shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 1:24:46 GMT -5
When one of my closest friends used to live in LA, his LCS was a place called House of Mystery, and I'll never forget it. Pull list customers got 20% off of their books AND complimentary bagging and boarding. It was also a clean, well-organized environment.
I have no idea how that was profitable for them, but it certainly made the service and convenience they offered more worthwhile than going an alternate route.
My old LCS, Astound Comics, was also a very clean, incredibly well laid-out place, where new comics were easy to select from along the closest wall, but the high mark-up tpbs were very attractively displayed on shelves in the middle of the store. What made that store especially alluring was the sheer selection of independent titles it offered. If you could order it from Diamond, they had it. And they carried a lot of locally produced work as well.
The place went out of business due to factors that had nothing to do with the profitability of the store, itself.
Stores like these will never want for customers. They just need to find a way to keep paying their bills.
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Post by comicscube on Jul 22, 2014 1:32:35 GMT -5
I am fortunate enough to live in a city where comics shops have branches. Our main comic shop franchise has stores within branches of one of our biggest graphic-novel-carrying bookstores -- imagine a Midtown branch within a Barnes & Noble. Our franchises have, by my count, 5 branches, 2 branches, and 2 branches each, and that's not counting the here-and-there stores and another store that used to exclusively sell comics and now sells all sorts of printed periodicals, located all over the country. We even had a shop that specialized in carrying indie stuff for a while and is now just looking to relocate (they aren't shut down). Having said that, I know that's a very very localized experience.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 1:37:52 GMT -5
Having lived in New York when I was younger, I was always wary of shops that had branches. Some of them felt quite soulless and prefabricated. I like my shop to have personality, and it matters to me to be able to talk to someone behind the counter who gives a damn about my patronage and isn't just some underpaid guy getting 30% off on his pull list.
That being said, I haven't lived in New York since 1997, so I can't fairly comment on the actual chains that are in business there right now, but a franchised comic shop strikes me the same way a franchised bar does -- clean and appealing at first, but not the kind of place that invites you to get comfortable and call it home.
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Post by December on Jul 22, 2014 1:38:29 GMT -5
My LCS gives discounts based on the number of books in your pull(10 books a month equals 10-percent, 15 increase to 15-percent and so on) and, up until a few years ago, provided free bags and boards (they now charge a dime each). Because of these considerations I, with a few exceptions, always buy my trades and collected editions from them even though they are cheaper on Amazon and the like. Honestly, Part of this is due to loyalty and part of it is not wanting to have to drive an hour to the next closest shop every week if they went out of business.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 1:42:23 GMT -5
My LCS gives discounts based on the number of books in your pull(10 books a month equals 10-percent, 15 increase to 15-percent and so on) and, up until a few years ago, provided free bags and boards (they now charge a dime each). Because of these considerations I, with a few exceptions, always buy my trades and collected editions from them even though they are cheaper on Amazon and the like. Honestly, Part of this is due to loyalty and part of it is not wanting to have to drive an hour to the next closest shop every week if they went out of business. I understand that mentality perfectly. When a shop treats you well, spending an extra $15 on a tpb doesn't seem so unreasonable. And there have been many times when I've bought a tpb from an LCS that I wouldn't have bought otherwise. There's the impulse purchase effect, of course, the hunger to walk out of the shop with a big stack on a week when you had expected more to be released, the ability of the guy/gal behind the counter to talk you into something you wouldn't have bought otherwise, and there's that customer loyalty thing as well -- you want to give the guy/gal more business, so if you're on the fence about buying it, why not go for it and give him/her an extra sale? |
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Post by comicscube on Jul 22, 2014 1:44:21 GMT -5
Having lived in New York when I was younger, I was always wary of shops that had branches. Some of them felt quite soulless and prefabricated. I like my shop to have personality, and it matters to me to be able to talk to someone behind the counter who gives a damn about my patronage and isn't just some underpaid guy getting 30% off on his pull list. That being said, I haven't lived in New York since 1997, so I can't fairly comment on the actual chains that are in business there right now, but a franchised comic shop strikes me the same way a franchised bar does -- clean and appealing at first, but not the kind of place that invites you to get comfortable and call it home. Well, I live in Manila, not New York. And having been to New York, I think I can say with some authority that we're, um... uh... ....friendlier.  But the chain I shop in, it's pretty awesome. The owner is on a first name basis with all his customers, goes out of his way to make everyone feel welcome. Just this week, they and the bookstore they're partnered up with are holding Batman Day, with contests and giveaways and everything. There are periodic sales all year round and they go out of their way to do things like bring in foreign artists, like Charlie Adlard and David Finch, even though there really is no way they're losing money with these -- the plane tickets alone could not be compensated with any number of reasonable sales. In the past year, the shop owner offhandedly said to me that he had a lot of comics that weren't resellable, because they had writing or were torn, or whatever, so he just ended up throwing them away because they were just taking up space in his house, which was cramped as it was (he at times invites customers to his house as well, especially if force majeures keep deliveries from getting to the stores), so I said, "Don't throw them away. Just give them to me." So he's started doing that too, and I've been able to read comics I never thought I'd get my hands on. And since it's a family-run business, it's impossible not to know everyone. I walk into any branch and the clerks just flash a big smile and say "HI DUY!" and then give me my stuff. It's just wonderful. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 1:46:48 GMT -5
