I'm opening up a brick and mortar this year and want some advice!! 7 7

[Bird]

A shuttered location is not great advertising for the franchising route.

 

They get you a discount on boxes and packing supplies when you go under.

[shadroch]

I am curious to know from people who have/had shops that sell back issues and what not, do you find that you maybe have 10-20 customers who account for a big chunk of your business?

 

At my old shop it seemed that way. He had a core of people who spent maybe $200-$500 a month there between their pull list, toys, back issues, supplies, etc. (He closed 17 years ago, so adjust for inflation). I was one of those guys. When a couple of them dropped out because they lost their jobs or got sick or whatever, it was a hit for him. And it was a bad time in general anyway.

 

He was a small store, .5 - 1 employees. Obviously we're not talking about bedrock or wherever, but maybe he has a few folks who drop $5K a month on a few nice books, who knows?

 

That's how it was for me. On Long Island, I had a Law Professor who discovered he loved comics.

First day he came in, he spent about forty dollars on back issues. Soon he was spending $200 a week. Didn't care about New issues. Soon he was looking for complete runs of many SA titles.

There were weeks he was a quarter of my business.

In Puerto Rico, I'd guess a dozen people did over a third of my sales.

[Mapleleafvann]

I am curious to know from people who have/had shops that sell back issues and what not, do you find that you maybe have 10-20 customers who account for a big chunk of your business?

 

At my old shop it seemed that way. He had a core of people who spent maybe $200-$500 a month there between their pull list, toys, back issues, supplies, etc. (He closed 17 years ago, so adjust for inflation). I was one of those guys. When a couple of them dropped out because they lost their jobs or got sick or whatever, it was a hit for him. And it was a bad time in general anyway.

 

He was a small store, .5 - 1 employees. Obviously we're not talking about bedrock or wherever, but maybe he has a few folks who drop $5K a month on a few nice books, who knows?

 

That's how it was for me. On Long Island, I had a Law Professor who discovered he loved comics.

First day he came in, he spent about forty dollars on back issues. Soon he was spending $200 a week. Didn't care about New issues. Soon he was looking for complete runs of many SA titles.

There were weeks he was a quarter of my business.

In Puerto Rico, I'd guess a dozen people did over a third of my sales.

 

 

I'm guessing that the 80/20 rule still applies here; IE 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customer base. This "law" seems to transcend industries and most business models....

[the blob]

Goes to show how important it is to make a good first impression. I got back into comics in law school. A big chunk of that was due to there being a shop midway on my walk to school. Had the owner been a jerk the first time I walked in I would not have become a regular and maybe not caught the bug. While I didn't have a lot of money as a student, when I graduated and worked st a big firm I did. So you never know who will wind up being an n important regular.

[VegasJeff]

I must say AndyFish's advice above is very good stuff.

I can also add some input to this discussion. I've setup and designed many Retail POS system setups.

As a retailer, a POS system is an absolute must these days. A standard POS system with all the bells and whistles will run you about $1,000 per lane (register). Since you will be just a one store operation that $60/month POS listed earlier in this thread will probably be your best deal if it does everything you need it to do.

You will need to track inventory, charge credit cards, find out what your cost is on an item at a second's notice, setup reorder points. You will be able to run reports to determine what is selling and how to better allocate your funds on future orders. Your vision of a comic shop may not match the wants or needs of the customers in your area. This will help you adjust to their needs and order what they want and pay money for. You should also do a complete inventory count every quarter to make sure what you have on hand is what your computer system says. This is how you will determine how much shrinkage you have (i.e. theft, etc.). Industry standard is roughly 2% for that number. This will help you figure out if employees or customers are robbing you blind. Then you can make adjustments to compensate for that. POS systems can also tie into accounting systems and help automate a lot of the paperwork.

If you don't have a POS system you are just 'amatuer' and your days as a retailer are numbered. I'm sorry if this sounds rough but business is war. I heard a number that 80% of new businesses go under in the first three years. If the largest comic book chain in the country (who is that?) were to open a shop across the street from yours how would you compete with them? Something to think about.

If you don't have management experience in retail. I would suggest getting some first. Go manage a Walgreens or CVS or a Convenience Store for a year. The experience you get will be invaluable down the road if you decide to do this. I encourage you to do so with the proper setup you could be very successful.

