Atomic Comics closes its doors

[500Club]

Seems strange that some hold the view that a 16 yr old uninsured drivers non insurance would cover a 1+ mill dollar damage chain of events that would steamroll a chain into oblivion.

 

Maybe in canada the store owner would be able to draw from a common vast non insured insurance pool. I hear rainbows are sold in little paper cups on every corner there as well.

 

Also, not surprising that the store itself did not have insurance to cover such a massive loss, as most stores prepare for forseeable + plausible events, not for B52 bombing raids.

 

Someone with better reading comprehension and a higher IQ might have concluded that the poster 'holding the view' you refer to simply missed the reference to the driver being uninsured in the prior posts.

[batman_fan]

Back when I started going to Atomic in the early 90s they had a great selection of high grade bronze books priced pretty reasonably. Last time I went was probably 6 years ago to the Mesa store. Not nearly as much stuff. Still sad to see them go under.

[OldGuy]

 

Wouldn't they have fire/flood insurance.....

 

In Phoenix? No.

[sd2416]

Looks like All About Books & Comics is working with Diamond to take care of any Atomic customers orders.

 

http://allaboutbooksandcomics.com/wp/all-about-will-honor-all-atomic-orders/

[the blob]

 

Wouldn't they have fire/flood insurance.....

 

In Phoenix? No.

 

A pipe is almost as likely to burst somewhere in Phoenix as in North Carolina I'd think and I figure that's a big chunk of the risk of a "flood"

 

I just figured a chain like that would have more comprehensive insurance, that's all.

 

Of course, my friend who ran a small comic shop for many years had absolutely no insurance of any kind. It actually wound up serving him well when he got sued in a trip and fall and the other side got sick of him defending himself pro se and let him off the hook to go after his landlord instead. The landlord wasn't too happy though.

 

 

[aggr1103]

Pardon my lack of business savvy but I do have a question regarding the bleeding cool article:

 

The article said that the owner of atomic comics home was in foreclosure. Does this mean that his business and personal credit were intertwined?

[MrBedrock]

Also, not surprising that the store itself did not have insurance to cover such a massive loss, as most stores prepare for forseeable + plausible events, not for B52 bombing raids.

Totally destruction and closure of the main store in your chain, effectively the main thing link in the business that puts meals on your table, is probably one event that you should take precautions for. I know Mike pretty well. And we had talked about this very event as I had something very similar happen with Hurricane Ike and our main store. Total loss. Closed three months. The main difference was my shop was totally covered, including business interruption insurance. I can't take credit for that as I wasn't really paying close attention the day fifteen years ago when my insurance agent mentioned that I should probably have it as an added feature on my coverage. But damn, am I glad I did have it. It saved me about $95,000 for the course of that one event. And I know Mike wished he had it with his situation.

[BrianR]

 

Wouldn't they have fire/flood insurance.....

 

In Phoenix? No.

 

Actually, it depends where in Phoenix, having worked with flood certifications with local governments and FEMA here for 10 years there are plenty of areas that are in flood zones.

[Mr.Illmannered]

Rob Liefeld: Heard from 2 former employees that confirmed Atomic Comics is outta business.

 

Rob is clearly inconsolable.

 

First thing I thought of!

 

Sad news though for Atomic, always hate to hear stories like this. A lot of my fellow gun store owners are going out of business seemingly out of the blue...

[MrBedrock]

Pardon my lack of business savvy but I do have a question regarding the bleeding cool article:

 

The article said that the owner of atomic comics home was in foreclosure. Does this mean that his business and personal credit were intertwined?

It means that he was probably personally guaranteeing all of Atomic Comics' contracts, such as leases or large purchase orders. This could happen if Atomic was a corporation with no, or bad, credit record, or if the companies Atomic dealt with demanded it as a term of their dealings.

[the blob]

Or maybe it means his home was in foreclosure because he was putting all of his cash into trying to keep the business afloat and wasn't paying the mortgage (which was probably more than what the house was worth anyway given the arizona RE market)

[aggr1103]

Pardon my lack of business savvy but I do have a question regarding the bleeding cool article:

 

The article said that the owner of atomic comics home was in foreclosure. Does this mean that his business and personal credit were intertwined?

