Everybody told me not to so I opened a comic shop 2 2

[Cat]

8 hours ago, Cruzin' Thru Comics said:

Turn them off and have people search in the dark. 

'The All-New Daredevil Experience!' 

[EBE]

I'm usually in the LA/OC area in June and July - I'll swing by and take a look!

[Aweandlorder]

Good luck with your new venture!

Merchandise! Merchandise! Merchandise!

[wormboy]

1 hour ago, Aweandlorder said:

Good luck with your new venture!

Merchandise! Merchandise! Merchandise!

Are you saying it’s important to have the right merchandise, or are you referring to displays, signage and such? Genuinely curious.

[Aweandlorder]

6 minutes ago, wormboy said:

Are you saying it’s important to have the right merchandise, or are you referring to displays, signage and such? Genuinely curious.

Display/merchandising

Try have diversified inventory 

Make the store fun and engaging

[Robot Man]

On 10/3/2019 at 9:00 PM, the blob said:

Awesome updates. Man oh man if I could rent a storefront for $700 a month in any viable locale around here I'd probably be all over it, although a shop that opens at 5:45 or whenever I get home from work may not be viable.

Got a friend who’s wife opened a small collectibles, vintage toy and comic shop for $700 a month locally. Got some walk in stuff for sale by the local crack heads. Comics were 95% ‘80’s-‘90’s stuff. Same thing with toys and collectibles. Was buying more than she was selling and closed after about a year and a half. Now she is stuck with a garage FULL of junk. 

[Aweandlorder]

One of my properties has a tiny 7x7 storefront which was used for the longest as an office. But the busy street would suggest that a tiny newsstand comic shop could work there (which is what I wanted to turn it to). Ran it by my wife and yada yada yada, we’re opening a juice bar there instead 

[the blob]

6 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Got a friend who’s wife opened a small collectibles, vintage toy and comic shop for $700 a month locally. Got some walk in stuff for sale by the local crack heads. Comics were 95% ‘80’s-‘90’s stuff. Same thing with toys and collectibles. Was buying more than she was selling and closed after about a year and a half. Now she is stuck with a garage FULL of junk. 

A shop like that in nyc would do fine at that rent. The shops close at $2-4k rent. A garage space costs less in most of Manhattan.

[the blob]

14 minutes ago, Aweandlorder said:

One of my properties has a tiny 7x7 storefront which was used for the longest as an office. But the busy street would suggest that a tiny newsstand comic shop could work there (which is what I wanted to turn it to). Ran it by my wife and yada yada yada, we’re opening a juice bar there instead 

Dont you need a license, health inspection, etc? The problem with a shop is manning it if you have another job. So you pay someone $15 an hour unless you can work out a deal for less and they use the space too for a gig. 

[Aweandlorder]

2 minutes ago, the blob said:

Dont you need a license, health inspection, etc? The problem with a shop is manning it if you have another job. So you pay someone $15 an hour unless you can work out a deal for less and they use the space too for a gig. 

Health inspection yes, but we’re not even gonna have a kitchen there.. the tiny space will be perfect for a kiosk more than a collectible shop unfortunately for me

[the blob]

21 hours ago, Aweandlorder said:

Health inspection yes, but we’re not even gonna have a kitchen there.. the tiny space will be perfect for a kiosk more than a collectible shop unfortunately for me

7x7 would be really hard for a collectible shop. You couldn't even fit 2 6 folding tables. It could be a new comics shop with wall racks and spinners, but who the heck wants that?

Edited October 8, 2019 by the blob

[Robot Man]

On 10/7/2019 at 5:33 PM, the blob said:

A shop like that in nyc would do fine at that rent. The shops close at $2-4k rent. A garage space costs less in most of Manhattan.

Did you notice I said “crack head”? This shop was in a real sketch part of town. Nobody wanted to go into the area. Thus, the cheap rent. There were probably more sellers than buyers and most of the buys were for junk. 

[thehumantorch]

On 10/7/2019 at 12:18 PM, Robot Man said:

Got a friend who’s wife opened a small collectibles, vintage toy and comic shop for $700 a month locally. Got some walk in stuff for sale by the local crack heads. Comics were 95% ‘80’s-‘90’s stuff. Same thing with toys and collectibles. Was buying more than she was selling and closed after about a year and a half. Now she is stuck with a garage FULL of junk. 

Sounds like us  

[Beige]

Lovely pics.

 

However your customer service department might need a replacement employee.

 

Still waiting for scans of a book requested over a week ago.......

 

I know you are busy,and it's only a $500 book but if you say to a potential customer you are going to do something, you probably should.

 

[the blob]

21 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Did you notice I said “crack head”? This shop was in a real sketch part of town. Nobody wanted to go into the area. Thus, the cheap rent. There were probably more sellers than buyers and most of the buys were for junk. 

Crack heads bring in great stuff! Thing about NYC is nowadays there are very few genuinely "sketch" areas nobody goes. Gentrification and hipsters have found their way everywhere.

[Aweandlorder]

13 hours ago, Beige said:

Lovely pics.

 

However your customer service department might need a replacement employee.

 

Still waiting for scans of a book requested over a week ago.......

 

I know you are busy,and it's only a $500 book but if you say to a potential customer you are going to do something, you probably should.

 

[Cruzin' Thru Comics]

Hi, just wanted to post an update on the shop. It’s been going well. Sales have been steadily increasing as customers find out about us. We’ve been posting ads in local papers, magazines and on social media. It’s really great to see new customers in the store- and many are returning customers. We are primarily a back issue store though I do carry some new comics. We’ve had some small collections come through the door which is always fun. Picked up some really cool marvel and dc sideshow statues as well. I did bring most of my personal collection to the shop which consists mainly of  Silver and Bronze DC. Tons of great Batman and Detective. I recently picked up some really high grade gold dell, Harvey and gold key. We have some really nice precode code war and gold/silver dc war as well.  Customers seem to really dig the shop since we have a ton of comics. Most local shops don’t have that much. If you’re in the Los Angeles area I recommend you visit the shop. We’re in Santa Clarita (about 35/40 miles north of LA). 

Edited January 20, 2020 by Cruzin' Thru Comics

[Senormac]

The trouble with OLD comics is once there gone......there gone.  You should connect with Disney.  Be on the payroll or linked somehow.  Those guys will keep you rollin for a long long time

[Cruzin' Thru Comics]

11 minutes ago, Senormac said:

The trouble with OLD comics is once there gone......there gone.  You should connect with Disney.  Be on the payroll or linked somehow.  Those guys will keep you rollin for a long long time

Not sure what you mean about Disney? As far as new comics I do carry some. I just don’t like the margins on new books. I have lots of other stuff other than comics and rent is not much more than some storage units in LA. I’ve been selling comics for 10 years and as far as I can see there’s always more of them coming around. 

[kav]

One of my favorites but yeah that storyline would not fly today.