 

 

[vint43]

I realize I am late to this topic.

My wife and I ran a brick and mortar retail business for 4 years.  This was after several successful BtoB companies.

I can tell you, retail was the hardest challenge I faced as a business owner in terms of making it profitable.  

It was the easiest in terms of generating "some revenue" but very hard to make it truly profitable.  

That is what makes it maddening for me.  

You get a positive sign one day, bleak the next.  You keep working it to try and "crack the code".  However, we never really did.

These are some items I would point out generically for professionals considering retail:

1- Retail is a social business.  However, in reality, I am not *really* social.  In retail, you were always "on".  This was hard for me.  Sometimes, I just did not want to be outgoing that day.  That was not an option in retail.

2- Dealing with the "general public" is extremely different than dealing with people in a business setting (most of our prior business experience was BtoB).  You really are not sure who is going to walk through your doors.  98% of the general public, for us, was fine (& many are great).  There is 2% of the public (probably even much less) that is a nightmare.  They steal from you, attempt fraud in various ways, have irrational expectations that can just dumbfound you, and can generally suck the life out of you as a business owner who is just trying to survive and make your customers happy.  In extreme cases, they can be violent (and with my wife working the store that thought bothered me several times).  Thank goodness we never had a situation deteriorate to that level.  If you are not the type that can just "move on" and let it go, it can eat you up dealing with that 2%.  This is just a heads up.  In retail, you have a business where just about anyone "walks in" and you have to manage that situation.  

3- Understand who your real customer is and decide what attracts them.  My concern, looking at the comic book situation, is the environment that might attract families with kids might be the same environment that repels hard core comic adults.  The same in reverse.  I often found ourselves trying to make too many customer segments "happy" with our store.  However, that course might actually work against you.  The things you do for some group might repel the next.  You need to understand, within a small radius of your store, what segment of the population can truly sustain your business (hard core comic people, families, etc.).  Once you identify that segment, do everything for them.  Trying to appeal to everyone will most likely make you less appealing to everyone.  It is a brutal part of the business because everyone that walks into your store is "potential".  However, to sustain the business, the people that keep returning to your store is what matters.  It took us too long to fully focus on our profitable customers.  The store became "diluted" over that time with non-effective inventory, displays, etc. that did not build upon our most profitable segments.  Getting this wrong, unfortunately, is a death sentence for the store.  So, the old saying "understand your customer" is life and death in retail - not just a saying.  Building a store for hard core comic people to find out 65% of your traffic is a Mom with kids is a real problem.

4- Hiring at $12 an hour was really tough.  I will not get long winded about this but hiring in this business was hard.

I wish you the best.  There were many things we enjoyed about the store.  

It has its highlights.  For us, however, it is not missed.  

We enjoy working in a BtoB environment.  

However, that is us.

 

 

 

[jimhouston1]

Here is an idea I had to get people into a store that sold comics. In the Bronx we called sub sandwiches  "heroes".  I thought it would be cool to open a Superhero shop that sold sandwiches everyday and gave away common comics with each sandwich maybe once a week  to try to get people to come back as customers of both parts of the store. 

If you made good sandwiches you have the lunch crowd coming in all the time paying the rent and you still get to sell new comics and older comics and give away the drek so you continually turn over inventory. 

All comics would need to be bagged so sticky fingers don't mess up the comics. 

But I was told my store could not be called Superhero because Marvel and DC had the rights to it. 

A hero sandwich shop opened in The Hamptons that had original heroes painted on the walls but they did not carry comic books. 

You may need adjoining storefronts but I just wanted to share an idea I had but never tried. 

I own a TV Production company now and I have always had a job with benefits in education which let me loan the company money when needed to get new equipment. 

I buy my new comics from Zapp in NJ (Hi Ben) and I buy old comics on line. 

Whenevef I travel anywhere I look for a Brick and Mortar store just to stop in and say hello and I try to buy something just as a Thank You for helping to keep the hobby alive. 

When you open I'll come for a visit. Good Luck. 

Edited April 15, 2017 by jimhouston1

[fastballspecial]

1 hour ago, jimhouston1 said:

Here is an idea I had to get people into a store that sold comics. In the Bronx we called sub sandwiches  "heroes".  I thought it would be cool to open a Superhero shop that sold sandwiches everyday and gave away common comics with each sandwich maybe once a week  to try to get people to come back as customers of both parts of the store. 

