Executive decisions

We met with a counselor from the Small Business Association in Scottsdale on Thursday and he had some great ideas on things we can do to bring in more business and to serve the community in new ways. I am really excited about some of the possibilities we have ahead of us. So stay tuned for some new and innovative changes in the near future.

As a comic book store owner, however, sometimes you have to make some hard decisions. After a long hard effort to make our webstore successful, we finally had to admit defeat. We were using Intuit’s POS webstore – which interacted with our point of sale system and with our accounting system and paying a hefty $150/month for it. It’s been 15 months now, which means we have paid a total of $2250 in monthly fees, not to mention the initial set up fee of something like $200. That’s enough. A small, family-owned store like us just can’t compete with the Amazons and the folks selling private collections on e-Bay for 80% off cover price and free shipping.

In over a year, we have only had two orders through our webstore, and didn’t really make much of a profit on either one. Thus, the decision to discontinue it.

We are brainstorming ways that we can continue to have some sort of ordering system, even though we don’t have the fancy, integrated POS webstore any more. We do want people to be able to order from us. For now, all I can suggest is emailing us at info@comiczoneaz.com with your requests and we can let you know if we can get them for you, how much it will be, etc. We can always take a credit card payment through paypal or over the phone.

The best part of meeting with the counselor was finding out all of the things we are doing RIGHT as a small business. And there is more to come, so stay tuned….

First Friday in March

Another great First Friday. Gosh, it’s so great to be hanging out downtown. We had some great folks come by our table, and as usual, the two of us had a blast intermingling! I know it’s the bohemian in me.

Here’s a picture of Avery at our table:

Avery at First Friday 3/10

Readers Choice Awards

This is a letter I received from our good friend, Shawn. I am passing it on to our local community and hope you all take the time to vote.

We have an opportunity to increase the profile of comic books in this year’s AZCENTRAL.COM 2010 Reader’s Choice Awards.  From now until the March 11, they are accepting open nominations for different categories.  It is a real opportunity to get comic book shops and comic book related event entered into this year’s awards and increase Comic Books in the Community profile.  The nomination process is easy.  Just go to http://www.azcentral.com/best/2010/  You can make different nominations for different categories.  To help you out I have separated some of the one’s that I think might be comic book related:

Deals:
Entertainment value for families (nominate your favorite local comic shop)
Best store deals $1 or less (nominate your favorite local comic shop with a great $1 comic bin)

People & Places
Favorite local employer less than 250 employees (nominate your favorite local comic shop)
Local hero (I would nominate Ben Glendenning, Terry Tibke, Eric Mengel or Denny Ricelli local creators who donate their time and art to local events and charities)
Best cool-off spot (nominate your local comic shop)

Arts & Entertainment
Best Annual Festival or Event (nominate Phoenix Comicon)
Best Annual Arts Festival or Event (nominate Phoenix Comicon)
Best Annual Music Festival or Event (nominate Phoenix Comicon)

Shopping & Services
Best Bookstore (nominate your favorite local comic shop)

Kid’s and Family
Best Toy or Game Store (nominate your favorite local comic shop)
Best place to play hooky with the kids (nominate your favorite local comic shop)
Best children’s book/reading event (nominate Free Comic Book Day)
Best annual kid’s event (nominate Phoenix Comicon or Free Comic Book Day)

Please pass this on to any Comic Book fans you know.  The more nominations we have for events for Free Comic Book Day and Phoenix Comicon and local comic book shop, the more awareness it provides to the community.

Shawn Demumbrum
SpazDog Comics

Do comic books motivate students to read?

I am wanting to develop the idea that reading comic books can inspire students to read who would otherwise be not interested in reading. I know within my own family, one of my sons was definitely NOT a reader. However, once he started reading comic books and graphic novels, his eyes were opened, and he now avidly reads books on other topics, such as real estate investing. Sometimes, all it takes is one good spark from some sort of reading material to change a person’s perspective on reading.

I knew a man who never read anything until he picked up the Lord of the Rings. Suddenly, worlds opened up to him, and he became an enthusiastic reader for life because of that one book.

I was researching some of the papers that have been written about this, particularly this one:

http://graphicclassroom.blogspot.com/search/label/Master%27s%20Thesis

Unfortunately, this particular paper, although it presents a lot of great ideas, did not find any conclusive evidence to support or deny his theory about motivating students to read by using comic books. However, I have talked with a special education teacher who raves about the effects that comic books have had on her students.

Obviously, more research is needed.

Captain America #602

A customer just came in the store and asked us if we had any more copies of Captain America #602. No, he had the last copy in his hand. I asked if he wanted us to order him more copies, and he said that he doubted if we could get anymore because they are being recalled. Huh? That’s news to us!

So, as soon as we left, we started researching, and found that no, they are not being recalled at all, but they ARE going to be changing the future printings, as there is a page that can be conceived as very controversial in the current issue. You can read more about it here. Apparently, Marvel had their letterer fudge in some content to the blank protest signs, and the result is this snafu.

My first reaction as a retailer was to go out to eBay and find out if we can snag some more copies quick, but most folks have already raised prices to $9.99 with all sorts of dramatic comment about how they are being recalled, pulled from shelves, etc.

If there is a wave of demand, we haven’t yet seen it – just that one customer – and by the time we could get our hands on more, it will probably have blown by.

Retailers are always up against challenges like this. When Amazing Spider-man #583 came out with Obama on the cover, it was all the rage, so we ordered extras of that one, and of some of the other Obama comics that were out at the same time. And now they sit on our “Obama” shelf, the frenzy passed.  Would the same thing happen to this one, should we get more copies?

For me, I am just as happy as can be that comics are making the news. All attention helps.

