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

[Genesis Comics]

Before you do anything in terms of brick and mortar, hire a good accountant and get them to work some numbers with you so you know what you are really looking at, particularly cash flow as even knowledgeable folks get caught in the crunch in an unpleasant way because of inadequate planning.

 

Getting a solid online business established is one strategy to have in place that will help float the brick and mortar dream eventually if that is what you really want.

 

Warmest Regards,

 

Jason

 

Thanks Jason...I am getting an accountant and I have a friend who is a lawyer who will help me with the lease paperword...I have set up a website and am in the process of having a "logo" made to start some online branding..(facebook/instagram/youtube/twitter to start.

I've sold stuff on ebay and will continue to do so as well as eventually sell stuff out of the website as well...

 

[Buzzetta]

Long Island advice...

 

Don't do it.

 

I have yet to walk into a store that makes me say I need to go every week.

 

I have yet to walk into a store that is within driving range that makes me say it is worth traveling to.

 

The rent here is expensive.

 

Can't see it working out. I rarely see a comic store out here that can compete with online sales, eBay, mycomicshop.

 

Just saying.

 

 

[fastballspecial]

One of my LCS just closed last year after being in business for 18 years. He ended on his best year including selling an AF 15. He said he wanted a vacation and some time off. He is in his late 40s now.

 

He did well selling $1 books and then stocked his wall with keys. He constantly flipped his $1 books bringing in inventory weekly then blowing it out every few months just in case it wasn't selling. Even then he still made money. When you buying collections cheap and you don't put a lot of money in new issues you can do well.

 

New shops make mistakes ordering too much new inventory. Nothing wrong with having new books in small amounts, but inventory can choke you. He required a 50% down payment on anything he ordered for a customer. He learned this after getting burned a few times. Pay attention to that. Someone wants you to order for them? Sure, but you are going to pay 50% down upfront which covers your cost.

 

I still buy my supplies locally so you can do well off of those. Even buying it bulk its still easier to just drop buy and buy what I need locally for suppliers.

 

Make sure you have plenty of walk traffic in front of your store. Master social media to increase your web traffic. Price your books. I know it sucks sometimes when someone finds a $50 in $1 box, but I hate stores that wont price their books.

 

There is a lot of downtime in owning a comic shop. Use the time constructively. List books on a facebook or ebay to sell some of your inventory. Keep it separate so it wont get sold by accident.

 

Good Luck

 

Edited January 24, 2017 by Fastballspecial

[paul747]

Disclaimer: I have never run a shop, but I've talked to lots of owners - hopefully you can get some actual professionals in here to advise as well.

 

 

I'm with everyone else I guess... I wouldn't do it.

 

If you absolutely must do it, then try to make sure it's in a college town, and preferably, near a few high & middle schools. As best I can tell, just from observation and talking to some owners... you need the MTG money to even have a shot at staying afloat.

 

Back issues... fewer and fewer people buy and collects runs these days. It's all about keys, keys from every era. But still, this is almost besides the point, as you'll live and die by your steady, monthly income and that means pull lists. If you can't get a good number of these, even with MTG, you're probably hosed.

 

If you do get that college town location, make sure you keep trades in stock, titles they'll recognize - I know several people that would answer "no" if you asked them if they read comics, but they regular buy TPBs.

 

Good luck!

 

The college kids go to Walmart for discounted MTG card's. The school's book store will sell most modern trades ! College Kids spend there cash on Coffee, wine and beer. It will take years to truly make money. You should run a pro forma with your expected salary. At the very least you can get an estimate on your sales goals.

I owned a shop for over ten years in a college town,

I own multiple other bushiness . A comic store is definitely a passion, even with good business experience and work ethic its a tough business. With the state of Marvel and DC and all of the reboots and Variants I would advise Caution. Older well established big retailers do much better than new operators. If its your dream, make it happen and best of luck !

Edited January 24, 2017 by paul747

[Genesis Comics]

Long Island advice...

 

Don't do it.

 

I have yet to walk into a store that makes me say I need to go every week.

 

I have yet to walk into a store that is within driving range that makes me say it is worth traveling to.