If you made good sandwiches you have the lunch crowd coming in all the time paying the rent and you still get to sell new comics and older comics and give away the drek so you continually turn over inventory. 

All comics would need to be bagged so sticky fingers don't mess up the comics. 

But I was told my store could not be called Superhero because Marvel and DC had the rights to it. 

A hero sandwich shop opened in The Hamptons that had original heroes painted on the walls but they did not carry comic books. 

You may need adjoining storefronts but I just wanted to share an idea I had but never tried. 

I own a TV Production company now and I have always had a job with benefits in education which let me loan the company money when needed to get new equipment. 

I buy my new comics from Zapp in NJ (Hi Ben) and I buy old comics on line. 

Whenevef I travel anywhere I look for a Brick and Mortar store just to stop in and say hello and I try to buy something just as a Thank You for helping to keep the hobby alive. 

When you open I'll come for a visit. Good Luck. 

I try to do the above in bold in any store I can that seems friendly, fair and welcoming.

[youmechooz]

Also, dont close any day of the week.  Im open 7 days and decided to take saturday off, sons 2nd birthday, and sunday off, celebrating easter with family who i never see.  Got a 1 star rating on facebook because i wasnt open on saturday.  So dont ever close. Ever.

[thehumantorch]

Great thread

[Mapleleafvann]

What a great thread with so many informative contributions.  Wow....opening up a comics/collectibles store sounds terrifying.....and justifiably so dammit.  Reading all of these posts really highlight the gaps in my knowledge for this most competitive of retail spots.....

 

[ParamagicFF]

13 hours ago, youmechooz said:

Also, dont close any day of the week.  Im open 7 days and decided to take saturday off, sons 2nd birthday, and sunday off, celebrating easter with family who i never see.  Got a 1 star rating on facebook because i wasnt open on saturday.  So dont ever close. Ever.

You can be closed a day, but your hours must be consistent and easy to understand. You never want to be closed when you should be open. A comic shop is a destination for most customers, so if they get there and you're closed, it's a wasted trip. Why would anyone frequent a store that may or may not be open?

Something that hasn't been mentioned is staff. If you can not, or don't expect to be able to pay for part time help, that's a recipe for madness. You're human and need time off. If you don't have someone who can run the shop when you need a day off, you're setting yourself up for failure.

[1Cool]

13 hours ago, youmechooz said:

Also, dont close any day of the week.  Im open 7 days and decided to take saturday off, sons 2nd birthday, and sunday off, celebrating easter with family who i never see.  Got a 1 star rating on facebook because i wasnt open on saturday.  So dont ever close. Ever.

You thinking about switching back to just doing Con /online sales or are you riding it out?

[youmechooz]

2 hours ago, 1Cool said:

You thinking about switching back to just doing Con /online sales or are you riding it out?

riding it out.  I can't get the collections I get doing just online/con stuff. the store pays for itself just by the collections that walk in the door.

[youmechooz]

3 hours ago, ParamagicFF said:

You can be closed a day, but your hours must be consistent and easy to understand. You never want to be closed when you should be open. A comic shop is a destination for most customers, so if they get there and you're closed, it's a wasted trip. Why would anyone frequent a store that may or may not be open?

Something that hasn't been mentioned is staff. If you can not, or don't expect to be able to pay for part time help, that's a recipe for madness. You're human and need time off. If you don't have someone who can run the shop when you need a day off, you're setting yourself up for failure.

You are right but I disagree on the hiring of staff.  I feel you should do it solo for the first few years.

[1Cool]

22 minutes ago, youmechooz said:

riding it out.  I can't get the collections I get doing just online/con stuff. the store pays for itself just by the collections that walk in the door.

Glad to hear there is some good things which come with owning the store.  You bothering to hit up any of the big Cons this year or are you getting plenty of books already coming thru the door.  I miss seeing you low balling dealers on key books.

[ParamagicFF]

25 minutes ago, youmechooz said:

You are right but I disagree on the hiring of staff.  I feel you should do it solo for the first few years.

