Are comic shops closing their doors in your area? 2 2

[Not A Clone]

On 10/17/2018 at 1:08 PM, 1Cool said:

I know of 1 local comic shop that closed it's door this year and based on what i'm hearing from the owner another may be on it's way out.  We have a lot of comic shops in the Cleveland / Akron area (got to be over 10 nice shops)) so a couple closing wouldn't be much of a shock.  But I also heard that two shops in Columbus closed this year and they don't seem to have as many shops as we have. 

There are some good threads about new comic shop owners but has anyone heard of stores closing in your area this year?

 

 

The only one that I know of that closed here was on Westerville Rd. (The one that operated out of a house). I heard he retired. 

[nocutename]

On 10/17/2018 at 2:32 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

The Buffalo area has had at least three new shops open in the last two years. 

One is restaurant/comic book store.  http://www.saycheesepizza.com/
Another is a coffee shop/comic book store. https://www.pulp716.com/ 

That is strange.  The podcast I listen to interviewed a comic / coffee shop.  The biggest question is how doesn't the inventory get ruined.  Put greasy fingerprints int he mix and yikes. 

 

Edited October 20, 2018 by nocutename

[nocutename]

By me, my old shop closed about 3-4 years ago.  Although I admit I wasn't actively collecting for many years so I stopped going for a long time.  In the that time frame, two other shops have opened in the Westchester County area.  Aw Yeah comics which actually is a nice shop and they do have cheaper back issue bins.  They do have days they will buy collections which I have sold them some trades and it wasn't a terrible deal either.   However, twice the part-owner stated he would order a very cheap TPB for me and twice he sold it to another customer without calling me.  So I made the 20+ min trek to find out there was no book.  The book is kid related and that is supposedly a kid friendly shop so why wasn't additional copies ordered?  We are talking about a 13 buck trade.  Just rubbed me wrong but I never inquired about them ordering the book, he offered and then could not follow through properly with the transaction.  Bad customer service and poor business practice.

Another comic opened in the same City as me.  In fact he was a customer of the comic shop that closed.  The shop is called Spider's Web.  This store is so pretty and neat.  I do love it yet, it feels sterile when I am shopping in it.  I am actually afraid to touch anything.  Because the floor plan is so open, I hate being the only customer in the shop.  I feel awkward in the shop are rarely go there.  Now they have a great TPB selection.  But again, I ordered Tower of Comic books from them without any problems.  Since that went well, when they offered to order Monstress for me, I said ok since it wasn't in stock.  That didn't go well.  They must of sold it as I went back two other times and I was told Diamond didn't ship it yet and the second time, they just acted like they had no clue.

These are personal hobby shops.  They should be able to provide some sort of personalized service.  But I understand it may not be most professional.  Anyway, neither shop has that complete comic book store feeling to me.  I like Aw Yeah comics better but am too stubborn to go back there.

Finally getting back to the OP question, another store that I frequented was Magnum Comics.  They closed their shop in Jan last year.  They just do ebay now and still maintain a pull list.  It is sad but I haven't made it into the shop is so long so I had no idea.  Then I got a text from my friend that worked behind the counter.  They were an old school comic shop.  You could not help but want to plow through some boxes while you were hanging out.

 

[badback83]

9 hours ago, awakeintheashes said:

Thanks for the info on Columbus. I recently moved here (kicking and screaming) after over a decade in the D.C. area. I visited the Packrat location in Hilliard. Looked to be well organized a fairly busy. The owner seems like a cool guy. I'll check out the others while I get used to the area. 

I’m not sure what you collect but if you like gold, silver and bronze definitely check out World’s Greatest Comics in Westerville and Capital City Comics in Reynoldsburg.  Pretty much the only two options around Columbus if you like older stuff.  Welcome to Columbus by the way!  

[piper]

22 hours ago, Artboy99 said:

had a local shop close this year. It was about 5 blocks from me. Why did it close? Awful ownership /management and terrible decisions. Things like bulk order of to many comic titles that didn't sell, stealing customer consignment books. Stealing books customers had them send to CGC, etc.

It's a good thing, we have other shops! My LCS is great.  They just can't grade or price back issue stock properly.

