers Grimm is THE Long Island Gaming shop.  I've met Gil on numerous occasions.  We have the same mindset that the more shops the better!  More options for more players...we each teach newer players and bring them into the fold, and get them buying games, whether they shop there or here it's good for the hobby!  Grimm is a very competitive atmosphere, where I am more casual (Grimm has casual as well but has the reputation of being competetive).  I've played there myself over the years.  As far as how to differentiate from myself and Grimm, I'm not running the same events they are running on the same days...if they have Standard FNM, I have commander etc.  I don't have the space that Grimm does, so I don't do miniatures, Warhammer, etc.  If anyone comes asking for that sort of stuff I send them there (which I have done 10+ times in my first week).  

I've been to the war store once, and spent a lot of time there talking with the owner (who's name escapes me) about opening a business.  He was friendly knowledgable.  Like above, I have his schedule and will not be running same events simultaneously.  If I remember correctly, he had minis, models, and a gaming area, but didn't have a lot of MTG at the time when I was there.  Only thing we have in common is MTG

Golden Memories:  Another store that has been around forever that I remember going to when I was younger...although he's moved, I stopped in recently.  Reminds me of the old Collectors Comics, nice selection of trades.  He also runs some great sales now and then.  I don't believe he does gaming though.

So, your question is how do I compete with so much competition around?  I don't compete, I compliment what's around by doing a little bit of what each one does (with the exception of Next Gen which is not really close).  I cater to the mom's that want Pokemon, plush, POP's and mini's for the kids, I have some nice silver/bronze/copper books and do my best to price fairly...I'm between a Chinese food place and a pizza place and get a lot of walk in traffic.  I'm organized...I can tell you if I have a card in stock within 1 min of you asking me.  I have all my commons organized which my customers love.  It's easy for them to get a playset of commons quickly.  I try to be clean, friendly, and spend time with all my customers if I can!  I am not saying that the other stores don't do all that, they very well might...I'm not there enough to know.  I have a vision of what I want a store to be and have now made that vision a reality.  Only time will tell if I will be successful, I hope I am...I will never be Grimm, 4th World as they are the BEST gaming and Comic shops around.  I am a smaller hybrid that I hope will fill a need.  How am I different?  Stop on down and say hi!

I had my first boardie visit today!!!  Thanks for stopping by mccollect!!  I'd love to get your feedback on the store from top to bottom and any suggestions/feedback that you have!   I appreciate you stopping by and I appreciate your business!  Thanks!

6 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

8K in your first week is great.  70% gaming suggests that you made a great decision to focus on gaming.  Hopefully you can grow your comic file customers and your new comic business and you'll have two strong revenue streams.  How many file customers do you have at this point?

I was a long time comic collector who started playing MTG because my LCS got into it and I was curious.  Great game and the players can be great customers - it's like the crack cocaine of gaming.  My LCS focused too much on MTG and started making mistakes on my pull list.  Suddenly titles I'd collected for years were missing issues and when I brought it up they had no interest in trying to find them.  Most irritating was my complete run of Comic Book Marketplace magazine, I'm still looking for most of those missing issues.  I closed my file and never went back and that store is now gone.  

I thought it would be more gaming, but I was thinking more 50-40-10 gaming/comics/other

I have 2 pull list customers so far, both want Dark Knight Metal stuff...

8 hours ago, 01TheDude said:

You might have covered this much earlier in the thread in the part I sort of skipped over for a while--- BUT....

Is the way you decided to set up your shop the way you envision a comic shop or do you have strong ties to the gaming side of things? i.e. are you into gaming or is it more or less a good method to remain viable as far as sales are concerned (or some other mix).

I imagine you had a vision of how you wanted your store to look and that is what you went with- Just trying to get an idea of what shaped that vision.

I probably need to give some of my history in order to explain how it came about...

