ComicBook Shop Then and Now......</>

[joe_collector]

What was wrong with my price last time?

 

It was too high!

 

Why don't you provide me with a business plan that justifies the price that you want to pay?

 

Maybe I will..... maybe I will...

[greggy]

What was wrong with my price last time?

 

It was too high!

 

Why don't you provide me with a business plan that justifies the price that you want to pay?

 

Maybe I will..... maybe I will...

 

I could care less because I actually enjoy that story line the best!

[joe_collector]

I could care less because I actually enjoy that story line the best!

 

[Foolkiller]

I've seen many of your comments regarding disappointments in your local shops... let me just make a couple of notes about stores from my area:

When I lived in Jersey, there were several good stores where I found tons of GREAT books that were high grade VF or better.

 

JC Comics in Plainfield is one of the best stores in the entire state. Now when I first went there they had a ton of great wall books (and I tried to buy them all) but they're one of the only stores I know of that has a constant overturn of new back issues and actively buy collections. Their staff is friendly and knowledgeable and to anyone who reads this and is near n. plainfield, I highly recommend this store. It's my favorite.

 

Deweys Comic City in Madison is great too... the owner Dan is probably my favorite comic store owner I've ever met but the only drawback is a few years ago he went away from back issues and went towards tpbs and new comics and gaming cards, a trend many stores are now following around me.

 

I don't get a discount on new comics anywhere, but I have to say, those two stores are almost as good as any store I remember from years ago.

 

Here in Philly the comic scene in center city is abysmal. Atomic City Comics/showcase on south street is poor. It doesn't stock new items well enough, sells out of tpbs without replacing them and only recently has "sort of" begun trying to beef up back issues. Oh, and they put their most valuable back issues on a wall in a window where they can get nice and faded.

 

Fat Jack's used to be good years ago, but they've gotten complacent without competition. Their staff is generally unfriendly... but at least they stock new items regularly. They have a mediocre stock of trade paperbacks and their back issues are stale... they rarely aquire new and exciting items like collections

 

Philly is an embarassment for a big city and comics.

[lighthouse]

Does anyone know or is there a census of grow in the business.

 

Comics and Games Retailer, an industry publication put out by Krause, pegs the number of stores selling comic books at around 3200, up from a low of 2700 in 1999, (and down from a high around 12,000 in 1993, which was up from around 3300 in 1987).

 

Diamond keeps their account information pretty close to the vest, but best guess is that there are more stores selling comics now than there have been since around 1997. Notice I said "stores selling comics" rather than comic book stores. There are at least 900 shops in the country who consider themselves "gaming stores", and just over half of those also carry comics. (These numbers also from C&GR).

 

As far as back issue stores, I had a discussion with some guys on the CBIA forum about a year ago, and the general consensus was that there are less than 100 shops in the country that have over 150 long boxes of back issues on display. In fact, there may be less than 50. That's not to say there aren't more dealers who keep that kind of volume in their back rooms in racks. But in terms of issues you can lay your hands on, there aren't many. Portland has one. Seattle has none. Houston has none. Dallas/Forth Worth has two. New Orleans has none. San Francisco has none. San Antonio has none. Salt Lake City has none... A few of these cities have had such a shop within the last few years but don't now. And it's possible a new one has opened since we had the discussion.

 

One of the big reasons for the decline in back issue stores is that the rents have increased much faster than the price points. A long box of comics on display represents $3.50 per month in rent for a typical suburban shop, and closer to $5.00 per month for many. A shop needs to do $35 a month in sales from that box just to keep the rent at 10% of sales, and 10% is higher than most profitable businesses can afford. If those boxes were chockful of $15-20 books, that number seems easy to achieve. But in order to get people to look through your $15 books, you better have some $2-3 ones as well. A customer is more likely to buy his Capt Marvel 26 from you if he can also get his Avengers 240. And the customers looking for $15-20 books know all about eBay, and expect an eBay-price or they will go elsewhere. They'll pay retail on the $2 books, because what they are really buying is convenience. But they have alternatives at the higher prices...

