I'm opening up a brick and mortar this year and want some advice!! 7 7

[SteppinRazor]

Agree.  I know several fellow handmade furniture people, and none of us really consider it a competition.  There will always be people who will choose a place to buy or play based on how they like the place.  Different stroke for different folks.  Your atmosphere might lend itself to a certain kind of player.  Some may play in multiple stores for the variety.  Some may feel more comfortable in one place.  All having more stores does is provide more avenues to grow the consumer base for all.

[Genesis Comics]

Quick update:

Week # 2 went very well.  Sales exceeded 5k, which was more than double my expectations for the week,  and this was the first week of kids going back to school.  MTG continues to be my best seller, this week at 72%.  I did sell more new books on Wed, thanks mostly in part to Walking Dead 171, but Wed continues to be my slowest day (based on 2 whole weeks of data!!  )  Quick funny story, I got a book that I didn't order in my order from Diamond...checked the invoice and it was free, figured it was some type of overstock so I just put it on my shelf at cover price...apparently Image sends out Retailer incentive books at no cost when they have a number 1 come out...I think the title was Kingsman?  Either way the guy that picked it up got a good deal...lol 

Had 12 this week for Friday Night Magic, still not set up with Wizards of the Coast, waiting on the to review my video of the store that they needed.  The 12, even though less than the 17 last week was encouraging as there was a very good FNM promo that Wizards gave out to the stores to give out to the customers, most people chose to play at my shop as opposed to going to other shops to get the promo, which was nice, so I did some giveaways for all that came in!

New people coming in every day, no comic collections this week of note, brought in some high end MTG cards, and did a lot of trading to really fill up the showcases.

The hours are starting to put a drain on me...averaging 90 hours a week right now, which I know I can't sustain in the long run, but I'll keep going as long as I can...this is just the 2 weeks I've been open...the weeks leading up were tough as well.  All that being said, it's worth it...I love what I'm doing, meeting great people, and doing more sales than I thought!!  Using most of the money to re-invest in product, while building up my back-up money at the same time.  

All in all a positive experience so far!  Glad I chose to follow this dream...and just like anything else, I'm sure there will be down times, but I'm enjoying while the times are good!

If you are on the island I'd love for you to stop down, introduce yourself, and talk comics/MTG!!

[Mapleleafvann]

4 minutes ago, Genesis Comics said:

Quick update:

Week # 2 went very well.  Sales exceeded 5k, which was more than double my expectations for the week,  and this was the first week of kids going back to school.  MTG continues to be my best seller, this week at 72%.  I did sell more new books on Wed, thanks mostly in part to Walking Dead 171, but Wed continues to be my slowest day (based on 2 whole weeks of data!!  )  Quick funny story, I got a book that I didn't order in my order from Diamond...checked the invoice and it was free, figured it was some type of overstock so I just put it on my shelf at cover price...apparently Image sends out Retailer incentive books at no cost when they have a number 1 come out...I think the title was Kingsman?  Either way the guy that picked it up got a good deal...lol 

Had 12 this week for Friday Night Magic, still not set up with Wizards of the Coast, waiting on the to review my video of the store that they needed.  The 12, even though less than the 17 last week was encouraging as there was a very good FNM promo that Wizards gave out to the stores to give out to the customers, most people chose to play at my shop as opposed to going to other shops to get the promo, which was nice, so I did some giveaways for all that came in!

New people coming in every day, no comic collections this week of note, brought in some high end MTG cards, and did a lot of trading to really fill up the showcases.

The hours are starting to put a drain on me...averaging 90 hours a week right now, which I know I can't sustain in the long run, but I'll keep going as long as I can...this is just the 2 weeks I've been open...the weeks leading up were tough as well.  All that being said, it's worth it...I love what I'm doing, meeting great people, and doing more sales than I thought!!  Using most of the money to re-invest in product, while building up my back-up money at the same time.  

All in all a positive experience so far!  Glad I chose to follow this dream...and just like anything else, I'm sure there will be down times, but I'm enjoying while the times are good!

If you are on the island I'd love for you to stop down, introduce yourself, and talk comics/MTG!!

Congratulations!  Fantastic news from you on this update---thank you for sharing!

[badback83]

I'm sure it's tough working 90 hours but you can do it!  Hang in there.  Sounds like the store is moving in the right direction, so you are definitely doing something right.  

[shadroch]

Years ago, I remember reading this, perhaps in a fortune cookie

"Find a job you love, and you'll never work another day in your life."

What a crock of Shiite.