It means that he was probably personally guaranteeing all of Atomic Comics' contracts, such as leases or large purchase orders. This could happen if Atomic was a corporation with no, or bad, credit record, or if the companies Atomic dealt with demanded it as a term of their dealings.

 

YIKES. I'm way too conservative to start or even try to build a business of that magnitude.

[Pirate]

remember when chuck lost 25 stores, 8,000 pieces of pottery and a partridge in a pear tree due to flooding? He's still trying to recover, the poor guy.

[sborock]

This is sad, sad news

 

FYI.....Mike has, behind the scenes, done so much for our hobby. He is a huge money maker for the Hero Initiative, donating, not only money and product, but huge amounts of his personal time. He's a great guy! Like I stated, sad news.

[Flash105]

Business interuption insurance is the key. Even if the inventory is replaced you would have a hard time closing the doors without any cash flow and having a business in five months.

 

Just like car insurance most businesses carry liability and contents insurance, although most probably under insure. But I bet most do not care business interuption or product liability insurance.

[musicmeta]

Extremely SAD NEWS! Whenever I would be out in in Phoenix area with my wife visiting her relatives I always made it point to stop by the store. Very nice store and nice people too. What a shame!

[AK Comics]

My landlord wouldn't let me lease a space unless I had insurance in place before moving in.

[adamstrange]

 

Wouldn't they have fire/flood insurance.....

 

In Phoenix? No.

 

Actually, it depends where in Phoenix, having worked with flood certifications with local governments and FEMA here for 10 years there are plenty of areas that are in flood zones.

It hardly rains in Phoenix but when it does it can result in flash floods.

[paperheart]

remember when chuck lost 25 stores, 8,000 pieces of pottery and a partridge in a pear tree due to flooding? He's still trying to recover, the poor guy.

 

he seems to be doing fan-TAT-ulous

[rjrjr]

Mike is a great guy but when he started to have 75% off sales I kind of thinking of the bad. I thought he would have consolidated into two shops. I shopped at two of his 75% sales and came out with a ton of silver and bronze age gems, sorry to see all of the stores close.

 

 

First and foremost, I want to express my sympathy to the employees who lost their jobs as well as to the owner who lost his business. The few times I talked to Mike, he was always a great guy who was fun to talk to. With that said, being a Phoenix resident who lives within 10 miles of one of the Atomic Comic stores (Tatum and Cactus), I'd like to explain why I did not support my LCS (Atomic Comics):

 

* There were no discounts on opening a box. In fact, in order to have a box at Atomic Comics, I would have to pay a $25 fee.

* Back issue prices were priced way too high. A 75% discount would bring the prices down to a reasonable level on par with other comic shop's back issues.

* "Hot" new comics would be priced above cover within days of going on sale. This practice at Atomic Comic is ultimately what got me to stop shopping there entirely and buying all my books from DBCS. I remember going to the store on a Wednesday or Thursday when the death of Captain America issue was released and the regular issue was priced at $8. This was the day of or the day right after it was released!

* Prior to the store relocating corners at Tatum and Cactus, the employees were very nice and helpful. In fact, the service was some of the best service I have ever seen at any retail store, comic or not. After the relocation and a staff turnover, the new employees would play the music too loud and ignore customers while they chatted it up with their friends. The store/employees were not as inviting as the they use to be.

* They stocked heavy on Marvel comics, not as heavy on DC comics, and barely at all on most indies. Unless you were a Marvel fan, your pickings were slim.

 

I'll miss the convenience of stopping by Atomic Comics on the odd weekend when I wanted to "browse" the stands looking for an oddball issue to buy and read. I definitely will miss them for the comic supplies (which is mostly what I used their store for.) On the other hand, the area still has a Half Price bookstore and the absolute best comic shop, All About Books and Comics, is only 30 minutes away.

 

I do hope the employees get jobs quickly and the owner is able to to recuperate from this loss quickly.

 

Thanks,

Ron