 

So a lot of shops have looked at the space that long box takes up, and decided to put three t-shirts there instead, or a couple toys. Items people will buy on impulse, items that are easy to give as gifts, items that turn quickly and require almost no additional labor to sell. With price points that make the process worthwhile. How many stores do you go into that make their living selling $3 items you don't have to have? Food, gas, ok... but that's pretty much it. The idea of a store trying to be successful selling a non-necessity priced at $3, and doing enough volume to stay afloat... It's pretty crazy...

 

50% of the local comicshops would love to find another proprietor/partnership to take over their inventory, subscriber base, goodwill & assets. With the advent of eBay, local comicons, mail order, weekend fleamarkets, there are more efficient ways to sell comics/toys than a brick & mortar shop open 7 days/week. U can run buy ads in the local Buy & Sell or Nickel Ads paper & run around chasing collections down.

 

I don't know whether this is true, odin... There are many pseudo-disgruntled shop owners, that's true... But there are also a number of people who genuinely love what they do. Read the retailer profiles on sequentialtart.com. Every one of them is a shop owner who would do it again in a heartbeat. Talk to Brian Hibbs, or Joe Field, or Jeremy from Titan Comics, or the guys from Isotope... I walked away from a job that paid me far more and gave me far more time off, and I haven't questioned my choice once. There's a lot of reasons why, but one of the biggest (and the reason I sell back issues even if my accountant thinks I shouldn't) is the Santa Claus effect. To see the look on someone's face when they find that last issue they need. When they're clutching the worn and folded list, checking yet again for the same books they are always looking for, and to see the faces light up as they pull out an issue they've been searching for. I have seen grown men who make six figure incomes who try to hold back tears over a $5 back issue. I get to be Santa Claus at least twice a week. And there is nothing like it. A guy two weeks ago pulled a copy of Classics Illustrated Food of the Gods from my boxes and just started giggling like a schoolgirl. He now only needs two books for his complete set. That book cost him $4, and he drove off in a tricked-out Ford Expedition. But I bet he hasn't been that happy in a month...

 

You just don't get that from mail order...

[Zonker]

Thank you Lighthouse. (I mean it!)

 

Post of the Day, anyone?

 

Cheers,

Z.

[aardvark88]

In Vancouver, Canada, there are 2 shops close to downtown that have over 150 long boxes out. In the suburbs, there were another 4 shops with at least 100 long boxes out but I think 1 of them closed down 3 yrs ago. More warehouses of backstock in Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

[CosmicBob]

There was a place in Berkeley that I bought some very nice older Superboys at many moons ago. I don't recall the name, but it was a nice enough place.

[lighthouse]

Thank you Lighthouse. (I mean it!)

Post of the Day, anyone?

 

I got the email copy of your reply, and had no clue which thread you referred to... ... For all I knew you were commending me for my description of the new villain in the USM 40 thread...

 

But I appreciate the props...

 

There are a lot of days when being a comic shop owner is pretty dull... but there are some days that make it ALL worthwhile...

 

[chrisco37]

There are a lot of days when being a comic shop owner is pretty dull...

 

Yes! What a curse it must be to have to sit there with the enchanting goth-Princess prancing about in some skimpy leather outfit. I feel for you man.

 

Chris

[lighthouse]

There are a lot of days when being a comic shop owner is pretty dull...

 

Yes! What a curse it must be to have to sit there with the enchanting goth-Princess prancing about in some skimpy leather outfit. I feel for you man.

 

Chris

 

True... but she only works about 6 hours a week... Thank goodness for security camera tapes...

[CosmicBob]

You could do us Comic Book Losers all a favor and post said tapes to the internet!

[lighthouse]

You could do us Comic Book Losers all a favor and post said tapes to the internet!

 

Yeah, but who wants to watch three hours of a Goth Princess leaning over the back issues, pretending to do work, while balding guys with pony-tails try to impress her by buying copies of Teen Titans?

 

I mean, other than Bugaboo?