[JTD]

Haven’t read this whole thread but I will give a shout out to Titan Comics in Dallas...went there for the first time in 10 years a week ago and I must say Jeremy has it going on...nice selection of reasonably priced slabs and the biggest supply of statues and back issues I’ve personally ever seen at a LCS...I bought two CGC boxes and a X-Men TPB essential X-Men 2 at 70% off...the staff and Jeremy are first rate...he has been a constant as others have come and gone...FYI, I live in Keller which is north Ft Worth so I don’t get to his area often but now I will make more of an effort...he also sent in my first CGC sub some 10 years ago...

[ADAMANTIUM]

33 minutes ago, JTD said:

Haven’t read this whole thread but I will give a shout out to Titan Comics in Dallas...went there for the first time in 10 years a week ago and I must say Jeremy has it going on...nice selection of reasonably priced slabs and the biggest supply of statues and back issues I’ve personally ever seen at a LCS...I bought two CGC boxes and a X-Men TPB essential X-Men 2 at 70% off...the staff and Jeremy are first rate...he has been a constant as others have come and gone...FYI, I live in Keller which is north Ft Worth so I don’t get to his area often but now I will make more of an effort...he also sent in my first CGC sub some 10 years ago...

+1 on titan comics  

It is a bit of a drive for me too, but worth it 

[Foolkiller]

On 10/18/2018 at 6:52 PM, bc said:

The only thing I buy there is supplies as they are the closest LCS.

Owner is cool to talk with but back-issue inventory is pretty limited with almost no GA and early SA stock. They do have a nice wall of TBP and graphic novels. Not much of a gamer anymore, but they do have a really big selection of that material.

They've been there a long time and are probably grandfathered into some cheap lease agreement - otherwise I've wondered how they stay afloat.

Interesting.  I've loved dealing with John at Kenmore over the years.  He's had some fantastic collections (even recently) and I've picked up some big keys from him including a Showcase 4 about 3 months ago.  Tight grader and an honest guy.

[Robot Man]

I haven't noticed any stores opening or closing in my area. (LA). Most do not carry back issues especially SA or GA (my focus). Most are just new product and toys. They must be doing OK to stay open. I usually only buy supplies or the occasional trade paperback to read nowdays at my local shop. Comics are real hot when I bring them to the flea market. I think the hobby is pretty healthy out here.

[HouseofComics.Com]

All the East Bay stores have managed to stay open. They are mostly long-standing stores. The carnage has been in San Francisco and San Jose where tons of stores closed over the past ten years. However, at least in San Francisco, some new ones have sprung up.

[Brother J]

16 hours ago, oldmilwaukee6er said:

Two of the four Collector's Edge locations have closed within the last 1.5 years- the West (outcompeted by another store) and East (rising rent, re-gentrification) locations. Any other long-term store, Turning Page, closed for a while when the owner died. It reopened just over a year ago under new management and is succeeding. It appears, looking at Google maps, that another store opened within the last two years in nearby Glendale. 

No real net change for Milwaukee

I miss all the great shops in Milwaukee. Vortex and Lost Worlds of Wonder were always my two favorites. Collector's Edge is fine, but I wish they would make the basement available more often than just once a year. There's really only one decent shop for back issues around me here in my area unless I want to drive a bit.

[bc]

2 hours ago, Foolkiller said:

Interesting.  I've loved dealing with John at Kenmore over the years.  He's had some fantastic collections (even recently) and I've picked up some big keys from him including a Showcase 4 about 3 months ago.  Tight grader and an honest guy.

Good to know - Thanks!

Will have to stop by more often and check his inventory.

-bc

[ygogolak]

2 hours ago, Foolkiller said:

Interesting.  I've loved dealing with John at Kenmore over the years.  He's had some fantastic collections (even recently) and I've picked up some big keys from him including a Showcase 4 about 3 months ago.  Tight grader and an honest guy.

2 minutes ago, bc said:

Good to know - Thanks!

Will have to stop by more often and check his inventory.