I can see doing that if you keep your shop closed one day a week. I feel like keeping a good work life balance is important to keeping yourself energized about your career. Going 7 days a week inside of a retail store where you serve every function is a recipe for burnout. Not to mention what it would do to someone with an established family.

[youmechooz]

2 hours ago, 1Cool said:

Glad to hear there is some good things which come with owning the store.  You bothering to hit up any of the big Cons this year or are you getting plenty of books already coming thru the door.  I miss seeing you low balling dealers on key books.

lol, i still do that when i buy in store.

 I do plan on doing shows again sometimes. 

[shadroch]

There is a sandwich shop on Long Island called Super Hero. They have several DC characters displayed in their window.

Food is mediocre. About two miles away is a place called My Hero where the food is epic.

Super Hero has almost no web presence. If they have a website, I couldn't find it.

[Genesis Comics]

Sorry I haven't posted or updated in a while.  I've read through this entire thread 10+ times start to finish and will continue to do so as there is so much great advice here.  Even though there were a lot of "Don't do it!!" comments, I've decided to continue to pursue the "dream"!   Please excuse the randomness of the following, just some of the things I've been working on.

*As people suggested I plan to be open 7 days a week.  The opening times will be determined on the shopping center I'm in...due to gaming and tournaments I will be open until 10 at night and later on Fridays...probably close earlier on Sundays...but I will adjust as the business needs dictate.

* I've purchased and read "Tilting at Windmills" so thank you for the recommendation on that book!  Lot's of great information there.

*  All of my "paperwork" is complete as far as corporation status, I decided on opening as an S-Corp as it seemed to be the best option and one that the "comic and gaming" stores in this area recommended. All my tax paperwork is in order and I am legal to open a retail location.

*I've signed up with the 2 big gaming/supply/toy distributors here on Long Island (GTS and Southern Hobby).  Next up is Diamond and Magazine Exchange in Oregon.

* I have a good friend who is a real estate lawyer, who I've hired to look over the lease once I finally find a place.

* I've spent the last 2 months, scouting our areas on Long Island that I feel would be good areas to open a shop, that aren't too close to other shops, near schools, in good neighborhoods, and that have good parking.  This has been eye opening as I've learned that the real estate agents promise things and then don't deliver...I thought I had a spot nailed down and all of a sudden the things that were supposed to be included were no longer included...it was frustrating as it was a good place, but I decided to move on and told the landlord he has my number if he changes his mind and meets what the agent had promised.  I've learned what "CAM" charges are (Common area maintenance) that is an additional charge for (trash, snow, taxes) that some landlords charge in to addition to the rent.  This was not something that I had heard of but apparently it's very common in shopping centers.  I am learning something new every day!   I had another place I really liked that I tried to negotiate a lower rent, but it ended up being rented at full price.  Looking back, the location was prime, and although the rent was higher than I wanted, it's the one I regret.  It was one of the first locations I saw, and though I liked it, I wanted to see more...live and learn.  I am looking at 5-10 places a week and will update when I find one! I've decided, based on price that 1200-1500 feet is the max I will be able to afford and the store needs to be at least 16 feet across with 20 being optimal. This will allow for side by side gaming tables of 8 feet long on either side (or 6 feet if only 16 feet across)

*I've finally gotten a logo and had a sign made up for shows as well as business cards with my facebook, instagram, website, email, and cell #, no address obviously, but something to hand out at shows etc.

*I did my first event as Genesis Comics and Gaming.  It was a Magic the Gathering event (Vintage and Modern tournaments) at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, former location of Eternal Con.  I brought a helper with me to see how he did....he will by my first part time employee, he is very into the Magic the Gathering community and I did an extra few hundred in sales, based on him recommending certain cards and helping people to build new decks.  I also had a good personal friend there, keeping an eye, just to make sure he was trustworty.  All went very well.

*One of the biggest concerns I had was when Moondog had mentioned I needed $150,000 to start.  I had done some preliminary work and I was not really close to that number.  I really started to dig deep into the numbers, and while I would love to have $150,000, that is not realistic.  I spoke to a number of people who have opened shops in the last few years, only one had over $75,000 when they started and everyone else had less than 50 with 2 having less than 20!!  All have succeeded, so I felt a bit better about that once I spoke to them.  Plus, I already had a good amount of inventory to start.  Not discounting that the more money they better, but I've seen success with less.