I was a comic collector first...from the early 80's all the way through the mid 90's...I'd visit my LCS on Friday nights or Saturdays (my parents were divorced and my father picked us up then) and we went to get our new comics and browse the back issues at Collector's Comics in Wantagh, Rainbow Bridge Comics and Rick's Comic Cave in Queens, with the occasional stop at Mr. Mongo's Comic Asylum.  I'd grab the new issues of Omega Men and Infinity Inc (my first 2 sets that I collected).  As my collection grew and I saw how busy comic shops were and how much I enjoyed going, I started thinking about opening a comic shop in the early to mid 90's.  Wizards was telling me my stuff was valuable!!!  My father and I talked about opening together, but with the advent of Ebay we got cautious and wanted to see how the landscape played out as things that were "rare" were all over the place on Ebay...I began to play a new game, Magic the Gathering and I was smitten!!  Loved the game and bought into a number of other games in the 94/95 years: Jyhad (Vampire the Eternal Struggle), Rage, Illuminati (my all time favorite game!!), Spellfire, Hyborian Gates, and later on Star Wars.  My focus switched to gaming more than comics as I was on a limited budget.  I played and collected MTG over the next few years, but eventually slowed down as I got married and had kids.  I had new priorities and no more expendable income...this was probably around 1999-2006/7 or so.  I happened to be looking on Ebay to find out how much my Incredible Hulk 181 was worth...we were having some $$ issues and I was thinking of selling off some of my stuff that had been sitting around for years...that's when I learned about CGC...sent it in along with my fathers Avengers 4 (I got a 9.4, he got a 4.5).  I think my 9.4 may now rest in joeyposts collection as a 9.6 these days...but I digress lol.  I did a show up in Boston, a small show in a VFW near where my father lives, he was selling some stuff too.  I brought all my MTG stuff...I had done a bit of research and had found that a lot of the early stuff had gone up a lot!  I ended up doing over 5K in sales in a VFW as someone smarter than me, lol, spent about $3000 and picked up my complete UNPLAYED sets of Arabian Nights, Antiquities, and Legends as well as my playsets of all 10 Dual lands ($10 each dual btw lol), and all of my EXTRA Legends, Alpha, Beta, Antiquities, Arabian, and Unlimited, including, but not limited to, Mox Emerald, Moat x 2, Mishra's Workshop x 2, there may have been a Library of Alexandria as well, all my early foils,a few "extra" duals, and anything of value that I had.  I was thrilled, and if he still has that stuff, I'm sure he made 5-10x his investment if not more.  Now I didn't bring everything I had MTG to the show, and I still had some stuff at home...and as you all know, you start going through stuff and you get nostalgic and I got back into it!  Same with the comics...paid off the bills I had to and even had some extra money...over the next couple of years I joined the CGC boards, comic shops were few and far between as most had closed that I frequented, I learned about pedigrees and picked up a bunch of TTA pedigrees from Doug Schmell, I believe they were from sfilosa's collection, issues 61-69 missing 66 I believe.  I bought and sold and started thinking again about opening a shop as I was a restaurant manager and the hours were crazy (both in length and the acutual times)  60+ hours a week, sometimes working 5AM-5PM, 12PM-10PM, 4PM-4AM and no set schedule...

Fast forward a couple of years and I hurt my back (herniated disc) lifting a comic box which I thought was empty, it was not.  At that point after a few weeks, going back to work, I realized that I'm getting older and the hours and the work I was doing was not going to get better...at this point I seriously began thinking about a comic/gaming shop.  It was July 2012 when I said to myself, within 5 years I want a store of my own...so I started organizing and organizing and pricing and organizing stock...started buying collections and gathering inventory and started envisioning exactly what I wanted my shop to be...I knew I needed gaming, which was fine because it was something I liked and something that I had a lot of inventory of, even though I had sold off most of my top end stuff.  I spent at least 1 hour a day most days and a few more on my day's off, beginning to organize my MTG cards and my comics...it took years and years to get everything the way I wanted, especially the binders of MTG and all the extras sorted properly...I left the comics to the end as I figured it'd be easier, but pricing took a lot longer than I thought and I'm still pricing things today.

