These items are created to help retailers cover the expense involved in attending such functions. I passed on attending this year as I couldn’t justify the $600-800 it would have cost to fly in from San Diego, especially when that could more wisely be invested in our new POS system.

Another problem comic retail/DM faces is the lack of understanding even by those who often report on it. It’s almost the same type of misunderstanding comics themselves face when people refer to comics as a genre rather than a medium.

Are there lousy comic shops? Sure, just like there are lousy restaurants, lousy theaters, lousy banks… however often the “lousy” label is applied not because a shop is dirty, dingy or poorly staffed but because it doesn’t carry the books the critic(s) feels it should, which is wholly ridiculous.

As pointed out by a few folks before me, DM shops are “SPECIALTY” shops, which means they’ve chosen to specialize in a type of product. It is totally up to them to determine how micro or macro the focus is, it’s their money backing those decisions. I’m sure that McDonalds could add to their bottom line by adding hot dogs (hey food is food, right), I’m sur Baskin & Robbins customers also enjoy Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, maybe they should stock that as well?

The simple fact is that there is not enough profit in most non big-2 comics to justify most stores carrying them and I say that as the most diverse shop in San Diego and a sponsor of the Eisner Awards.

Too few publishers (of any size) market their work to the extent needed to justify DM stores investing non-returnable $$$ in them, not to mention that even if they sell, most will return 10-30% less profit than Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse product. It is silly to deride a retailer for not wanting to take such a risk when the upside is a product that they will have to work harder to sell all while making less profit/unit.

I’ll leave younow to run over to 7/11 and jeer their lack of produce or diversity of condiments.

I’ve been told by others I’ve talked to that I’m not an idiot, I consider myself at least reasonably intelligent. I was making a LOT more money about 6 years ago doing sales. Then I realized a couple things.

1. The world needs more great comic stores. (Which I LOVE your definition of great, by the way)

2. I don’t need to be rich. I need to not want to blow my brains out each morning at the thought of going to work each day.

3. I really love comics and want to spread the word.

4. I had had it putting up with sitting in a cubicle listening to obvious intellectual inferiors telling me what to do on a day to day basis.

So here I am. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only retailer in this business after arriving at those conclusions.

Nowhere did I say that such numbers are “trifling.” They are vital to running a successful business. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.

Comics retailers are specialty bookstore merchants, period. Until comics truly becomes Big Business, which I can assure you it is not currently, we will continue to be specialty bookstore merchants. And when it does become Big Business, one of us will grow to giant proportions and become the Borders of the erstwhile direct market; or more likely, Borders will just buy Diamond and that will be that.

In the meantime, our business is ruled by the numbers that seem so trifling to Heidi. Besides figuring out how to seem more bookstore-y, comport ourselves as ladies and gentlemen of culture, and capitalize on all the trends that we are constantly accused of ignoring, we are forced to also think about numbers. How to attract the best employees; how much to pay them; why did Countdown stop selling so fast?; my air conditioner is broken in the middle of summer; I’m being shoplifted to death; rent in a nice part of town is extraordinarily expensive; etc. and so forth. For any small businessperson, the numbers are what dictate and quantify success. Everything else is important: marketing to young readers and their families; creating a clean comfortable environment to attract and keep clientele; having the most diverse inventory financially feasible–but these things are all impossible without those trifling numbers.

The definition of a good comics retailer is somebody who loves what they’re selling, and has enough business sense to make it be profitable, even if sometimes it’s only barely profitable. Anyone who’s a better businessman than that would be way too smart to choose this industry to make money in as a retailer. The definition of a GREAT comics retailer is someone who loves what they do and is filled with the kind of relentless optimism that allows them to year in and year out, endure the slings and arrows of an odd and mercurial industry, and build the kind of comic book stores they wish that they’d always had as kids. The kind of stores they want THEIR kids to grow up in. But you gotta crunch numbers if you want to sell anything.

The non-returnability is the core of what created the direct market. Go read those articles, Chuck explains it all very well.

Until then, I as a customer will continue to see examples such as: Buying the One (1) copy of Daredevil 100 on the shelf on comic release day, as I did this week.

Why is the retailer being forced to inherit all the risk in this system?

Er, point being: There’s no reason for comic shops to follow the same sales patterns as bookstores. If they did, they’d be superfluous. Periodical comics obviously aren’t designed for bookstore sale, but they still do well in comic stores. The (absolutely laudable) growth of graphic novel sales doesn’t have to cut into single-issue sales…and according to the past few years’ Diamond figures, it doesn’t seem to be.

Totally agree re comic shops’ use of multiple distributors, by the way.

For at least two years, graphic novels have outsold comicbooks. GNs produce more dollars per square foot. They stay in print longer. How many stores sell more GNs than comicbooks?

Thanks for sharing your insight Heidi, it is much appreciated by those of us (as I say) fighting the good fight.