 

The rent here is expensive.

 

Can't see it working out. I rarely see a comic store out here that can compete with online sales, eBay, mycomicshop.

 

Just saying.

 

 

I agree 100% on the rent...it's really out of control in some areas...most of the comic shops that are successful on the island have a really good deal on rent from my experiences speaking to them..

As far as shops on the island...I kind of agree with you to an extent...I enjoy going to Comic Book Depot in Bellmore...have known the owner for years and he has a friendly staff...

 

I want to be that store that you say is missing...I want to be the place that people want to go to every week...I want to compete with the online sales...but I know I need volume to do that...

 

What would make you want to go to a store every week? If I can get the people to come and I have the stuff they want...then I can be successful...like I said in the earlier post, I'm not looking to retire in 5 years...I'm looking to make a livable wage doing what I enjoy doing, instead of living someone elses dream...

[Junkdrawer]

Make your shop into a giant man cave with lots of unique items.

I dont know why more people dont do this. I'm going on 6 years this May. Avoid new comics is my advice as well.

[Genesis Comics]

Disclaimer: I have never run a shop, but I've talked to lots of owners - hopefully you can get some actual professionals in here to advise as well.

 

 

I'm with everyone else I guess... I wouldn't do it.

 

If you absolutely must do it, then try to make sure it's in a college town, and preferably, near a few high & middle schools. As best I can tell, just from observation and talking to some owners... you need the MTG money to even have a shot at staying afloat.

 

Back issues... fewer and fewer people buy and collects runs these days. It's all about keys, keys from every era. But still, this is almost besides the point, as you'll live and die by your steady, monthly income and that means pull lists. If you can't get a good number of these, even with MTG, you're probably hosed.

 

If you do get that college town location, make sure you keep trades in stock, titles they'll recognize - I know several people that would answer "no" if you asked them if they read comics, but they regular buy TPBs.

 

Good luck!

 

The college kids go to Walmart for discounted MTG card's. The school's book store will sell most modern trades ! College Kids spend there cash on Coffee, wine and beer. It will take years to truly make money. You should run a pro forma with your expected salary. At the very least you can get an estimate on your sales goals.

I owned a shop for over ten years in a college town,

I own multiple other bushiness . A comic store is definitely a passion, even with good business experience and work ethic its a tough business. With the state of Marvel and DC and all of the reboots and Variants I would advise Caution. Older well established big retailers do much better than new operators. If its your dream, make it happen and best of luck !

 

What were your struggles with the comic shop? From what I've seen, Walmart/Kmart/Target are all over the price points that most comic shops have, so I haven't experienced that...not saying it wasn't your experience

[Genesis Comics]

Make your shop into a giant man cave with lots of unique items.

I dont know why more people dont do this. I'm going on 6 years this May. Avoid new comics is my advice as well.

 

I was advised via PM to contact you about your business model...can you give me an idea of what you've done to be successful?

[Buzzetta]

Make your shop into a giant man cave with lots of unique items.

I dont know why more people dont do this. I'm going on 6 years this May. Avoid new comics is my advice as well.

 

Metropolis doesn't do new comics. I think they are doing pretty well for themselves.

[SquareChaos]

Disclaimer: I have never run a shop, but I've talked to lots of owners - hopefully you can get some actual professionals in here to advise as well.

 

 

I'm with everyone else I guess... I wouldn't do it.

 

If you absolutely must do it, then try to make sure it's in a college town, and preferably, near a few high & middle schools. As best I can tell, just from observation and talking to some owners... you need the MTG money to even have a shot at staying afloat.

 

Back issues... fewer and fewer people buy and collects runs these days. It's all about keys, keys from every era. But still, this is almost besides the point, as you'll live and die by your steady, monthly income and that means pull lists. If you can't get a good number of these, even with MTG, you're probably hosed.

 

If you do get that college town location, make sure you keep trades in stock, titles they'll recognize - I know several people that would answer "no" if you asked them if they read comics, but they regular buy TPBs.

 

Good luck!

 

The college kids go to Walmart for discounted MTG card's. The school's book store will sell most modern trades ! College Kids spend there cash on Coffee, wine and beer. It will take years to truly make money. You should run a pro forma with your expected salary. At the very least you can get an estimate on your sales goals.