Now, to actually answer the question, depends on when you ask it.  When I started, was what I have now what I envisioned, no, not that close really.  It's a lot smaller than I anticipated (I hadn't started pricing out rents).  I don't have enough room currently for the amount of comics I thought I'd be able to have, so I have to do some re-arranging.  It morphed as I went along, as days and weeks past and as I visited more and more shops, a different picture began to emerge.  I had to carry POP's...I had to carry Plush, I had to carry mini-figures...I wanted to be an old school vintage type of place...but I don't have the stock to pull that off, and I would lose sales from the kids that drop in with mom and dad that just want something small.  The MTG area turned out mostly how I wanted, but once again I had more planned.  

Am I happy how it turned out?  Yes, for the most part.  I still have some work I need to do and could use the space a little wiser not that I've worked in the space a bit...but overall, I'm happy with how it turned out!

I had a great first week doing over 8k in sales which was more than double what I had anticipated.  I have had a lot of great feedback from guests coming in.  I already have a core group of 8-12 MTG players who are playing in tournaments already.  My first week sales were 70% MTG, 10% other, 20% comics with 95% of that 20% being back issues...new comics have not sold nearly as well as I had hoped...I'm struggling to get in the other gaming players (Pokemon, Vanguard, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragoborne, etc), but it's been 9 days so far...I've done more than I could have hoped for...

While the dream looks different than it did at the start, it's still the dream, just in a different form!!

7 hours ago, netherxvoid said:

i tried reading this whole thread but dont have the time. what is your feeling about the competition in your area, Tor comics, Next Generation, 4th world ?

Tor Comics:  I have known Darren for years.  I love his store as it reminds me of the old school comic shops.  There are always gems to be found and he is ALWAYS willing to work with me on pricing.  He has vast amounts of inventory and I know that if I need something for a customer that I don't have he will probably have it.  He actually was here today dropping off books for one of my customers!  He is the closest of the group and is a true comic shop.  We are different, as I am mostly a gaming shop that sells comics (my first week sales were 70% gaming, 10% other, and 20% comics).  We are not really competition for each other other than possibly the new comic sales.  We've spoken and are going to run the same discount policy so as not to try to "outdo" each other where nobody wins.

Next Generation:  I've visited the store a few times and have spoken to them at Eternal Con.  I like their set up a lot, with the comics in front and the gaming in the back, away from the comic area.   They are the closest of the 3 to what I do.  Good selection of comics, good selection of singles as well as older MTG product and I felt their prices were fair.  They are the furthest away so I don't see there being much overlap as far as gamers/comic collectors.

4th World:  Not much to say because they are the icon of the comic shops on the island.  I will never be able to "compete" with them as far as the depth of the books that they have.  In all honesty I have not been there in over 10 years, but have heard nothing but good things about them.   I can't comment on them other than my experiences then, which were great!  I remember being happy about the prices I got on some silver age books.  Everyone there was nice.  I ended up frequenting Tor comics as they were closer and he had most of what I needed.  There wasn't any particular reason I didn't go back other than I had a shop closer. They are further away than Tor, and they don't do gaming as far as I know.  They have been successful for over 20 years and I hope to have that same success! 

Hey folks...still here at the shop, doing some organizing..."closed" at 8 but still had some kids playing MTG until 9...all good as I had a ton of stuff to do.  Recap of the Grand Opening and the first 4 days!!  The good, the not good, and the Ugly...

The good:

1) Great sales over the weekend...more than I anticipated...I did over 3K on opening day...think is was around 3200...I wrote it down somewhere  (I did have some friends and family come down and buy some stuff they normally wouldn't have...one sale was 700+).  Probably 1/2 of the total was friends and family, but that means another 1500+ was people coming in!  I did another 1500+ on Sunday which was just as busy, but not as good with sales.  Monday was just under 500 and today was just under 400...much more than I had expected honestly...very happy so far!

