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support your LCS

Started by Dale Roberts,

184 posts in this topic

awe4one

awe4one

Posted
Posted

FL Panhandle. I don't think the store has anything to worry about quite frankly. There are three stores within 20 miles of each other and his is by far the biggest and best supplied.

 

Gaming has taken a much bigger chunk of his store over the last 5 years or so. Back then comics were prominent and at the forefront...now gaming has taken over. Always big gaming crowds on the weekends. In fact there are so many people there on Friday nights that it gets hard to walk around and look at the new comics. Most of them are teenagers. Sadly, none of these kids are interested in the comics...

 

Jim

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Monstro

Monstro

Posted
Posted

i actually have a hard time supporting my many LCS’s. the reason is similar to JC’s theory on lowering you expectations for comic related movies so you can enjoy them.

 

if i continue to spend 3.75 to 4.50 on comics (when most of it is crapp) nothing will ever change. the prices will continue to rise, issues will take longer to come out, the stories will get crappier, and worst of all (for the industry) comic shops will be the only place to buy books.

 

it sucks for the LCS’s. i totally understand that, and i would feel different if i owned a shop.

 

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted
Just got back from the LCS. Asked him the same question and he was a bit more forthcoming with the info (and didn't act as if it was some secret).

 

New comics and mags: 15%

TPBs: 6%

Back Issues: 5%

Manga: 6%

Gaming (includes cards, figures, mags, etc.): 36%

Gaming Internet (on-line play either local or ww/price per 1/2 hr): 15%

Other (figurines, shirts, statues, etc.): 17%

 

He's quickly doing away with back issues and expanding his on-line computers/ PS3/X-Box 360s which has become a steady stream of revenue. Also mentioned that he was continually shrinking his monthly comics ordering and can see a time in the very near future where he orders strictly for pull list customers. The off-the shelf income is quickly not justifying the space involved with carrying them...

 

I was surprised a bit by the response...

 

Jim

 

This is interesting info.

For comparisons sake, here is our breakdown. We do not carry and role-playing games. We do carry the core card games (Magic, WoW, etc.) and Hero Clix stuff.

This is for the month of Sept., historically our second slowest month (Oct. is the slowest). These are total percentages averaged from our three stores.

New issues 52%

Back issues 8%

Books and Trade Paper Backs 15%

Supplies 5%

Licensed Merch 16% (apparel, toys etc.)

Gaming 4%

 

We had total sales for Sept. of $176,000. I give this number in the interest of comparison because, to me, percentages are meaningless without a number to compare them to. Comics, given the right sales environment, and a dedicated sales staff, can still flourish.

That being said, we have had a larger than normal drop-off in new issue sales over the last three months.

 

(as for competitors seeing our numbers and thinking this would be a good place to open a store...bring it on! I relish the competition.)

 

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ant

ant

Posted
Posted

i have been asking aound (4 stores) within my area.

 

slc ut

ogden ut

pocatello id

idaho falls id

 

they have been saying that , out of comics and clix , clix make up at least 65% of store sales ,then comics,then tpbs.

 

what is the clix ratio to comics in the area you all are in?

 

and im realy suprized that the clix players dont buy more comics than clix! i was into comics way before clix of course but how do you play a game that you dont know the pieces.

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Scrooge

Scrooge

Posted
Posted
This is for the month of Sept., historically our second slowest month (Oct. is the slowest). These are total percentages averaged from our three stores.

 

Is December your "fastest" month? And, are these percentages different in your "fastest" month?

 

:popcorn:

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted
This is for the month of Sept., historically our second slowest month (Oct. is the slowest). These are total percentages averaged from our three stores.

 

Is December your "fastest" month? And, are these percentages different in your "fastest" month?

 

:popcorn:

Generally December is our fastest/busiest month for regular retail sales. In December misc. merchandise sales are a bigger percentage of overall sales.

May and November are our biggest sales months. We run a storewide sale one weekend in both May and November (this coming weekend if anyone will be in Houston). In those months our back issue and misc. merchandise categories skew markedly higher than normal.

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Monstro

Monstro

Posted
Posted
Well, I see that you are back and happy as lark spreading sunshine with every chirp. :)

 

 

but it's true, if you continue to slurp it all up, they will think they are doing a great job and nothing will change.

 

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jbud73

jbud73

Posted
Posted

Sorry to sound a little Darwinian, but if the LCS goes the way of the DoDo then so be it. Look I sympathize, but what they should be doing is getting together to discuss ways to improve and impact their businesses, not expect consumers to bail them out for bad business decisions that are out of both the LCS and consumers control.

 

Its not my fault that new books cost what they do, that the distribution is in the hands of a non-sympathetic monopoly ... that the internet has curtained their ability to get collections because collectors can eliminate them from the middle of more and more transactions.

 

The main problem is the "if its not broke don't fix it attitude" that prevailed, guess what its now broke and I'm not sure you can fix it. As someone else reiterated, as long as someone is making money on the process then its not going to change.

 

I still pick up about 7 titles a month and that number is going down steadily, actually the more I think about it the more I wonder why anyone buys new titles in pamphlet form anymore, including me. You can pick up the trades cheaper and the monthlies are so short now (You can read one in 5 mins) I actually like waiting for the collected TPBs because I can get the whole story.

 

I think the majority of the people in the hobby agree that there needs to be a change, that the modern market is still trying to ride the high and business model of the late 80s and early 90s wen titles were selling in the millions. Maybe it will take the distributor NOT having anyone left to distribute to for them to wake up, I don't know. But as long as someone is happy with their profit margin up the food chain nothing will change, so why should I contribute to that food chain? For the record my LSC gives me 0 discount, and honestly at this point it has nothing with my decision to purchase less and less off of them. It has more to so with the quality going down and down and the price going up and up - that equation is only sustainable for so long and then its not no matter what the price.

 

rantrant

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djpinkpanther67

djpinkpanther67

Posted
Posted
Reduce the overwhelming number of Spidey titles down to 2-3.....and I'll start reading Spidey again. Too many titles to even bother trying to follow my favourite web-slinger anymore.

There's only gonna be two. ASM and USM

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mica

mica

Posted
Posted
not expect consumers to bail them out for bad business decisions that are out of both the LCS and consumers control.

 

Its not my fault that new books cost what they do, that the distribution is in the hands of a non-sympathetic monopoly ... that the internet has curtained their ability to get collections because collectors can eliminate them from the middle of more and more transactions.

:applause:
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the blob

the blob

Posted
Posted

yes, but if you like the new material coming out, the death of the LCS might be the death of a lot of the material you might enjoy rather than Marvel putting out a couple of TPBs a year.

 

And the smaller publishers... I don't think they exist without the shop. Maybe Dark Horse with some of their licensed titles go into bookstores/amazon. But does 30 Days of Night or Walking Dead or Fear Agent or even the Goon ever happen?

 

Heck, even if we saw comics at more 7-11s and what not, those titles probably never happen.

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awe4one

awe4one

Posted
Posted
And the smaller publishers... I don't think they exist without the shop. Maybe Dark Horse with some of their licensed titles go into bookstores/amazon.

 

Not sure if it's applicable to stateside newsstands but Dark Horse has a very active presense on the military newsstands in Germany and Korea. I'd say the bulk of their licensed properties were represented. In fact, they apparently have a focus on the military market judging by this special package bought in a military Bookmart...

 

conan.jpg

 

Jim

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Monstro

Monstro

Posted
Posted
they also say that older books sell better than modern books! but most cant keep older books in stock due to insurance coverage!

 

WTF? What does back issue selection have to do with insurance? (shrug)

 

if the get ripped of your screwed

 

 

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