I owned a shop for over ten years in a college town,

I own multiple other bushiness . A comic store is definitely a passion, even with good business experience and work ethic its a tough business. With the state of Marvel and DC and all of the reboots and Variants I would advise Caution. Older well established big retailers do much better than new operators. If its your dream, make it happen and best of luck !

 

I'm sure that happens too, I used to live very near Ohio State University, so it's a massive student population - maybe in a smaller university town the population differences may equate to different behavior, I don't know. But when I was living in that part of town, I saw them all of the time in the LCSs.

[Genesis Comics]

One of my LCS just closed last year after being in business for 18 years. He ended on his best year including selling an AF 15. He said he wanted a vacation and some time off. He is in his late 40s now.

 

He did well selling $1 books and then stocked his wall with keys. He constantly flipped his $1 books bringing in inventory weekly then blowing it out every few months just in case it wasn't selling. Even then he still made money. When you buying collections cheap and you don't put a lot of money in new issues you can do well.

 

New shops make mistakes ordering too much new inventory. Nothing wrong with having new books in small amounts, but inventory can choke you. He required a 50% down payment on anything he ordered for a customer. He learned this after getting burned a few times. Pay attention to that. Someone wants you to order for them? Sure, but you are going to pay 50% down upfront which covers your cost.

 

I still buy my supplies locally so you can do well off of those. Even buying it bulk its still easier to just drop buy and buy what I need locally for suppliers.

 

Make sure you have plenty of walk traffic in front of your store. Master social media to increase your web traffic. Price your books. I know it sucks sometimes when someone finds a $50 in $1 box, but I hate stores that wont price their books.

 

There is a lot of downtime in owning a comic shop. Use the time constructively. List books on a facebook or ebay to sell some of your inventory. Keep it separate so it wont get sold by accident.

 

Good Luck

 

Some great advice here, thank you!

I have 2 LCS owners that are guiding me with new comics and ordering...I may not do it right away as some people have suggested, but I was told by a few LCS that "new comics" is what brings people in weekly and they inevitably buy some back issues as well...of course the risk is there and I'll have to start slow...

 

[Genesis Comics]

Make your shop into a giant man cave with lots of unique items.

I dont know why more people dont do this. I'm going on 6 years this May. Avoid new comics is my advice as well.

 

Metropolis doesn't do new comics. I think they are doing pretty well for themselves.

 

True story...although their inventory is a bit better than mine currently...

[revat]

i personally like to go through fresh dollar and back issue boxes. I assume they're replenished because of newly bought inventory. BUT some LCS owners have like 100 long boxes elsewhere. They can add, shuffle, consolidate and rotate those every so often and keep me coming in. But these take a up space, and probably don't have a ton of margin.

 

I like having stuff alphabatized and seperated by brand

[Genesis Comics]

I don't want to say "don't do it"... but I want to suggest you do a lot of additional preparation and research... which I assume will lead you to the conclusion that you shouldn't do it.

 

But if you're undaunted by the long odds, here's two things I'd strongly encourage:

 

 

1. It's great to come on here and ask people what they think, but I'd get out and hit as many LCS as you can find in a 100 mile radius (road trip if you want to go further) and talk to those folks. Ask them what they wish they knew when they started out? What they'd do if they were starting from scratch today? And .... would they? And then ask them for the suggestion for another LCS owner to speak with. You'll need a network of support if you do end up opening so build it before hand.

 

2. Speaking of building up a network beforehand... I'd start my business as an online venture first. Get a nice website, sell books online if you want. Give great customer service, Sell at local shows and promote your appearances there (maybe have discount coupons people can print from the site and bring)... do whatever you can to get your name out there. And obviously it would help if the "name" you're using is the name of your eventual store. That way, if/when you do open a physical location, you'll have built a reputation.

 

These are some great questions...I have been doing some of this research and I do have 3 shop owners (1 sports cards/gaming, 1 just comics, and 1 comics/gaming) that I have been speaking to and picking their brains for the better part of 2 years...

