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Comics back in 7-11

Started by plitch,

25 posts in this topic

awe4one

awe4one

Posted
Posted

This is great news on the surface. Getting comics into these stores is a wonderful development. But I'm curious to see how and where the comics are displayed. This isn't the early 80s anymore so just throwing up a spinner rack probably isn't feasible. Also, selection is going to be key to any successful breakthrough. Comics can still be found in grocery stores and second rate convienence stores but usually don't sell because all that's offered is the occasional X-Men or Spider-Man comic. And not found on a consistent month to month basis. Also, these are normally found buried behind the bigger magazines or treated indifferently, which damages the comics to such an extent they are unsellable...

 

Again, great news...I just hope they have thought the display aspect out beforehand and don't let this opportunity slip by... 893crossfingers-thumb.gif

 

Jim

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awe4one

awe4one

Posted
Posted
It would be nice if DC got in on this too.

 

I betting they sit back and watch how Marvel does fopr awhile. Why print off all that returnable product towards an uncertain market when you can watch the other company make the errors or, hopefully, open up this market? The smart thing is to sit back and let the competition do the work for ya...

 

Jim

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Zanarkand

Zanarkand

Posted
Posted

Also,

 

"Along with moving back into 7-11s, it was also announced that Marvel had reached a deal with Barnes & Noble to sell comics in 300 more stores across the U.S., following the conclusion of a successful 50-store test."

 

A successful test, no less! I knew they could make in bookstores! Hooray!

 

"...over the years, comics’ presence in such outlets has dwindled to virtually nothing due to a host of reasons..."

 

Really? I thought it was basically one reason: Diamond is a monopoly and they don't accept returns.

 

Really though, not everybody is a condition freak. I bet none of us were, originally. I know I certainly wasn't. I just wanted the next issue of whatever it is I was into at the time. I became condition conscious only after being hooked.

 

What I remember most about the old days is how easy it was to pick up the next issue of anything. You practically tripped over comic books. These days, where's a kid or a mom or a dad going to find comics? The average person doesn't just wander into a LCS. But they do go to 7-11. cool.gif

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Zonker

Zonker

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Posted

True, Diamond is a monopoly and they don't accept returns, but understand that Diamond did not kill newstand distribution. Rather, newstand distribution was dying, and the Direct Market was seen by the publishers as a way to open up another distribution channel, one that-- by the way-- transferred all the risk of ordering specific quantities to the comic shop retailer. thumbsup2.gif

 

Today the Direct Market is essentially Diamond accounts. I understand the cost to the comic shop is approximately 50% of the cover price (depending on how big an account you are with Diamond). So the 50% profit margin compensates the comic shops for taking the risk of eating unsold inventory.

 

Now 7-11 certainly will not be assuming that kind of risk! So will their costs be higher than the LCS (i.e. less than 50% discount off of cover price) because they are not pre-committing to eating any unsold copies? That is what killed newstand distribution before: the risk/reward for devoting precious retail floor space to comics was seen to be out of whack. I remember one of the rationales for DC's 100 Page Super Spectacular experiment was to intentionally raise the cover price of the comics to be more like magazines as an incentive for the newstand retailers to carry them! (It backfired)

 

So hopefully Marvel is looking at this move as a "loss leader," meaning they'll lose money on 7-11 distribution, but maybe cultivate a new customer base that will graduate to the comics shops. 893crossfingers-thumb.gif

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delekkerste

delekkerste

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Well, I'm glad to see that Marvel is thinking about the right kind of things, but I'm afraid that improved distribution can only do so much to reverse the long-term secular decline of comic book reading. Marvel's comics remain, sadly, a horrible value proposition...how many kids really want to plunk down $2.25, $2.50, $2.99 or $3.50 for something that takes them 5 to 7 minutes to read? Not to mention they have to repeat this process 5 times to read the full storyline. And can we really say Marvel is producing good stories and artwork these days that will appeal to a broad audience?

 

I see comics for sale at various newsstand locations, particularly in the major train stations and airports in the NYC area, but I don't see a lot of copies being sold. Not only does the product not provide an appealing value proposition, but the books themselves are not durable in the least, so copies get beat up very quickly outside of a comic shop environment where most people handle the books with some care.

 

I think the days when comic books could be sold as disposable entertainment for 50 cents a copy off a spinner rack in 7-11 are long gone. And, I'm not sure Marvel can produce high-quality, done-in-one 32-page books profitably at a meaningfully lower price point (even if they used cheaper paper, etc.) anymore, anyway. I do think, though, that they can come up with a format that provides more entertainment value to the consumer, that has a price point high enough to be worthwhile for retailers like 7-11, and that is packaged in a format that can withstand the wear and tear of a traditional retail environment. They're are a couple of formats I know that are used in Europe that I think might make sense - thicker, 64+ page squarebound issues or thicker digest-sized books. I've seen both sold in 7-11 type retailers as well as bookstores.

 

Without providing a more value-added, attractive format for the 7-11 going public, I think all we are going to see is a lot of beat-up, unsold copies of books at 7-11s across the country followed by Marvel's eventual withdrawal from this market with their tail between their legs.

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Zonker

Zonker

Posted
Posted
maybe 7-11 will carry the 99 cent titles?

 

Looks like they're going the other way:

 

Newsarama link

 

The price point for the so-called flip book reprints is $3.99 for a 64 page package. The problem with any 99 cent product is there is so little incentive for the 7-11 retailer to devote valuable shelf space to such a thing.

 

Good news: Among the flip books is an Astonishing X-Men reprint, so the quality is high. Maybe Mom & Dad will spring $4.00 to occupy Junior on that long car ride, and a comics reader is born? 893crossfingers-thumb.gif

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