I had tremendous passion for every job I had my entire adult life, but eighteen months in retirement, I'm still coming to terms with just how much I worked.

I'm finally getting away from feeling guilty for doing nothing.

[mccollect]

On 9/3/2017 at 6:05 PM, Genesis Comics said:

I had my first boardie visit today!!!  Thanks for stopping by mccollect!!  I'd love to get your feedback on the store from top to bottom and any suggestions/feedback that you have!   I appreciate you stopping by and I appreciate your business!  Thanks!

Sorry for being slow to respond, I stopped by the store and was very impressed by not only how great the store looked, but also how accommodating and friendly you were. I got some great books too!!!  If anyone is in the area, you should stop by!!

[Genesis Comics]

3 hours ago, mccollect said:

Sorry for being slow to respond, I stopped by the store and was very impressed by not only how great the store looked, but also how accommodating and friendly you were. I got some great books too!!!  If anyone is in the area, you should stop by!!

Thank you for the kind words!  Do you have any recommendations or things you thought could be improved?  I want the good with the bad lol!  If people don't tell me what's wrong, I can't fix it!

[mccollect]

On 9/11/2017 at 0:16 PM, Genesis Comics said:

Thank you for the kind words!  Do you have any recommendations or things you thought could be improved?  I want the good with the bad lol!  If people don't tell me what's wrong, I can't fix it!

To be honest I didn't notice anything that bothered me. You treated the customers as if you had known them for years. Service was great. Place was neat and clean too.  No complaints here.

 

[FSF]

Thanks for the vicarious thrill in documenting your process through all of this.  Very entertaining stuff and I wish you unlimited success in your venture.

[Kreton]

How are things going?  I've enjoyed your updates thus far.

[badback83]

I have also enjoyed this thread.  What's new with the store?

[Genesis Comics]

Hey folks,

 

Things have been going well for the most part...ran into a few issues, which I will detail tomorrow morning...comic sales are getting better every week which is good...had some really nice books walk in and MTG sales continue to lead the pack.  Update coming tomorrow morning/afternoon!  

 

 

[badback83]

[01TheDude]

You mentioned some pretty good sales figures in your first few weeks. What sort of margin are you working with? I'm assuming the gross sales for the week are not factoring in the cost of goods sold and other fixed costs need to run the store.

[thehumantorch]

1 hour ago, DocHoppus182 said:

[Domo Arigato]

On ‎10‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 8:47 PM, Genesis Comics said:

Things have been going well for the most part...ran into a few issues, which I will detail tomorrow morning...

Update coming tomorrow morning/afternoon!  

 

 

Edited October 7, 2017 by Domo Arigato

[SECollector]

On 9/9/2017 at 7:23 PM, Genesis Comics said:

 

If you are on the island I'd love for you to stop down, introduce yourself, and talk comics/MTG!!

I have enjoyed following this thread and I am so happy to read that it has been working out for you! In May I will be in New York for some days, and I am putting your store on my to-do things while I am there!

[Genesis Comics]

19 hours ago, Domo Arigato said:

 

 

You're killing me smalls!!  I couldn't log on yesterday for some reason until later on and didn't get a chance today...I'll do my best to update in the next day or so...

[Genesis Comics]

On 10/5/2017 at 10:13 PM, 01TheDude said:

You mentioned some pretty good sales figures in your first few weeks. What sort of margin are you working with? I'm assuming the gross sales for the week are not factoring in the cost of goods sold and other fixed costs need to run the store.5% a

That is correct, those numbers are total sales numbers...margins on new comics are roughly 50-60% (new store discount...will be down to 35% within 2-3 months) and MTG packs 25-30%...supplies are pretty much 50% across the board...then there are the expenses of electric, gas, phone/internet, insurance, accountant, taxes, security, rent, cc costs, computer costs, and I'm sure I'm missing a few...not to mention weekly orders...I started with a good amount of inventory which I had been building up over time which helps as the "cost" of those items was so long ago that it's hard to calculate...still in the process of breaking it all down...

[fastballspecial]

Please keep your health in mind as well. Working those type of hours for very long will affect your health fast. Sleep and exercise will help. I cant tell you how many extremely unhealthy comic shop owners I have met over the years. It took years off their lives.

My LCS did very well over the years at having a large selection of $1 books as well. He would buy a long box for $30 or short box for $15-20 so and put them out in his $1 boxes. Slow sustained profit. A perfect box might make him 6x to 9x his money over time.

It sounds like your shop is going to be more gaming oriented and there is nothing wrong with that. One of my shops does that and the kids really gravitate toward TPBs over time because they can read them in between games.