Thank you for the response!!

 

[Buzzetta]

The death of many comic stores came from leaching kids who came to game but did not spend cash. Powerhouse Comics in Levittown / Hicksville comes to mind. It pushed comic customers out and that was that.

 

 

[SquareChaos]

I expected a lot of "don't do it's" so I'm not surprised by this...this is something I've been thinking of doing for the better part of 20 years...I didn't mention that I sell magic cards out of a showcase in a sports card store and do pretty well (singles and boxes)...the issue with the store is he's not with Wizards of the Coast so he doesn't do pre-releases AND he stocks all the new stuff...so I don't "get to sell it" until he doesn't want to anymore...there is a small group of kids that come in 4-10 on average that would be looking for a different local shop...

 

For the people that said "don't do it", I ask if you have tried this before (Opened a brick and mortar)? Or if you just think it won't work? Or if you've had a friend that tried and failed...respectfully asking, not challenging ...really trying to understand why you (as in most of the group) feel strongly against it.

 

As I stated in my disclaimer, most of what I know just comes from being in and around these shops... well, just about since they were a thing. I've never run one or even done more than helped out at one rarely. Mostly it's just common sense.

 

Almost everyone believes comics as a medium have already seen their best days. No one believes there is going to be a print revival. Modern cover prices continue to rise and rise, surpassing impulse buy territory for most children, and shrinking pull list numbers for many adults. In addition to that, you'll be hard pressed to find a group of people satisfied with what either of the Big Two publishers are currently doing on more than one or two titles... and for those of you that want to show up and say 'same as it ever was', well, I can't greatly argue with that

 

Suffice to say the content isn't at a high water mark right now.

 

 

Couple that with the fact that, as I previously mentioned, fewer and fewer collectors are run collectors. I'm just guessing here, but that has to make life more difficult for shop owners buying collections - how do you keep yourself from choking on inventory if you're buying new stock all of the time? My guess is, you have to be ready to go on the road, and go on the road often. If the run collectors aren't coming to you in sufficient numbers, you have to go to the shows and make yourself available... and while that happens, you still have to run your store. That sounds tough for a one man show.

 

The card, and general table top, gaming crowd... I've spoken to comic shop owners that only do the MTG thing to stay afloat, and generally, their shops become about card games, not about comics. This isn't so much a terrible thing... unless you're in it for the comic shop. Basically, you can find yourself running an entirely different business than whatever it is you envisioned. Is this a "bad thing"? Only OP could answer that.

 

Finally... what's wrong with just doing the online thing? The risk is far, far smaller, and the upside... to me these two options have about the same upside :shrug: How many people strike it rich with a brick & mortar of any kind? Why deal with all of that overhead?

 

In summary, I don't see the upside, I see a lot of the potential problems, and no matter what area you open up in, I don't understand what you have to gain (outside of realizing your dream, which can't be discounted).

 

[Genesis Comics]

i personally like to go through fresh dollar and back issue boxes. I assume they're replenished because of newly bought inventory. BUT some LCS owners have like 100 long boxes elsewhere. They can add, shuffle, consolidate and rotate those every so often and keep me coming in. But these take a up space, and probably don't have a ton of margin.

 

I like having stuff alphabatized and seperated by brand

 

I'm with you ...love the dollar boxes and plan to have a lot...I will definitely rotate out and use the stuff that doesn't sell for 25 cent books on free comic book day, or just give-a-ways that day...

 

I currently have my inventory divided by:

 

Silver Age Marvel higher grade F+ or better

Silver Age Marvel low grade

 

Silver Age DC high

Silver Age DC low

 

Bronze Age Marvel high

Bronze Age Marvel low

 

Copper-Modern divided by pubisher for Marvel/DC/Image/Valiant/and the rest of the independents alphabetized

 

No gold...everything bagged and boarded, everything alphabetized and numbered...

[BlowUpTheMoon]

how to start a comic shop

 

Advice for a new comic book store?

 

I went to a comic book store

 

There are other threads out there if you look for them.