*I did however spend some time looking at my inventory and seeing what I had and what I wanted my store to be!  I had a picture in my mind of what I would have and how I'd be different!  I ended up purchasing about 12k-13k more stock. I was lacking in current books so I picked up a 20 box unbagged collection of dealer overstock from a good friend of mine who has had a shop for 20+ years.  Dealer overstock is probably not the right word, it's modern books from the last 4-5 years and included good runs of all titles, there was about a short box of variants and a good number of minor keys.  Paid less than 33 cents a book.  Also picked up 3 short boxes of high grade bronze/silver books from a friend who picked up a collection...collection was cheap so the boxes I got were as well...some examples were Marvel Premier 15, Adventure into Fear 19, Jimmy Olsen 134, Marvel Spotlight 2, solid early runs of Tomb, Werewolf, Swamp Thing.  Books ranged from fine to NM and there were probably a good 50-60 Neal Adams books ranging from Batman to the horror titles.  A good number of high grade, possible CGC worthy...books were mostly from 1967-1972.  Also picked up some silver age books and copper keys for "wall" books.  I also always pictured my store as having a great selection of Magic the Gathering booster boxes to sell packs out of as well.  While I had about 20 different boxes, mostly in the last 5 years, I did not have the older stuff that would make me stand apart from the competition, so I picked up about 25 older booster boxes. My plan is to always have at least 50 different packs available for sale!  I've been spending time organizing and having inventory ready to "move in" if I find a place soon.   From the new product I've purchased to doing shows and boxes moving back and forth, things have gotten more mixed up that I thought.  I also picked up 3 Magic the Gathering collections, 1 with vintage cards, and the other two with modern staples.

*I've researched POS systems and have decided to start with Comic Suite as my system.  I also have researched the crystal commerce and while I think it would be useful as well, I believe the information I can gather from the Comic Suite system related to new comic sales, is invaluable.  Plus they start you out with a good number of trades for free!  Most of the shops I spoke to both on Long Island, and the ones I visited in Florida when I was down there on vacation, told me that the biggest struggle they had in the beginning was new comics and over ordering.  One of the Florida shops had comic suite and spend time with me going over it's pro's and how it helped him.  Another shop I visited in North Carolina had crystal commerce but hadn't really delved into it entirely and couldn't really give me pros/cons.

*I've decided to organize the comics by age into 3 categories, Silver, Bronze, and Copper though Modern.  In each of those categories they are divided into Marvel, DC, Independent.  Independent is divided by publisher Valiant, Image, Dark Horse, and probably IDW, I've separated out signed books, pedigree books, and the high grade bronze and silver from the lower grade stuff.  I think I'm going to organize the comics in the Copper-Modern by character...ie Spider-Man would have Amazing, Spectacular, Superior, Web, McFarlane Spidey, etc and characters related to Spidey, Venom, Green Goblin, etc.  All Spider-Man related books in one place.  Wanted to know what people thought of that or if straight up alphabetical would be better? I'm at the point where I'm ready to do this so please let me know how your LCS does it!!

*I've been on the lookout for cheap glass showcases, but one of the issues I'm running into is I don't want to buy things that I won't be able to use, plus storage is a bit of an issue as I have 3 rooms in the house taken up with inventory already...thank god my wife is patient ...I've found a good wholesaler of showcases/shelving etc here on the island that has a lot of nice pieces that I would look to purchase once I get the place.  I check out Craigslist every day and have people in the comic community keeping an eye out for me for display pieces/racks/showcases/shelving etc.

*I've spoken to a few comic and MTG artists and am hoping to have a few come out for the grand opening as long as their schedule allows...lot's of people live on Long Island and in the NY area so hopefully I can get some big names in to kick off the opening!

* I will be setting up at Eternal Con this year (being held in Nassau Coliseum on July 1st and 2nd this year).  I will be running some sort of incentive to like and share my social media, giving away free comics or magic the gathering to get my name out there in the community.

Please keep up with the advice and suggestions!  I really appreciate all the feedback!  This is tiring and exciting at the same time, it's a labor of love.  I've run into a few issues here and there, but nothing so major that it made me change my mind.  Thanks for reading!!