Chicago comic shop to be given away 0

[mattn792]

5 hours ago, manetteska said:

Did someone say Woodridge? I used to live 5 minutes from that store; the location (to me) seemed great. There is a Graham Crackers in Naperville and Downers Grove (probably 15-20 mins west/north from Chimera's in Woodridge), but as far as I know there aren't many comic stores further south, out by Lemont, Bolingbrook, etc. That's where they could have potentially pulled in new returning customers; as said before thrift buyers from the movie theater next door should have been good, too. The back issue stock was very sparse and completely random. They had the space to add more but instead did some odd gaming thing.

As to One Stop, I went there once and was amazed by the amount of comics. Probably a lot of great overlooked items in there, but when I went (this was a few years ago), if you wanted to look at back issues you had to specifically ask for it. No digging to be had.

Finally, when did the 2nd and Charles in Aurora close? Was going to head over there tomorrow and it is no longer.

The only store I can think of that is further south would be Graham's Plainfield location, and that's closer to Joliet than Bolingbrook.  Woodridge Chimera's definitely had a large potential customer base lurking in the suburbs east of Naperville and south of Downers, but they obviously didn't capitalize.

Makes you wonder even more, on top of all the good reasons already given in this thread to avoid the Oak Lawn "giveaway", what is Chimera's reputation in general amongst collectors in Chicago and the suburbs, and is it a reputation you'd want to inherit?

[Artboy99]

3 hours ago, musicmeta said:

NO way would I send in money for this.  Sounds like a way for the owner to get some quick cash with no fallout.  If I really was interested and I lost out to somebody else, I would want my so called "fee" back. 
Never heard about a business being passed off this way.

I firmly believe it isn't being passed off at all. The winner will be someone the current owner knows and is someone that arrangements have been made with. The new owner will run the business for a few months then will invite the previous owner back as a "partner".

 

[Red84]

I just don't see any chance that 500 people apply. The whole thing seems sketchy to me.

[RockMyAmadeus]

3 hours ago, amy socksmehballs said:

and now the mods are making me change my name

That's what you get for posting. Attracts attention.

Two years, and no one noticed....

[Leo-man]

29 minutes ago, Red84 said:

I just don't see any chance that 500 people apply. The whole thing seems sketchy to me.

According to a recent email from him...he has received hundreds of applications....

"I'm hosting an open house at Chimera's Comics Oak Lawn this Sunday from 12PM-3PM.

I've had hundreds of people apply to win Chimera's Comics Oak Lawn, and thousands more are thinking about it - literally, I'm not making that up.

I would love to meet everyone and show folks around the store. Plus I've been getting a lot of great questions (seriously, I did an hour long livestream and answered questions nonstop). So I want to address those in person too.

I'll have free comics for kids 10 and under, some light refreshments (aka, donuts).

Plus, I'll be there with my brother Nicholas, who will be signing copies of his young adult novel, "The Crusader."

I'll sweeten the pot with a coupon too. I hope you can make it!"

[James J Johnson]

On ‎2‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 9:54 AM, westerberg14 said:

I did a search but didn’t see this posted anywhere...

"What makes a great comic book store?" 

There's only one answer to what would make any store great.

The coffee.

[the blob]

This is probably legal as it won't be a random raffle. People are gullible. Just wait until it shuts down and buy the fixtures for $10. when my old shop went under he couldn't give his glass cases, etc away

 

[Leo-man]

11 minutes ago, the blob said:

This is probably legal as it won't be a random raffle. People are gullible. Just wait until it shuts down and buy the fixtures for $10. when my old shop went under he couldn't give his glass cases, etc away

 

Do you have to pay taxes on the estimated value of raffle winnings?

[Mercury Man]

On 2/12/2019 at 2:23 PM, tv horror said:

Actually I just viewed a video on Youtube featuring a comic store in this very area but it looked like a goldmine for early comics. I wonder is there any connection, maybe someone from Chicago could help, all except you Mr Capone. 