 

 

[Genesis Comics]

I expected a lot of "don't do it's" so I'm not surprised by this...this is something I've been thinking of doing for the better part of 20 years...I didn't mention that I sell magic cards out of a showcase in a sports card store and do pretty well (singles and boxes)...the issue with the store is he's not with Wizards of the Coast so he doesn't do pre-releases AND he stocks all the new stuff...so I don't "get to sell it" until he doesn't want to anymore...there is a small group of kids that come in 4-10 on average that would be looking for a different local shop...

 

For the people that said "don't do it", I ask if you have tried this before (Opened a brick and mortar)? Or if you just think it won't work? Or if you've had a friend that tried and failed...respectfully asking, not challenging ...really trying to understand why you (as in most of the group) feel strongly against it.

 

As I stated in my disclaimer, most of what I know just comes from being in and around these shops... well, just about since they were a thing. I've never run one or even done more than helped out at one rarely. Mostly it's just common sense.

 

Almost everyone believes comics as a medium have already seen their best days. No one believes there is going to be a print revival. Modern cover prices continue to rise and rise, surpassing impulse buy territory for most children, and shrinking pull list numbers for many adults. In addition to that, you'll be hard pressed to find a group of people satisfied with what either of the Big Two publishers are currently doing on more than one or two titles... and for those of you that want to show up and say 'same as it ever was', well, I can't greatly argue with that

 

Suffice to say the content isn't at a high water mark right now.

 

 

Couple that with the fact that, as I previously mentioned, fewer and fewer collectors are run collectors. I'm just guessing here, but that has to make life more difficult for shop owners buying collections - how do you keep yourself from choking on inventory if you're buying new stock all of the time? My guess is, you have to be ready to go on the road, and go on the road often. If the run collectors aren't coming to you in sufficient numbers, you have to go to the shows and make yourself available... and while that happens, you still have to run your store. That sounds tough for a one man show.

 

The card, and general table top, gaming crowd... I've spoken to comic shop owners that only do the MTG thing to stay afloat, and generally, their shops become about card games, not about comics. This isn't so much a terrible thing... unless you're in it for the comic shop. Basically, you can find yourself running an entirely different business than whatever it is you envisioned. Is this a "bad thing"? Only OP could answer that.

 

Finally... what's wrong with just doing the online thing? The risk is far, far smaller, and the upside... to me these two options have about the same upside :shrug: How many people strike it rich with a brick & mortar of any kind? Why deal with all of that overhead?

 

In summary, I don't see the upside, I see a lot of the potential problems, and no matter what area you open up in, I don't understand what you have to gain (outside of realizing your dream, which can't be discounted).

 

I apologize if my last post came across as challenging ...I appreciate all your feedback, truly. I was just trying to get a sense if this was personal experience or life experience from visiting stores as well all do.

 

I wasn't clear in my first post...the shop will be comics and gaming with MTG being a big part...50% gaming 35-40% comics and 10-15% other...almost a gaming shop that sells comics as well!!

 

As far as why not online? I've thought about it...I've done some selling online...I agree with the overhead being an issue...I can sit in my office...scanning and selling...and probably eke out a modest living...my wife works, we have insurance...I'd never be rich + I loathe packing and shipping...I realize that will be part of what I still do, but I won't have to do as much... but ...but for me it's more than that...I enjoy the interactions and the experience of talking "shop" with the customers...(that doesn't pay the bills I know)...you also have "collections" walking through the door...people coming to you to sell as opposed to you chasing leads...how many times have we all answered an ad on Craigslist to see really old books and got to a house to see the "Death of Superman"??? (you learn to ask the right questions eventually )...

Here the work is done for you kind of...I'm probably not expressing myself very well...there is the "dream" factor,that's a part of it...I realize it's a long shot...I truly do...but there are shops out there that succeed against the odds...I'd like to be one of those shops...but if I'm not, then that's OK too...I tried...I can always go back to being a restaurant manager...

That's why I'm here asking for advice so I'm not the 95% that can't make it, but one of the 5% that do!

[Genesis Comics]

how to start a comic shop

 

Advice for a new comic book store?

 

I went to a comic book store

 

There are other threads out there if you look for them.

 

 

I've been here for years and still suck at the search function...thank you for the links