2) Sunday's Cosplayer's that I hired (Green Arrow, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy) were fantastic!  Awesome job interacting, taking pictures...Harley was the star of the show!  Mr Popintwist, a balloon ARTIST was phenomenal as well.   All of them posted and shared all week on social media about the grand opening and their appearances. I have them all booked again for Halloween Comic Fest on October 28th.  We did a kids costume contest on Sunday...had about 10 participants overall...not sure if my wife posted the pics on facebook.  Each kid that participated got $5 credit and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners got an additional $25, $20, $15.  A lot of fun and doing it again on Halloween Comic fest...hoping for more participants, which I don't think will be a problem!

3) My helper/employee Jason was a rock!!  Great job by him on all aspects, customer interaction, new computer issues, salesmanship...his MTG knowledge is incredible!  He knows nothing about comics lol, but that's what I'm here for lol.  He will learn eventually.  My wife and kids and brother were an incredible help leading up to and including opening weekend...could not have done this without them.  Had a lot of friends and family helping out to make the short turn around a reality!!

4) Got a lot of great feedback, things like, "just what this town needed", "so happy there is a comic store here", "place looks great", "my friends and I are going to play (insert TCG game) here now" + so many more!  Lot's of great facebook reviews too...the early ones were my family trying to be helpful  probably the first 6 or 7...but after that they were "legitimate" reviews...I'll get to one in particular in the "ugly" section...

5) Lot's of traffic...street is very busy and lot's of people coming in and out of the pizza and chinese food places I'm between...plus the pizza and chinese are awesome!  Also a mexican place which was also very good next to the chinese place!  They both said it's "slow" right now, so that's a good sign!

6) Brought in plush, mini-figures, and prints from local artist JaCo Tartaruga...all sold very well!!  

7) Had 1 comic collection come in on Sunday...big books were NYX 3 and ASM 300 and ASM 361 (NYX and ASM 361 are NM...the 300 is lower grade VG/F....lot's of decent copper stuff $5-$25 books...McFarlane ASM's, last issues of Transformers, Conan, and Platt's MoonKnight etc.  Also had another guy send me over a list of comics he's selling...lot's of decent copper stuff as well...at least 100+ books that retail for $10 or more and some nice copper runs of books that I am short on (left the list at home, but multiple ASM 252, Wolvie 1 limited, and a New Teen Titans 2, Rocket Limited Series, Hulk 340...he's bringing by this week...nothing to make me rich, but some nice books...

8) Already have a group of 6 gamers that have been here the last 3 nights, they had 2 more join them today...so that's definitely a good start...especially since they are spending $$

There are so many more good things about the opening...but it's late and I have to work a few more days in a row lmfao

The not good:

1) The comicsuite POS system did not arrive until Wednesday, which gave me Wednesday to hook it up.  I had a 3 hour training call on Thurs and a 5 hour training call on Friday (we had multiple hardware issues including the receipt printer not working).  This was very frustrating as I had sooooooooooooooooooooooo  much to do, but had to sit and listen to the training about things that weren't necessarily important...don't get me wrong, they were important, but maybe not necessary for the "grand opening".  For example, I didn't need to learn how to suspend someones account...I don't think that will be an issue in the first week.

2) I STILL have not received my trade paperbacks from Diamond...when I asked, I was told I should have taken advantage of the "deals" they had at sign up...I explained that I did and that I had sent my order in..."oh...there it is"...sucks but it is what it is...they are on the way now...

3) With everything going on leading up to the opening, I figured I'd be able to have my comic stock priced and ready to go...I just managed my time inefficiently and was not able to get everything done that I wanted, and my bins were not as full as they could have been...there were a few empty rows...in retrospect, I should have combined all the bins to one side and had the other bins be $1.00 bins...but I had $1 boxes outside and didn't want to confuse people as to pricing...

