Retailing & Marketing

This morning's Marvel teaser suggests that the new Marvel NOW! relaunch will be tied in with the Point One program which saw various series get a ".1 issue" that was new-reader-friendly. The program did quite well, we're told. Details will be revealed at the Cup O' Joe panel, Friday, July 13th, 3:15 PM PST. This move solidifies the "jump-onable" nature of the Marvel NOW! program.

After a long testing period, and a lot of controversy along the way, Diamond and iVerse are finally going live with Diamond Digital on July 23rd. The program will allow Diamond accounts to set up their own digital storefront, sell download codes and otherwise engage in the digital sales that everyone thought would kill comics but which has, instead, led to growing sales. The program has been in beta for some time now, with some lively feedback from participating retailers. Publishers represented in the program include IDW, Image, Archie, APE, Arcana, Bluewater, BOOM!, Broadsword, Hermes, Sea Lion, Top Shelf, Viper Comics, and Within Temptation—Marvel and DC have yet to opt in.

Long rumored to be moving (perhaps due to the giant FOR RENT sign on the building), Forbidden PLanet, one of NYC's longest-running comics shops, is moving a few doors down the street to larger digs, according to manager Jeff Ayers. The new location, 832 Broadway (between 13th and 12th Streets), provides 3400 sq. feet of space for comics, toys and games, and it's the largest of the three spaces the store has held on that same block over the years. "This expansion has been necessary for some time now, and will allow us to provide our customers with even more product selection and depth, while streamlining the store’s layout to one convenient floor," said Ayers in a statement.

It was a few years ago that AdHouse Books publisher Chris Pitzer announced AdDistro, a distribution business for small press comics, with books from Nobrow, Koyama Press and Malachi Ward to start. Well, now he's announced its end, and although that sounds sad, its actually because its so much easier to find books from these publishers now:

The nominees for this year's Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing award have been revealed and they are as follows:

True to their word, DC is launching a followup reader survey, after last fall's New 52 launch survey. John Rood mentioned that any demographic info would only be truly useful as more comparisons were able to be made, and future surveys were promised. And here it is. We tried to take it but got booted out for truthful answers, sadly. (In this case not actually buying any DC comics.) As before there is a fake survey title, ORANGE IVY, to weed out wannabes.

A documentary set at Midtown Comics? Yes.

Once again, I peruse the Barnes & Noble website, taking a look at what is selling. There are quite a few surprises this month, including some kids books!

The Denver Post profiles local man Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics. If you saw Morgan Spurlock's Comic-Con documentary, you know Rozanski was the star of the film, not only for actually being in the comcis industry but for having home-spun philosophy and a pithy way of expressing it that should make him the star of many more reality shows. Anyway, Rozanski is talking about his vast new 65,000-square-foot warehouse, which holds "more comics than Amazon," and will be open June 14 as part of this month's Demver Comic Con festivities. The edifice is imposing:

The gloomy economy has claimed another victim as Comic Book Ink, a 10-year-old shop outside Tacoma, has announced it is closing. Only last year, the store was in trouble and stayed afloat with help from a benefit campaign. However, this time, owner John Munn has chosen not to look for help. Here's an emotional letter Munn sent out:

FAO Schwarz is one of the most legendary toy stores in the world, located on NYC's swanky Fifth Avenue shopping district. And now comics will be added to their product mix, via a boutique operated by Midtown Comics. The mini-boutique will offer graphic novels, hard cover books, apparel, collectibles, and more.

This isn't anything we haven't covered here before, but here's another take on the end of impulse shopping for comics, this time via Dean Haspiel. Haspiel covers the problem of shops that only order for pull lists, and suggests that there may be a substitute for impulse buying in webcomics. Linking to it also give us a chance to show this cute picture of Haspiel meeting Wallace and Gromit.