January is a tough time in retail, as people try to pay the bills from Christmas. And as you know if you’ve been paying attention here at the Beat, it seems to be an especially tough time in comics retail, as several prominent stores are closing, and there’s been belt tightening all over.
Boom! Studios CEO Ross Richie has an idea, however. It’s called #boostyourLCS and it’s simple: go in to your local shop and buy a graphic novel. Pretty simple, and not a bad idea. You can get a great book for $9.99 or even less. Image in particular has an affordable trade program and some top notch manga are priced at less.
I’m going to do this at my local, JHU. I have plenty of comics, but I’ll give one as a gift. Saga #1 or a Batman book is always a good choice. Or Raina Telgemeier or Jeffrey Brown. There’s something for everyone.
Or check our Rosie Knight’s great series on introductory comics here at The Beat.
You can watch Ross’s appeal below.
Question:
Do comics shops replicate the sales strategies of bookstores and other retailers?
Do they sell gift cards/certificates at Christmas, to encourage people to shop after Christmas?
Do they hold clearance sales to attract shoppers who are out returning gifts? Who are looking for year-end deals?
Do they hold sales and promotions to clear certain categories?
Do they promote titles featured on various “Year’s Best” lists?
Do they hold store events during Winter break, when people have free time and seek an excuse to escape from relatives? To entice people who are visiting relatives, and want to check out the local comics shop while in town?
Another suggestion for shoppers:
Contact your local school librarian.
Tell them you’d like to donate a graphic novel to their library, and ask if they have a wishlist.
(Stores, you can do this as well. Adopt a struggling school. Set up a display of titles behind the register that the school needs. Encourage customers to buy a title, Perhaps the shopper gets a mystery bag of comics as an incentive.)
Each store is independently owned. Although there are no national programs to encourage shoppers to come to comic stores after the holidays, it’s not a bad idea.
We’ll discuss it in the retailers forum as see what may come of it.
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