Comic Book Community – Retailers

The digital age of comics is upon us.  Marvel has an Ipad comic book app and just announced the first release of a digital comic simultaneously with the printed edition.  While many people are declaring the end of comic book shops, we have heard such claims before.  The key to the survival of the local comic book shop is to give people a shopping experience that they can’t get if they buy their comics online or digitally.  When I was starting to research what kind of comic book store I wanted to open, I looked into a lot of different comic book stores locally and nationally to see what some of the trends were.  The clean, well-lit and organized store is no longer something that can be used to differentiate stores anymore, but serves as a base requirement.  Stores that wish to survive move toward digital comics need work toward cultivating the Comic Book Community in their city or town.  There are lots of things that can be done to do this and I’ll try to cover most of them in this week’s column.

Human Friendly

Comic Book Shops are notoriously places where teenage boys and men can take refuge.  Places where there was no fear of women spoiling the fun of indulging male dominated power fantasies in the guise of Superhero comic books.  Or they used to be.  Modern comic book shops have embraced the concept of making comic book shops more attractive to customers of all ages and genders.  It only makes sense.  Why limit your customer base to only half of the population?  With stories writing today in every genre and the Manga boom, female customers are flocking to comic book stores.  Not only are more females buying comics, but the number of female comic creators is also on the increase.  The best thing a comic book shop can do is avoid displaying the scantily clad pin-up girl posters on every wall, add some color to the store and employee people who are friendly and outgoing. 

Community Outreach

In the late 80s, when I began to seriously collect comics, there weren’t as many competing influences for my entertainment dollars.  The video game industry wasn’t as big.  The biggest movie multiplex we had was 6 theaters.  Movies didn’t come out on video tape as quickly as they do now.  Cable was around, but we didn’t have it in our home.  Comic books were available everywhere.  Comic book stores were almost as prevalent as McDonalds.  But things have changed; video games are a huge industry that draws huge crowds on release day.  Small movie multiplexes have 12 screens and movie theaters are everywhere.  Over a dozen movies come out every week (not including DVD and direct to DVD releases) and stay in the theater less than 2 months even if they are popular.  The DVD release of a movie comes out less than 6 months after the movie is released.  Cable has hundreds of channels of new original content.  Comic books aren’t available in as many outlets.  Even with the release of major popular comic book movies over the last ten years, there are still people who come to Free Comic Book Day every year saying they didn’t know that comic books were still around.  In order to compete with these outside influences, retailers need to reach out to the community and show them what comic books are all about.  In these tough economic times, schools are always looking for people to come talk about topics like literacy.  For many people my age, comic books were the gateway to a love of reading and got a lot of reluctant readers interested in reading.  Donating comics to school and public libraries are another way to develop interest.  DC, Marvel and Image have done a greater job of creating low cost reprints of some of their most popular and interesting comics.  Donating comics and gift certificates to non-profit organizations for their raffles can be another way to increase interest in comic books as well as your store.  The days of putting up a comics sign and expecting people to walk in are over.  By reaching out to the community, you can help create the next generation of comic book readers.

In-Store Events

A few years ago, I was talking to a friend of mine about an upcoming event I was running at the store.  He mentioned that during the Crisis of Infinite Earths he went to a funeral for Supergirl.  It had been 20 years since that event, but he still remembered the event and talked about it.  Hosting events like that can have a great impact and create customer loyalty.  You don’t need to spend a lot of money to host these events and goes a long way toward building and fostering your local Comic Book Community.  In addition, events like this can’t be replicated in cyberspace.  Most cities have comic creators living nearby who would be willing to do a signing to promote the latest comic book they are working on.  There are a few national comic book events (24 Hour Comics Day and Free Comic Book Day) that can generate local news coverage with just a few emails or press releases distributed.  Creating traffic and excitement in the store can go a long way toward making comic book shopping an experience rather than a transaction.

Inventory Movement

The biggest challenge for comic book stores is inventory management, specifically being able to keep your store from being overcrowded.  A secondary issue is making sure that people don’t feel that they’ve seen everything in your store, so don’t need to visit as often or at all.  Inventory movement can be accomplished through sales and displays.  While I’m not a big advocate of discounts across the board on a continuous basis, targeted sales on product can help keep inventory down and reduce clutter.  Tying targeted sales to events can help make the event successful as well.  The window of interest in a comic is usually around 6-8 weeks. While some comics may have a longer saleable life, the majority won’t sell well past that time.  Although some stores have been able to capitalize on back issue sales, Ebay and other online auction sites have done more to devalue the sale of back issues.  Periodic targeted sales are the cornerstone of most major retailers; comic book retailing should be no different.  Another practice that is common to most major retailers is merchandise display.  While ensuring that a customer can find the latest copy of their favorite comic quickly, having colorful, interesting displays of products can create interest in a product that would otherwise be buried in the back issues or trade paperbacks.  Rotating the display every few months can give customers a reason to come visit the store.  Displays can have all the latest issues of a crossover centrally located or comics related to the latest comic book movie.  An Eisner Award Nominated, Time Magazine Top 10 Graphic Novels of the Year, or New York Times Best Selling Graphic Novel display adds credibility to the comics and graphic novels.  An Employee Picks display can lead to further sales as people learn who has similar tastes to them.  There is no limit to the types of displays you can create.  Creating interesting product displays can not only generate sales, but also help create a comic book shopping experience.

While digital comics are going to be a part of the comic buying future, the brick and mortar comic store doesn’t have to go the way of the record store.  Although some people may be content to purchase their comic books electronically without human interaction, a vast majority of the customers I had liked to talk to someone about their comic book purchases, the latest comic book movies or ask for suggestions on what to read.  By creating a comic book buying experience that can’t be duplicated on the internet, comic book shop owners ensure that they will continue to have a viable business even when digital comics start to get a foothold in the comic book distribution business.  I’ve offered a few of the many suggestions, but this is not a complete list.  I’d like to hear what you think about this and what suggestions you have to retailers for fostering the Comic Book Community in the comment area below.

Shawn DeMumbrum
SpazDog Comics
www.spazdogcomics.com
SpazDog Press
www.spazdogpress.com

Email: shawn@spazdogcomics.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SpazDog
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