Marvel to Abandon Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores

[Bio-Rupp]

Another nail in the coffin....

 

http://comicbook.com/blog/2013/12/29/report-marvel-to-abandon-brick-and-mortar-bookstores/

[seanfingh]

Ironically, it is actually the lack of access to the digital platform for the Nook that is driving the decision.

[Bosco685]

Research, Research, Research: The Newsstand/Mass Market

 

A decent article on the newsstand market, and the benefits associated with it. A few of us were discussing this on the Hellboy.com site a few years back when Marvel announced it was running an experiment in B&N bookstores of going back to the newsstand.

 

Oh well.

[THE_BEYONDER]

Wouldn't this be a positive thing for actual comic book stores?

[gyro-1]

I think this will end up like a Bata VS VHS fight

Consumers loose

 

[Bosco685]

Wouldn't this be a positive thing for actual comic book stores?

 

Not if there are not enough stores around to pick up new readers and get them hooked.

 

Who Killed the Newsstand Comics Market?

 

Oddly enough, it was Jim Shooter who pointed out the relationship between Newsstand and Direct, and how the former would start new readers off leading to them then moving on to the direct market. Nowadays, he says it was not his idea to turn his back on the Newsstand Market.

[seanfingh]

Wouldn't this be a positive thing for actual comic book stores?

 

Not if there are not even stores around to pick up new readers and get them hooked.

 

Who Killed the Newsstand Comics Market?

 

Oddly enough, it was Jim Shooter who pointed out the relationship between Newsstand and Direct, and how the former would start new readers off leading to them then moving on to the direct market. Nowadays, he says it was not his idea to turn his back on the Newsstand Market.

 

That's exactly how it worked for me in the 80's. bike to the drugstore, get a drivers license and start haunting the comic shops.

[zuckuss2003]

Same, all my early comics were from 7-Eleven. Any back issues were from a high priced comic shop but that was rare. In my later teens I subscribed from a local shop that offered a discount.

[DiceX]

Wouldn't this be a positive thing for actual comic book stores?

 

Not if there are not even stores around to pick up new readers and get them hooked.

 

Who Killed the Newsstand Comics Market?

 

Oddly enough, it was Jim Shooter who pointed out the relationship between Newsstand and Direct, and how the former would start new readers off leading to them then moving on to the direct market. Nowadays, he says it was not his idea to turn his back on the Newsstand Market.

 

That's exactly how it worked for me in the 80's. bike to the drugstore, get a drivers license and start haunting the comic shops.

 

Same here. I never saw a comic store until I was 18 years old.

 

 

[Speedy-D]

Shoot, I was going to comic shops when I was nine or ten.

[DiceX]

Shoot, I was going to comic shops when I was nine or ten.

 

I lived in the middle of nowhere. The nearest comic shop to me was a couple of hours.

All I had was a drug store and mail order.

 

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

Shoot, I was going to comic shops when I was nine or ten.

 

Me too. I bought a ton of new books off the stands, but would take the subway downtown every other weekend to pick up back issues at the comic shops.

[Bosco685]

Shoot, I was going to comic shops when I was nine or ten.

 

7-11s, drug stores and smoke shops for me before I ever saw a comic store.

[TupennyConan]

Shoot, I was going to comic shops when I was nine or ten.

 

I lived in the middle of nowhere. The nearest comic shop to me was a couple of hours.

All I had was a drug store and mail order.

 

 

[jaybuck43]

I was always going to my local LCS growing up, it was 3 blocks from my house and an easy walk. Would get some books at CVS/Walgreens/Te-Amo (Cigar store) but vast majority came from LCS. I do know that I got the issues for the Spider-Man Clone saga from my Walgreens, they traumatized me so much I remember where I bought them

[Mutie Fan]

I bought a few issues off the rack at my local mini mart as a young kid, but I started going to comic shops in the mid 80's and never really looked back. We had 2-3 good shops in Fresno from the mid 80's to the mid 90's when I got out of the hobby in high school. Now there is only one shop in town that carries current issues. I haven't been in Barnes and Noble in a while, but I don't recall them stocking individual issues, only TPBs.

[Speedy-D]

Shoot, I was going to comic shops when I was nine or ten.

 

7-11s, drug stores and smoke shops for me before I ever saw a comic store.

About the time I discovered "smoke shops" is when I dropped the comic stores.

[ComicConnoisseur]

What`s interesting is there are only about 1500 LCS left. Basically I hope each and everyone of them stick around so people can still have a place to buy printed comic books.

[Mark 1]

My first exposure to comics was actually at a local flea market my parents visited. In my teens I bought current issues at 7-11 or Eckerd drugs (now defunct).

 

It's a shame large chain book stores won't be stocking these comics but the reality is these stores won't be around much longer anyway. Most of the brick and mortar book stores are closed by me.

 

 

[topofthetotem]

1/2 a block walk from empire drug store on Selkirk avenue as a kid

I remember picking up GI joe #1 from there only to return it for another copy because the ink spill on the inner pages.

The old lady at the counter looked at me cockeyed but let me pick another copy.