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What do you listen for in a comic shop?
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57 posts in this topic

What kind of music, or lack of music do you like when you enter a comic shop?  Ever shopped more because of the music? Ever avoided a store because they played music you hate? 

Background music or juke box level, as far as volume goes?

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I like a lot of music, there is a lot of music I dislike. My opinion is don't play any music in the store.

That way I don't have to hear "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke ( which I can't stand ) while I am trying to spend money in your store.

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As long as there's something on,besides maybe techno.Some of the things you hear folk talking about in stone silence....

I have very fond memories of box diving as a kid in the eighties with just a transistor radio playing by the cash.

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10 minutes ago, piper said:

I love having music playing in the background. My LCS has internet radio playing in the background, everything from Electronic, Current Pop, 80’s...

The trick is to not have it too loud.

+1 on internet or satellite radio, my LCS plays old concerts (or the satellite radio does) Hendrix, the Doors, and I made my family laugh when I got "what a day for a daydream :whistle:" song stuck in my head lol 

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When the satellite radio played "timothy leary is dead" then I got a little uncomfortable, that and plus the fact does not reflect the atmosphere of my LCS nor it's clientele.... it made me smirk and then :tonofbricks:

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Flatulence.  I'm always on the alert for this.  Very off-putting.

At the local Forbidden Planet, also the sound of the staff's bleak despair.

Edited by Ken Aldred
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1 hour ago, porcupine48 said:

Some of the things you hear folk talking about in stone silence....

Like " I could not afford to pay double guide for that hot comic 20 years ago but I am (somehow) willing to pay 20x that price today for that same comic but in a lower raw grade. I will go to the bank for you" as long as you are reselling that hot comic for less than eBay price ... just as long as my partner or spouse does not find out. :shy:

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Any type of music is fine, as long as it is in the  background, whether in a comic store, other retail environment, restaurant or even a record store. When it goes past that level and especially if it's loud, even if it is a song I love,  I'm less likely to purchase anything and more likely to head towards the door.

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19 minutes ago, oakman29 said:

If I was a shop owner I would play the Beatles all day, every day.

disney-gravity-falls-plush-figure-barfing-gnome-pre-order-ships-july-12.jpg

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6 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

Flatulence.  I'm always on the alert for this.  Very off-putting.

At the local Forbidden Planet, also the sound of the staff's bleak despair.

We have a lcs here where you can hear the bleak despair and the air is thick with the reek of flatulence.

My significant other brings up how awful it was almost everytime I want to go in a comic store.They totally ruined all comic stores for her.

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8 hours ago, porcupine48 said:

We have a lcs here where you can hear the bleak despair and the air is thick with the reek of flatulence.

My significant other brings up how awful it was almost everytime I want to go in a comic store.They totally ruined all comic stores for her.

I have posted before about a very tiny and claustrophobic LCS where the owners' dog was extremely flatulent.

I only went there twice. Enough was enough.

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Out of the 4 stores near me, 3 usually just play music.  From a radio or computer.  It's usually at a lower volume that way people can converse easily but loud enough to break awkward silence if no one is talking.  The 4th store has a flat screen television on the wall that usually has either ESPN or a movie playing.  I enjoy that as I've watched many football games there over the years.  Either is fine with me.  

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Background music is fine.  But I have been driven out of comic stores by:

 

1. Angry metal music.  I understand the sole employee in the store might like it.  But most customers do not.

2. Even angrier rap music with lyrics about gunning down white cops.  This was being played in a Graham Cracker Comics store in Chicago across from the art museum.  Not only unpleasant music, but reverse racism.

3. Staff talking down to other staff.  I have no desire to hear your "I know more than you do" speech belittling your co-worker, particularly when the topic is just comic books. 

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As someone who used to manage a chain of supermarkets I can tell you definitively it's important to know what your employees are playing when you're not there.  There needs to be standards set-- and the volume needs to be such that it doesn't cause the shopper to lose focus on what they are there to do-- spend money.

If you run a shop, put the speakers up near the register so the employees don't feel the need to crank it so they can hear it.  Music should be low volume and as middle of the road as you can find.

I love Ozzy, for example, and Crazy Train would make me smile, but play ANY other heavy metal type stuff, or rap, and I'm out of there faster than you can say "Can I help you?".

It blows my mind how many shops don't understand this basic common sense rule.

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My other LCS has a TV across from the register above the statue case. They play a program that I think is called, "so you think that you know comics". They'll say that catch phrase and then mention a character such as Ghost Rider, and then go through the 1st appearance(s) and the origin and a little a bit of history up until today. I think that it is really beneficial and affects purchases etc. Sometimes you don't know as much as you think, and then you can ask the shop questions about issues they have or current stock. Every once in a while the TV will play Batman with Adam West or animated series, or they'll play other classics, usually one episode then it gets back to -so you think you know comics- :) 

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