4) New comic sales are slower than anticipated...as mentioned above, I dropped the ball on that...I've been running 25% off new comics since Saturday and will continue through the weekend to try to move stock, including for the new comics tomorrow.  Still a decent margin as beginning stores get 57 percent off the first few months...my discount will go down sooner rather than later so I need to adjust quickly and get people signed up for the comic club

The Ugly:

1) Just one here...on grand opening day I got a bad facebook review...1 out of 5 stars...here it is for the world to see:

"Was so super happy to see a place like this open up in town.Im a huge comic book fan! But this was a big let down,very sad. I was heart broken when all the comic book stores i grew up with closed down.Even more sad to see comic books go online instead of being held,read,and collected.The one in holtsville very sad place,the one in selden way over priced.And now Genesis comics and gaming =( So small almost no inventory,bobble heads you can get at hot topic,old comics priced at $15 when you can go to ebay,or Savers thrift store and pay $2 for the same comic.Then tables in the back for gamers,an idea i love,but the place is way way to small.A hand full of people inside talking took up all the room in the place.But loved the ghost busters outside.Just wish there was a large comic book store in our area,one that caters to comic nuts,gaming nuts,and tons of cosplay folks.Also one that has action figures,and comic/ Sci fi art from local artists.My heart is sad i dont see Genesis lasting long.But still happy they are here for now,hope im wrong,i hope they grow big.This town needs a place like they have opened"

First off, I will agree, that the inventory levels were not where they were supposed to be or where I wanted them to be...so I can understand his opinion on that...but c'mon man, it's the first day

Now onto the other stuff he mentioned...

1) Bobble heads you can get at Hot Topic-not true...I had a TOTAL of 21 POP figures, which I am assuming he was talking about...19 Previews exclusives (unless Hot Topic get's theirs from Diamond, which they probably don't...but you never know) and 2 Bob Ross POP's...that's it for POP's...

2) Old comics priced at $15 that you can get on eBay for $2.00...I looked around and didn't see anything...not sure what he's talking about...I had some copper stuff that has gotten "hot" in this area at least on the walls (inlcuding Venom 1, and Spider-Man 3 that my LCS gets 10 and 15 for all day)...maybe he's not up to date on what's happening in the comic world...OR, maybe I haven't adjusted to a downward trend...

3) Local Artists represented/sci/fi artists etc...this one pissed me off...not only did I have a nice display of Frank Frazetta prints/posters from 1979/1980...I also had 10 med/large prints from a local artist JaCo Tartartuga lined up along the wall over the comic bins and below the wall books...he couldn't make it down for the grand opening due to other obligations, but he will be here soon...Saturday was ALSO Inbeoncon (a local con for local artists and cosplayers) so anyone local WAS NOT AVAILABLE because they were there!!! Billy Tucci who I had wanted to get was on vacation.  

4) He also complained about people standing in the back taking up the room for the gamers...first off, it's grand opening...I don't have any people to have any events yet...the tables were being used by friends and family to stay out of the way of the guests coming in  as well as a lunch area for the cosplayers...really dude?!?!  

After an amazing day, this brought me down a bit...BUT...the next day I had 1 guest who I do not know comment under his comment saiying nice things...that was very nice to see...also 2 guests came in, one Sunday and one Monday who were both here on Saturday and mentioned the comment and how they thought it was ridiculous...

Now, all he does is comment, and like and share stuff that we post or other people post...weird...

So in conclusion...I'm tired!!!

Lot's of long days and many more to come, but it's getting a little better and a little more organized every day...still having sales all this week on comics/gaming/other, so follow me on facebook to see what's going on!

Someone asked above about the bookshelf/comic bin...love it!  One "issue" I had was the bookshelf I had purchased (already assembled) had a middle shelf built in...this caused the "bins" to be wider than I wanted...all I need to do is add another shelf to double up and it will be fine...total cost for what amounts to 3 + comic bins was about 525 with hardware and extra shelves...would have cost me almost 2K for "new" comic bins so very much worth it!

Heading home to get some sleep so I can do it again tomorrow!!  

Thank you all for all the great feedback, all the well wishes and all the "look's great" comments!  I really do appreciate them and they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...or is that just the the lack of sleep...hmm...but I like it anyway!!!  LMFAO!

Goodnight and I'll keep updating about my journey, ups and downs, etc...