Well, I live in Manila, not New York. And having been to New York, I think I can say with some authority that we're, um... uh... ....friendlier. You'll get no argument from me there  And there's the key. That's exactly why I think most franchised comic book stores don't make sense. In this case, they've managed to make it work, and that's great. |
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Post by comicscube on Jul 22, 2014 1:48:53 GMT -5
Well, I live in Manila, not New York. And having been to New York, I think I can say with some authority that we're, um... uh... ....friendlier. You'll get no argument from me there I'm actually being unfair. New York City is my favorite city. I just wouldn't use the terms "friendly" or "accommodating" to describe it. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 1:53:31 GMT -5
You'll get no argument from me there I'm actually being unfair. New York City is my favorite city. I just wouldn't use the terms "friendly" or "accommodating" to describe it. It's been said of New Yorkers many times that they are the most likely people in the entire world to stop and assist you if you're having a serious problem, and they're the most likely people in the entire world to shove you aside if you're not. My experience was always that it came down to limited resources. There just wasn't enough of anything (including space) for all the people there, so instincts force people to be callous. Waiting your turn, holding the door open for others, and practicing common kindness really doesn't pay off in many situations there. Also, I learned early on that making eye contact and smiling set you up as a victim to both panhandlers and potential muggers. All of this is why I don't live in New York anymore. I loved the culture but couldn't stand the lack of common courtesy. |
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 22, 2014 11:17:58 GMT -5
Having lived in New York when I was younger, I was always wary of shops that had branches. Some of them felt quite soulless and prefabricated. I like my shop to have personality, and it matters to me to be able to talk to someone behind the counter who gives a damn about my patronage and isn't just some underpaid guy getting 30% off on his pull list. My preference would also be for smaller shops with more personal service. But if feeling "soulless" or "prefabricated" is the worst thing I can say about it, then I'd take that over the typical LCS with its usual unfriendly denizens. Right now, I'm not completely happy with any of the shops in my area -- and there are actually quite a few. The one where I currently have my pull list is mostly due to price and convenience. I get a 15-20% discount, which is above the standard 10% that most shops in my area give, and it's a 5 minute drive from my house. The guy who works there is friendly and knows who I am, and the service is generally good. The main reason why I'm not totally happy with it is because it seems to be more of a sports card shop, with comics as a side business. They have a lot of signings with pro athletes, and do a lot things to push the sports card side. If you check their Facebook page, all the events are for the sports cards. As a result, the actual comic space in the shop is rather small -- the selection of back issues is OK, not really much in the way of TPBs. I used to keep a pull list at another store that was really nice -- very bright, clean, and "professsional-looking". They had great selection, and the occasional sale or signing. But it was a bit far for me, and the pull list discounts weren't that great (8-10%). While the staff was friendly enough, it was in that emotionally detached manner -- "soulless" or "prefabricated" as you might say. In fact, the whole store looks like they are taking cues from the big-box stores. It's a nice store, and would definitely not be intimidating to non-comics people, but in the end the positives didn't make up for the smallish discounts and distance for me to keep my pull list there. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 11:37:39 GMT -5
Having lived in New York when I was younger, I was always wary of shops that had branches. Some of them felt quite soulless and prefabricated. I like my shop to have personality, and it matters to me to be able to talk to someone behind the counter who gives a damn about my patronage and isn't just some underpaid guy getting 30% off on his pull list. My preference would also be for smaller shops with more personal service. But if feeling "soulless" or "prefabricated" is the worst thing I can say about it, then I'd take that over the typical LCS with its usual unfriendly denizens. Well yes, some shops have a personality that's far less preferable to having none at all. It seems from this thread that we've all had the same experience of walking into a shop during a Magic tournament and feeling very turned off to the environment. I love Magic and play it regularly, but shop guys playing in a tournament while making a half-assed attempt to run the counter at the same time inevitably come off like jerks and make you feel highly unwelcome. Also, as a high school teacher who talks to my students a lot, I've become increasingly aware of how uncomfortable female readers feel about walking into some shops because of the way they are looked at and/or treated. In such cases, soulless is better. I'm quite lucky to know a few shops that have good personalities |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2014 13:14:39 GMT -5
A few things about shax are finally starting to make sense. |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,862
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Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 19:13:24 GMT -5
A few things about shax are finally starting to make sense. New signature for Mr. Dan? |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2014 19:21:12 GMT -5
Maybe after this testimonial they'll throw me a free comic If they had a frequent-flyer program for purchases made in the store, you could probably travel free for the rest of your life. |
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Post by zryson on Jul 22, 2014 20:19:06 GMT -5
Are comic book stores a dying breed? I think in general, bookstores are hurting. As are many businesses. The online world, and rise of Internet-based shopping has hurt many companies.
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