 

 

Oh man, I think I was there once a looooonnnnnng time ago.  I think they had sports cards as well.  They had 2 Chicago Cubs signing autographs that evening- Jaime Moyer and the great Andre Dawson.   

[the blob]

4 hours ago, Leo-man said:

Do you have to pay taxes on the estimated value of raffle winnings?

Yes, but I don't think this is a raffle. If you get the shop you will have paid $25 for it.the owner will probably claim a huge loss on his taxes. If he has income to deduct it against that may work. He says he has a law practice and a main shop. I wonder if he is clever and dumping a dead shop to take a big loss against maybe so.e big contingency fee he is getting in his law practice. Not sure whether you can use a loss in one business for another though. Also not sure how he assign the lease without the landlord consent, which is an issue as he is on the hook for the lease if the new owner fails and can't pay rent.

[masterlogan2000]

16 hours ago, mattn792 said:

The only store I can think of that is further south would be Graham's Plainfield location, and that's closer to Joliet than Bolingbrook.  Woodridge Chimera's definitely had a large potential customer base lurking in the suburbs east of Naperville and south of Downers, but they obviously didn't capitalize.

Amazing Fantasy is my go-to store.  The owner is a great guy, and they have a number of shops in the southwest side (Frankfort, Tinley, Lockport).

[FoggyNelson]

Sounds very fishy👎👎🤔

[the blob]

I am trying to figure out the angle on the lease. Unless he has one that is assignable, which is rare, how does he have any leverage over the landlord to get him to accept the new tenant? I suppose if the lease is in a corporate name without a personal guaranty ( also dumb for the landlord) he just sells the Corp?

[RockMyAmadeus]

17 hours ago, Leo-man said:

I've had hundreds of people apply to win Chimera's Comics Oak Lawn, and thousands more are thinking about it - literally, I'm not making that up.

I would love to meet everyone and show folks around the store. Plus I've been getting a lot of great questions (seriously, I did an hour long livestream and answered questions nonstop).

This guy's a huckster, to say the least.

[Broke as a Joke]

Who is in charge of tallying up the letters?  What is to stop this guy from saying "I only received 495 letters.  Contest over, thanks for the money."  The smell is strong with this one...

[the blob]

We need Ernst & young to do an audit here

[Leo-man]

Here's a link to the recent livestream where he answers questions pertaining to the raffle for those interested in hearing directly from the current owner.

 

[mattn792]

1 hour ago, the blob said:

We need Ernst & young to do an audit here

He'd probably prefer Arthur Andersen.

[the blob]

11 minutes ago, mattn792 said:

He'd probably prefer Arthur Andersen.

I spent 3 years suing E&Y for being part of an accounting fraud (settled for $300 million, but I was no longer with the firm when they settled...I did go to the victory party though, wooh hooh!), but I guess AA really got nailed.

Edited February 14, 2019 by the blob

[newshane]

On 2/12/2019 at 1:01 PM, Leo-man said:

Be wary...

$25 non refundable application fee.

Financials will not be shared until a winner is selected under NDA. At that point the winner can decline to accept the offer.

Winner must negotiate the lease and establish a diamond account.

This shop does not deal in back issues. Bulk of instore merchandise is recent modern back issues and trades.

My guess is that they could probably sell the store for $2k - $3k outright. But do a contest that has an application fee. Get the 500 necessary applications and that's way more money in your pocket then selling the store outright. Get 2,000 applications and it's a huge windfall.

It's noted that some of the application fee is to pay off debts. This is why it would be important to share financials before getting applications .... unless the application fee was refundable to all.

The contest is selling a dream, but does not give people a realistic picture of the business in that area. 

They had a co-owner to their other store and that was recently dissolved. On his podcast that owner insisted that the last two years of retail were the worst in his life and things were not good for a modern day comic store.

Thisnis less Willy Wonka once you start digging into the fine print.

I also had those thoughts...

but it doesn't matter anyway. There is no way I would move to Chicago.