On 8/24/2017 at 9:23 PM, youmechooz said:

this is troubling.

I hear you...not happy where I ended up, but I'm not in dire straits...I should be OK...hopefully sales will be good for the first few weeks/months and I can build back up to where I want to be...

7 hours ago, shadroch said:

Just look into the local regulations about selling food.  When I lived in Mineola, a guy applied for a permit to open a .99 cent store. It was granted and a few weeks later one of the local gadflys pointed out that he was selling food without a permit.  Town shuttered him until it was straightened out.

I will definitely look into that...I don't think there will be an issue as it's all sealed, but you never know!

43 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

Looking very good.  You transitioned the hardwood to carpet?  Pics of your pole?  that didn't sound right.

As far as the floor, I did go with carpet....they don't make that type of floor board any more, plus, there was a lot of damge underneath the rug he had in the back...it would have cost more than I wanted to spend to repair the floor and put the laminate down, it was easier to just put a thick padding and some carpet over it, plus it was more than 1/2 the price less!

13 hours ago, revat said:

Actually, regardless of what the real answer is, he should say, "I got a state of the art system, with multiple cameras and motion sensors, I had my cousin install it yesterday.  He was a Navy Seal who does private security now, so he got me a really good deal.  I also lucked out because he lives less than a mile from the store."

This!

8 hours ago, Westy Steve said:

The thing is, I like to snack when I game.  Not only that, but one of my local comic book stores will order a bunch of pizzas on their gaming nights and sell two slices and a coke for $5.  Even if I ate before the game, I somehow ended up buying that pizza!  And yes, I'd have paid more for the privilege...$7 or $8 wouldn't have been out of line.

I have a friend who runs another store that sells cappuccinos in the mornings.

There is a chinese food place to one side and a pizza parlor on the other side.  I have a Pepsi cooler coming in the next week or 2...I had it on my list, but it wasn't one of the big priorities...I will also have snacks as someone suggested...candy/chips etc.

36 minutes ago, Mapleleafvann said:

Now THAT.....looks sharp!  Well done.....very well done sir!  

Wish I was in the area for your opening.  My sincere wishes for a "grand" breakout!

Thanks so much!!  I was happy with the way it came out...I like the "dark" wood up against the colors.

34 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

Looking very good.  You transitioned the hardwood to carpet?  Pics of your pole?  that didn't sound right.

I didn't actually finish the pole...my brother is stopping by tomorrow AM to finish it up...

It's by the gaming area and I'm not running any events this weekend, so it's really just there...hopefully people will be paying more attention to the products I have for sale instead of looking at my pole!!

his will probably be my last update for the next week or so.

It's a good thing I built in the extra few days for the "slow open"  As you all mentioned, I didn't leave myself much time to get as much stuff done as I wanted...the beginning of the week was terrible...hot humid with no AC...I found myself leaving to go home for a while to "refresh"...temp in the store hovered between 87-89 plus the humidity was out of control...couple that with the long days and not as much sleep as I'm used to getting and it wasn't fun...I received the ComicSuite POS system and over the last 2 days spent 8 hours on the phone with the support team, training me how to use the system...a LOT more complicated than I thought, but I have the basics down.  It has a ton of great features that will help me with my ordering...

Good news is that the landlord got me a brand new AC unit 2 days ago...what a difference!!!  

I went from a tuxedo shop to a  90-95 percent ready comic/gaming shop!!

In a few weeks, I'll put together a list of where I went wrong with the budgeting...ended up being a little under 7K away from where I wanted to be...I still have a cushion but not as much as I had wanted...rent is already paid for Sept and Oct so that's good.  There were lot's of things I didn't anticipate, some were out of my control...others were just bad planning on my part.

I had a few people come in tonight as I was finishing cleaning up and sold a few things...still have 1 or 2 things to do in the AM but I'll have myself plus at least 4 people helping all day.  If any boardies are planning on coming down, introduce yourself!!

I have some great sales this weekend..