Focus Group

On Saturday, we had our first Focus Group. I hope it is one of many. The information we gleened from the discussions was very worthwhile!

Five people came to offer their opinions and assistance, and shortly after the group ended, another came and gave us incredible suggestions! We are so grateful to everyone who attended: Rhia, Howard, Aaron, Vivian, Tom, and Leroy, and a special thank you to my dear friend, Linda Simpson, who ran the group for us.

Some of the more interesting conversations involved the anatomically incorrect drawings of comic book heroes, especially the women. And yet, as it was pointed out, the male super-heroes are more fantasy than not also. The idea is that these are the artists’ fantasies of ideals. At some point in the near future, I will devote a whole blog post to this subject, as it fascinates me.

Some great ideas that were presented to us are things that we really wanted to do anyway, and now we have clearer avenues. I have wanted to do more regarding using comics in education for quite some time, and we had two teachers in the room, one was a teacher of English and the other of special ed. Both saw the role of comics in their particular classrooms as very different, whereas one would use them as a springboard for teaching about symbolism in literature and the other would use them to interest students in reading. I advocate both usages and I am excited to be a part of making this happen.

I really learned a lot, and even managed to video-tape segments of the discussion, so stay tuned to our site for showings.

Wal-Marvels

My friend Gail, of Gail Keith Marketing, posted this article to our Facebook account today: http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?p=9110

Wal-Marvel Comics

What a sight! I would love to see such an array of folks in our store. Some one of these days, we need to run a costume contest and take a picture of all of the contestants. That would be a lot of fun, I think. In fact, it’s been way too long since we did something like that.

Stay tuned. You may be hearing about something soon…..

The Man of Steel as an American Icon

When I was a young girl, I used to love watching the Superman shows on TV that starred George Reeves. I would tune in to every show, and watch them avidly. I think I even had a bit of a crush on Clark Kent. I was so thrilled when a friend of mine taught me how to draw Superman flying, and I would draw this icon everywhere, doodling on school papers, on the back of envelopes, anything to keep that spirit alive in me. I had no idea that someday I would own a comic book store!

Tonight I was reading through some master’s degree theses on comic books (http://www.comicsresearch.org/ComicsDissertations-masters.html) and I was particularly struck with a thesis done by Joseph James Darowski entitled The American Way: What Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and the X-Men Reveal about America. Right away, Darowski talks about how Superman burst on the scene as early as 1938, making an impact that over 70 years later, is still going strong.

He goes on to reveal all of the ways that Superman has pervaded our culture in a myriad of media forms. He has an iconic stature that has woven its way into the hearts of Americans. The S Shield is well-known and instantly recognized. In fact, if you haven’t seen it yet, we have a new Superman sign at our store, which broadcasts to the world that we are a comic book store. What says it better?

Our new Superman Sign

Darowski goes on to talk about the fact that Superman represents America’s new mythology, a theme I highly support, and with which I agree. Superman exhibits the characteristics that have made our country great – he arrives from another planet to live a better life, he upholds the American ideals of truth and justice, maintains a balance between civilization and freedom, and even his suit reflects the patriotism of the United States in its red and blue color.

To this day, Superman comics reflect the struggles of the American people. The present story line has him living on another planet, trying to adjust to a lifestyle that is decidedly NOT American, and this powerful icon has been arrested for treason. Meanwhile, America struggles with its own problems. Oh bring him back to help us in these times. America needs Superman more than New Krypton does!

Pitching to a different crowd

Comic Zone had a presence at the 3rd Friday Gallery Walk. We felt like experts as we set up our tables and comic books. We had chosen our selection with care, and didn’t bring quite as much merchandise with us as we had for 1st Friday. As a result, we were set up relatively quickly.

We noticed immediately that there was a big difference from 1st Friday. For one, the streets weren’t closed off. We were able to park on the street RIGHT in front of our tables. I was much more relaxed knowing I could keep an eye on the car, not to mention that I left many personal things IN the car, knowing I could retrieve them as I needed. Unloading was MUCH easier. No lugging many boxes and tables from behind the house in the back alley.

Another big difference was that there were hardly any people walking the street. On 1st Friday, we saw a steady stream of folks. On 3rd Friday, not so much. And the folks that did pass by didn’t glance our way much at all. They were a different crowd. Not as bohemian, not as artsy, and most seemed like they had a mission to get to their destination. *sigh*

Thirdly, our hostess, Maryana, didn’t show up. Due to a few bizarre twists of fate, no one was there to open up the host house! But, we didn’t really mind. Between the Conspire coffee shop and the Lost Leaf, we were able to take care of our needs.

Given all of that, however, we still had a blast! A few people stopped by, and right near the beginning of the evening, one young man gushed and practically drooled over the comics. You could tell that he is definitely a comic book reader, and was so very excited to find out that we would be selling comics on 1st Fridays from now on. His enthusiasm was very welcome, and in fact, kept us warm for quite a while after.

We made a few sales. We talked to some great folks. We gave out business cards. So, more people know about the store. More people know about US. And we had a good time catering to a fun bunch of people.

We had decided to pack up around 11:30, when I got caught up in a great conversation with a couple of guys who were also into real estate investing. We actually didn’t break down until nearly midnight.

On Saturday, my butt was dragging. I never knew how much sitting outside in the cold for 8 hours or so saps your energy!

All in all, it was a great experience. We’ll just have to learn how to pitch to a different crowd on 3rd Fridays.

I Have Issues

We had Tom Healy and Shaun Kronenfeld from I Have Issues in the store on Wednesday. This was their first visit to the store, and I was happy to hear that they liked what they saw. They did their show, and hung out with us for a bit, and then went on their way. The show aired on Friday. You can see it here: http://blip.tv/file/3091468

Enjoy!