ygogolak Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 11 minutes ago, the blob said: I don't think bars in NYC want to pay rent for people to play board games unless they are drinking extra. Bulletproof Comics is about 600 feet from Brooklyn College (18,000 students) and a couple of blocks from Midwood High School (4000 students) and a couple of more blocks from another high school with 4,000 students, so that probably makes a difference too. (I live about 10 minutes from there). They had a location in a less centralized area a couple of miles away that also had room for gaming, but that is gone. They are also across the street from a huge shopping mall with a big Target in it. Unless the have a loooong term lease, not sure how they continue to pay the rent. They had a location in a less centralized area a couple of miles away that also had room for gaming, but that is gone. I think that probably does make a big difference for Bulletproof. However, bars have been doing games for decades with trivia nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted October 18, 2018 Author Share Posted October 18, 2018 46 minutes ago, ygogolak said: Half of the footprint of Kenmore's store if gaming, ha. You are correct - it's been a while since I made it down there and spent my whole time looking thru long boxes. Now that i think about it most of our local stores are pretty good about mixing games in with comics. There is that tiny store over on Ridge that is set up like an old school comic shop but the rest are pretty diverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Less Blob Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 50 minutes ago, ygogolak said: I think that probably does make a big difference for Bulletproof. However, bars have been doing games for decades with trivia nights. Sure, special nights I suppose. And I guess nobody will stop you from bringing a board game if you keep ordering drinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygogolak Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 2 hours ago, the blob said: Sure, special nights I suppose. And I guess nobody will stop you from bringing a board game if you keep ordering drinks. LOL, yea, sometimes you have to keep the game going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Less Blob Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 I have been doing keto for a while. Have not had a beer since August. Would really like a beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 8 hours ago, ygogolak said: Half of the footprint of Kenmore's store if gaming, ha. The only thing I buy there is supplies as they are the closest LCS. Owner is cool to talk with but back-issue inventory is pretty limited with almost no GA and early SA stock. They do have a nice wall of TBP and graphic novels. Not much of a gamer anymore, but they do have a really big selection of that material. They've been there a long time and are probably grandfathered into some cheap lease agreement - otherwise I've wondered how they stay afloat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badback83 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 I live in Columbus @1Cool and I only know of 1 shop that closed recently. Honestly, I don’t know the exact specifics of why the closing. One reason could be is that they were rarely open during the advertised hours. Opening late, closing early, that sort of thing, especially over the last year or so. I know several people personally that stopped going because every time they went during advertised open hours, it was closed. Maybe that finally affected business too much. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlowUpTheMoon Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 8 hours ago, the blob said: Sure, special nights I suppose. And I guess nobody will stop you from bringing a board game if you keep ordering drinks. I used to go to a bar that had a selection of board games that could be played at the tables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExodusGear Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 One shop in my area didnt really close down but they did move and cut down the space from what they were. That is just one though, there are still plenty of other shops about but theyre few and far between, which is why I think they have survived so long. About 20 years ago when I was in my teens, shops were everywhere around here, not so much anymore and I think that due to so many being in one general area that the buyers were split between all the stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPR Comics Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Had one open and one close one of its locations, so net net. No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygogolak Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 14 hours ago, bc said: The only thing I buy there is supplies as they are the closest LCS. Owner is cool to talk with but back-issue inventory is pretty limited with almost no GA and early SA stock. They do have a nice wall of TBP and graphic novels. Not much of a gamer anymore, but they do have a really big selection of that material. They've been there a long time and are probably grandfathered into some cheap lease agreement - otherwise I've wondered how they stay afloat. He owns the building. You're right by me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 45 minutes ago, ygogolak said: He owns the building. You're right by me. Good to know. He does seem to get a lot of regulars and his back stock of books is great (no Golden Age and very little early silver but no one has that stuff). He doesn't mind flippers (unlike Bill's Books in Canton) but I do get the vibe he doesn't like me very much (I know - crazy!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Less Blob Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 13 minutes ago, 1Cool said: Good to know. He does seem to get a lot of regulars and his back stock of books is great (no Golden Age and very little early silver but no one has that stuff). He doesn't mind flippers (unlike Bill's Books in Canton) but I do get the vibe he doesn't like me very much (I know - crazy!) Probably because you expertly cherry pick all of his underpriced book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) 27 minutes ago, the blob said: Probably because you expertly cherry pick all of his underpriced book? Yea - he has gotten to the point of asking why I'm grabbing copies of books and I fill him in on why a book is hot (he does this after ringing me out which is nice). He knows why I'm there and isn't mean or anything but his tone with his regulars is different then when he is talking books with me. Maybe more guarded is the correct term. Edited October 19, 2018 by 1Cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Less Blob Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 10 minutes ago, 1Cool said: Yea - he has gotten to the point of asking why I'm grabbing copies of books and I fill him in on why a book is hot (he does this after ringing me out which is nice). He knows why I'm there and isn't mean or anything but his tone with his regulars is different then when he is talking books with me. Maybe more guarded is the correct term. Yeah, I got that from a well known store here, although the owner is super friendly. he had tons of x-force 2s in his dollar boxes. This is before it was briefly worth anything (NM 98 was worth something). I bought several and he was wondering why? I said you never know if the second appearance will matter. He rolled his eyes. Anyway, I have always presented to him that I am not buying from him to flip because ebay is a hassle. Sure, 90-95% have not been flipped, yet. if I'm an obvious flipper he wouldn't give me the discounts he has given me. If I buy a stack of dollar books from someone and have 5 of the same issue I spread them around in the pile. Having 5 in a row will set off alarm bells if they are paying attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 had a local shop close this year. It was about 5 blocks from me. Why did it close? Awful ownership /management and terrible decisions. Things like bulk order of to many comic titles that didn't sell, stealing customer consignment books. Stealing books customers had them send to CGC, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
media_junkie Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 They are in my town. Last year (2017) there were two comic stores in my town. As of August of this year (2018) there are none. If you want a new or old comic it is either buy of the net or drive 45 miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmilwaukee6er Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Two of the four Collector's Edge locations have closed within the last 1.5 years- the West (outcompeted by another store) and East (rising rent, re-gentrification) locations. Any other long-term store, Turning Page, closed for a while when the owner died. It reopened just over a year ago under new management and is succeeding. It appears, looking at Google maps, that another store opened within the last two years in nearby Glendale. No real net change for Milwaukee Brother J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awakeintheashes Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 On 10/17/2018 at 4:39 PM, SearchForSpidey said: I dont think so. They are fairly spread out and two are more focused on gaming as well. Capital City is the only one that really carries Silver/Bronze in terms of a wide variety. Oh and I forgot Packrat they have two stores and are opening a third. The only real challenge is I try to support all of them as much as I can. :-) Edit to add none are on Campus. OSU has run everyone out if they are not high rent or trendy. (Former OSU student from a time gone by) Thanks for the info on Columbus. I recently moved here (kicking and screaming) after over a decade in the D.C. area. I visited the Packrat location in Hilliard. Looked to be well organized a fairly busy. The owner seems like a cool guy. I'll check out the others while I get used to the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SearchForSpidey Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, awakeintheashes said: Thanks for the info on Columbus. I recently moved here (kicking and screaming) after over a decade in the D.C. area. I visited the Packrat location in Hilliard. Looked to be well organized a fairly busy. The owner seems like a cool guy. I'll check out the others while I get used to the area. Welcome! Life long resident so I have been to them all feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need a local to chat at. Edited October 20, 2018 by SearchForSpidey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...