All new comics over the last 4 weeks are 25% off cover

All back issues in bins are 50% off

All wall books 15% off

Discounts on Pokemon, POP's and Plush

I have about 15 boxes of $1.00 comics as well

It has been physically and mentally exhausting!  Friends and family played a pivotal role in getting everything set up so quickly...looking forward to this weekend...we will be posting on facebook and possibly even live streaming...

Sign was put up today...VERY VERY bright!!

Gotta go and get some sleep...thanks everyone for all your advice, comments, and suggestions!  The knowledge and willingness to share that knowledge is invaluable!  I truly thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for everything!!

I'll continue to update the thread with info about the grand opening as well as how things are going!

Hey folks!  

Finally got home about an hour ago...another 14 hour day...I'm either taking the morning off or taking the evening off tomorrow.  Need to catch up on some rest...can't be dead on my feet come Friday night into the weekend...

Everything has been so exhausting that I haven't had time to sit and really appreciate what I'm doing.  It's been a dream of mine for so long that it doesn't feel real...it's been weird though...I thought I'd be filled with such joy and giddiness, but the crazy part is, I haven't had time to really appreciate it all...that's one of the reasons I keep these updates going as I'm hoping I can sit back one day and re-read through all the trials and tribulations and enjoy it through these pages.  It's kind of like when you get married...there is so much to do that you really don't get to appreciate it while it's happening, you really didn't know what was going on, it moved so fast, that when you get the picture album it seems like someone elses wedding.  So I think tomorrow morning, after I drop off the U-Haul, I'll head to Starbucks, grab a coffee and just sit in the store for a while and enjoy what it's becoming...sometimes we are working so hard to live that we don't take the time to enjoy the process of life...I'm going to make sure I do that tomorrow!

Here is a link to the facebook page...please like and share if you can...I would really appreciate it...even if you are not in the area you may have a friend or family who may see it etc...trying to get my name out there as much as possible.  https://www.facebook.com/genesiscomics/

My wonderful, patient, caring, and beautiful wife and daughter went in early this morning to finish the painting in the back...we were just too tired last night.  With the air conditioning still not working it was not only hot in the store, hovered between 81-84...but with the ridiculous rain we were getting on and off the humidity was off the charts...took a while to get the paint to dry...we had fans set up everywhere!!  There is still some detail work to do here and there, but the hard part is done.  

So I picked up the U-Haul early this afternoon...had 2 stops to make...first to a commercial supply store to pick up slat wall, slat wall fixtures, and a drop bin for plushes for the kids...got that loaded up and taken care of quickly so I was about 1 hour ahead of schedule!! 

Next stop was the gaming store that is going out of business (store's name is Game Master Games in Bethpage...if you are on the island and are looking for some great discounts on  board games/miniatures/trading card games stop down...they have stuff 30-60 percent off right now...there are about 5-6 comic boxes there that are out front...I think he has a bunch more in the storage area, he had tried to do comics a while back, but it didn't work in his location so he stopped ordering...didn't get a chance to take a look but there could be some good stuff in there!) ...I had purchased a bunch of fixtures at a very reduced cost so I saved about 2-3k if I had to buy the stuff new...

As we were loading the truck, I began to realize that there was no way everything was going to fit, I don't know what I was thinking...it wasn't even close...I had to return for a 2nd trip for 2 magazine racks, a 4x4 cube, and 4 glass showcases plus a few odds and ends, there goes my one hour ahead of schedule to 3 hours behind schedule!...even if I hadn't picked that other stuff up there was no way it was all fitting...poor planning on my part...didn't do the math on that one...not only did we have to make 2 trips back and forth, but now I have to pay double as I'm being charged by the mile (1.89/mile)...that added a quick $120 to my bill.