-bc

I feel he under grades a lot. He seems to get a lot of new inventory, but not much I'm interested in. Maybe he's just turning it quickly. I don't go that often because I don't like going in a shop and not buying anything.

 

[the blob]

In my area (Brooklyn) I just don't see a new shop surviving with these rents (with that said a couple of places have opened). The problem is paying rent for dead time. As I have mentioned, in my area we have a bar with a boutique flower shop in the front and another bar that has an instrument repair shop. A comic shop in a residential area really only needs to be open 2:30-6:30 with some hours on the weekend. If all the fixtures are on wheels and merch can be tucked into cabinets, I wonder if a shop could coexist with a Pilates/yoga/gym studio that does morning and evening classes? And then at 10 it can convert into a bar and be open until 2 or 3! Sounds like a great husband/wife business! 

[bc]

1 minute ago, ygogolak said:

I feel he under grades a lot. He seems to get a lot of new inventory, but not much I'm interested in. Maybe he's just turning it quickly. I don't go that often because I don't like going in a shop and not buying anything.

 

I suffer from that same phobia.

[HouseofComics.Com]

My solution to wanting to buy something at a shop is to either buy a gift for someone or buy a magazine for myself (like Back Issue or Alter Ego or something) or just pick three new comics to speculate on, which is how I ended up with Harley Quinn meets Archie 1 or whatever it is.

As for a split shop, it's interesting how 50 magazine boxes with $100 k of back issues on shelves that can be taken down and shown to someone and a display of the top 100 trades really doesn't take up that much space. But you need to share it with someone you really trust.

[Ken Aldred]

I forgot that there's a coffee shop opened in town, which has some shelves of new comics at the front.

The barista seems quite knowledgable about comics, and has a friendly attitude.

[the blob]

21 minutes ago, HouseofComics.Com said:

My solution to wanting to buy something at a shop is to either buy a gift for someone or buy a magazine for myself (like Back Issue or Alter Ego or something) or just pick three new comics to speculate on, which is how I ended up with Harley Quinn meets Archie 1 or whatever it is.

As for a split shop, it's interesting how 50 magazine boxes with $100 k of back issues on shelves that can be taken down and shown to someone and a display of the top 100 trades really doesn't take up that much space. But you need to share it with someone you really trust.

Exactly. 5000 back issues can be housed in a 3 level cabinet that is about as deep as a mag box, maybe 8-10 feet long. New issues can all be housed on racks that have a 4 inch depth and can have doors to cover them. A decent selection of trades can be put on a bookshelf. A comic shop's inventory can actually be tucked away pretty easily. It would be easy to have it all on wheels and go in the corner when the gym is open. Converting it into a bar at night is trickier. The cabinet needs to be able to have a bar top on it, etc. You'd need very limited beer on tap and mostly sell bottles, cans, and cocktails. Bar food would be tricky. All these ideas are spinning around in my head! 

[Foolkiller]

53 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

I feel he under grades a lot. He seems to get a lot of new inventory, but not much I'm interested in. Maybe he's just turning it quickly. I don't go that often because I don't like going in a shop and not buying anything.

 

to get the better material I think you have to be a frequent customer and sometimes you're buying things that are marginal.  I'm not local to the area but whenever I'm there I always stop in -- and I've yet to ever spend less than a few grand a trip.  The stuff grades out and he's super easy to deal with.  He does turn stuff over but I've bought early FFs, high grade surfers, early Avengers, nice DCs, and plenty of bronze keys and tons of high grade from him.  you're right in that he doesn't have a lot of gold, but I'm not sure there's many stores anywhere that do.  If you're a straight shooter, no nonsense friendly person, you do well with him and I feel like he welcomes that.  I go to stores across the country and more than half are walk in, buy nothing.  Some are ones where this time there's no score, but other times there will be.  Others are just busts.  Gotta keep trying. 

[the blob]

1 hour ago, Ken Aldred said:

I forgot that there's a coffee shop opened in town, which has some shelves of new comics at the front.

The barista seems quite knowledgable about comics, and has a friendly attitude.

There are a few comic/coffee shops around the country. Selling coffee and pastries is pretty easy and probably doesn't involve a lot of hassle from local licensing and heath folks.