[garthgantu]

CosmicBob:

 

I'm guessing the shop in Berkeley you're referring to is/was Comic Relief, at the top of University Ave. just below the UC Berkeley (aka "Cal") campus. Still there, still a pretty good shop, though like most shops the back issue inventory has dwindled somewhat.

 

Still the best, IMHO, was Comics & Comix, on Columbus Ave. in San Fran. I still remember heading there everytime we'd drive down to SF (about once a month or so), from 1974 - about 1980. Great shop, tremendous inventory, and in those days stuff like "Where Creatures Roam" "Kamandi" and most all the other late Silver - early Bronze titles, in high grade, for as little as 10 cents each in many cases. Gawd, those were the days. Just walking in the place, the smell, the sights, gave me chills.

 

Living in a small town 180 mi. North of SF in the '70s and early '80s, mail order was pretty much the lifeline. Ken Pierce, Robert Bell, etc. kept me from going nuts by supplying me with high-grade back issues. Of course, they were considered rip-off artists for charging 90-120% of guide back in those days

[chrisco37]

You could do us Comic Book Losers all a favor and post said tapes to the internet!

 

I think House mentioned this in another thread. Something like $19.99/month to subscribe.

 

Chris

[CosmicBob]

CosmicBob:

 

I'm guessing the shop in Berkeley you're referring to is/was Comic Relief, at the top of University Ave. just below the UC Berkeley (aka "Cal") campus. Still there, still a pretty good shop, though like most shops the back issue inventory has dwindled somewhat.

 

I believe that's the one! But it's been nigh on 15 years since I bought from them, since I would just go there when I travelled to the Bay Area and I haven't really done that for a long time.

[Fabfrank]

Lighthouse- You get my vote for post of the day.

 

I get my weekly fix from Collectors Kingdom here in Huntington, Long Island. Mike, Steve, Matt and Paul are great guys. 5-7 years ago there were 5 comic/card stores, now there is just Collectors Kingdom (which is primarily comics/TPB's and action figures) and Cardboard Memories (cards/autographs and memoribilia).

 

In my 30's years of collecting I've noticed that many stores adopted a "rolling inventory" approach to selling comics. In the 70's the few comic stores in existence made their "gravy" from back issues. New Issues were for paying the monthly bills. Dealers ordered extra because those extra issues bacame back issue stock which they would get a premium for in a few months.

By the 80's, the back issue stock of the 70's became "wall books". Items to be displayed and showcased. These books started accounting for a greater percentage of sales. New issues were almost perceived as a necessary evil. Back issues stock was regularly selling for $2-$5, while new issues were 35- 75 cents.

The 90's showed us the boom and bust cycles of an industry. No need for details here, we all went through it.

So over the years as new issues "rolled" into back isues, than wall items and than sold out, dealers that didn't replace books through these cycles eventually closed or shifted their focus.

Todays comic shops have a difficult choice. Buy and stock expensive back issues or put out whatever pop culture item is hot (pokemon, dragon ball z, magic etc) that will readily sell. I feel that the future for back issues and especially premium and hard to find books will be exclusively through the internet. Whether it be Ebay or online dealers specializing in those books.

 

[garthgantu]

Fabfrank: You're in Huntington? I was born in Huntington, have a lot of relatives there, and my middle name is actually Huntington...! (Maybe my folks figured I could find my way home if they built it into my name

 

Didn't realize there was a comic shop there, but don't get back there very often anymore...

 

Have you been in that area long enough to remember Oscar's Books and/or Hamburger Choo-Choo ?

 

Garthgantu

[garthgantu]

15 years would be about when Rory Root founded Comic Relief... prior to that, he was part-owner of "Best of Two Worlds," another Berzerkeley comic shop up on Telegraph Ave., a block from Comics & Comix...

 

Dr. Comics & Mister Games is another long-time shop a few miles South, in Oakland... I don't recommend that one, though... overgrading, very high prices, not nice people, IMHO.

[towards2112]

Beautiful insight!!!

 

Pretty much the reason I don't have 3 stores anymore.

Income vs. Overhead.

Still have the zillion comics. Didn't want the rent.