Good news is nothing got damaged in transit, well except me  !  I twisted my knee, not by carrying anything, but by getting out of the U-Haul...I was tired, not thinking about that the truckis not the same size as my car, got out, and came down hard on my leg, slightly hyperextending it...took some pain meds and icing it up...No other real updates other than all the fixtures are in the store..had to do some creative maneuvering, but I'm still only dealing with a 1000 square foot store...but I need 1300 square feet of space for what I wanted to do   Thankfully my brother in law came by this evening as the truck had just been unloaded, my brain was mush and I couldn't think straight...my brother in law is one of the smartest people I know...he's got great vision and great ideas, so we were able to adjust the floor plan to fit my needs...still have the tables and chairs to set up for the gamers but that's 1,2,3...I bought a few things that I'm not going to use unfortunately...thought I may be able to squeeze them in, but no go

Flyer will be finished tomorrow and I'll post it here!  If any boardies are in the area and want to stop in, I should start to have some product in this weekend, my plan is to bring in some $1.00 comics and set them up outside in front of the store, weather permitting...please stop by and let me know what you think of the set up!  The front door will be open so come on it!

I'm exhausted, and heading of to bed in a bit...I'm sure I am forgetting some things, as always thanks for the comments/advice etc!

BTW, if you are a boardie, like lifting comic boxes in and out of cars/trucks, and work for pizza give me a call or send me a PM

One last thing...due to the fact that I've gone over budget and I am no longer in my "safe zone" I have decided to part with a big book of mine to help pad the checking account...I have a Creepy 27 CGC 9.6 Frank Frazetta signature series that I may move if the price is right...looking for $2700, but will consider offers over 2K, this is my copy that I subbed through NYComics and has never been offered for sale before.  If you are interested, send me a PM!  If anyone is into WWE I have an AFA graded 80 Brutus Beefcake as well that I am looking for $500 for...I may start a little sales thread as well once I figure out how "short" I am from what I wanted in the bank...if there are any MTG collectors looking for anything in particular I had a ton of singles and over 50 sealed boxes...figure I'd reach out here before I put them in the showcase!

Ok, just kidding, this is the last thing...still looking for a catchphrase...I like some of the ones mentioned in this thread so get your ideas to me, I'll choose my top 5 and create a poll.

Thank you all as always!!

1 hour ago, wormboy said:

For the pole (if you can't remove it): What about finding or making a life size spidey to hang on it?

Great thread. Thanks for taking the time Genesis - it's very interesting.

That's awesome!!

Picture # 1 is where we are as of yesterday...this is looking from the back of the store towards the front.  Painting took a bit longer and we decided to leave a bit early as there were a bunch of long days previous and there is still no AC and it was 80+ degrees inside all day, have a long few days ahead so wanted to get a good nights sleep...the back of the store is primed and is being painted this morning.

Picture # 2 is the bottom of the "bat-pole" with the junction box.  I've come up with a work around so the landlord doesn't have to pay for the removal, in exchange he will be getting a new AC unit as opposed to fixing the old one.  I will take pictures of the before and after once it's complete sometime next week.

Picture # 4 is pointing towards the back of the store and to the ceiling obviously...Picture # 3 is where we are at after some of the ceiling tiles had been replaced...still have another dozen or so to do...either today or tomorrow for that.

Heading out to pick up all the fixtures in a few...long 2-3 days ahead...I'll do my best to keep updated and I'll take plenty of pics...my wife has been posting on facebook updates as well if you want to follow and like the page Genesis Comics and Gaming...

Couple of more quick things...I was able to get the Diamond POS system overnighted, so that will be here soon.  Merchant Svcs, insurance, gas, electric, phone and internet all taken care of or in the works.  Picked up a big order from my distributor yesterday, mostly supplies (bags/boards/deck boxes/sleeves etc) Phone/internet hooked up...phone # is 631-471-HULK (4855), carpet installed in the back so floors are complete, walls will be done by this afternoon/evening and all fixtures (with the exception of some shelving for the storage area) will be in the space.  Slat wall will be hung on Monday morning as  I need help with that.  I'll be bringing inventory in all weekend and I am hoping that by Monday evening I will be merchandised well enough for a slow opening on Tuesday...

Luckily there are flash flood warnings and it's supposed to rain all day as I'm taking the fixtures in today lol.