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…..

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!

Fun Times at the Zone

Today we had a meeting to discuss plans for events in the coming months. I am really excited about our offerings.

For one, we have the writing group which I facilitate on the fourth Saturday morning of each month. The emphasis is on good, interesting writing of any kind, including comic book writing! To expand on this, we are also going to start a drawing group, facilitated by Andy, on the third Saturday morning of each month, starting in February. Similar to the writing group, we will emphasize all sorts of drawing, and will include drawing for comic books. To put the two of these together, in March we are planning to do a 24 hour comic book making marathon, where everyone will leave with a comic book that they created.

We are also planning to hold a comic book discussion group on the second Saturday of the month in the late afternoon, early evening. Andy will facilitate this, but I am also really looking forward to this, so that I can get some good data and information for a series of articles I plan to write on comic books as modern mythology.

We are also talking about having a game night – all sorts of games, including video games, card games, role playing games, board games, etc. Each month we will announce a new game, or maybe more than one. I am tentatively scheduling them for the first Saturday evening of each month, but I’ll keep you posted on this.

I am also researching the feasibility of doing a movie night once a month. That would be so fun!

As usual, we will have guests in the store on a regular basis. We are currently working with Tom Leveen on a book-release party, as his fantasy book will be released in April. Also, beginning conversations with Jeff Mariotte who will be releasing his 5 issue mini-series, Fade to Black, in May. We are conversing with Daniel Davis, who produces a web comic called Monster Commute as well as being the creator of Steam Crow for sometime this spring, and hope to have Diana Gabaldon in once her graphic novel based on the Outlander series is released.

And of course, we will have an ongoing presence at the First Friday Art Walk going forward.

So, stay tuned. There’s never a dull moment with Comic Zone!

Why Gift Certificates?

Honestly, there isn’t anything better than getting your favorite comic book fan a gift certificate for the holidays or for a birthday or any special occasion. Why, you may ask? There are several good reasons for gift certificates.

1. You may not know precisely what they like as there are many issues of many different comics

2. You may not know exactly what they have as there are many issues of many different comics

3. A gift certificate is easy to wrap

4. They can use the gift certificate at their leisure, so if they are waiting for a certain issue that isn’t coming out for awhile, they can use it in the future.

5. They can use it in our online store and never leave their home

6. They can use it to get gifts for other people

7. They can use it to buy a graphic novel which entitles them to our preferred customer punch cards which awards future discounts

8. They can use it to buy a Comic Zone t-shirt which would give them a 10% discount on any purchase made while they are wearing the shirt

9. You can just come in and buy a gift certificate quickly when you are in a hurry

10. And finally, you can buy one for yourself when you want to treat yourself as a reward for some success or accomplishment in your life.

You’ll be happy to hear that Comic Zone sells gift certificates in any denomination you may want. They are available year round.

And if you are still looking for last minute gifts, we are open tonight until 8 pm and on Christmas Eve until 5 pm.

Comic Book Artists Converge on Comic Zone for One Year Anniversary

On Dec 5th, 10am to 8 pm, four guest artists help Comic Zone celebrate their first year in business: Tosh Delaney, Tony Parker, Ben Glendenning, and Jay Fotos. Of the Earth Belly Dance Troupe will entertain customers, and chocolate cake will be had.

PR Log (Press Release) – Dec 04, 2009 – Comic Zone has been serving the community for the past year as the only comic book store in Scottsdale. They have had a lot of fun serving the community and now it’s time to PARTY!

On December 5, 2009, four guest artists will be featured at the store throughout the day to help Comic Zone celebrate their first year in business: Tosh Delaney of Stump Comix, Tony Parker, artist of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Ben Glendenning, artist of Skulljammer, and Jay Fotos of Death Dealer.

In addition, from opening at 10:00 am until closing at 8:00 pm, they will be having various sales and specials throughout the day.  As a special treat, Of the Earth Belly Dance Troupe will be providing entertainment in the afternoon, and there will be cake all day long. Come on out and help them CELEBRATE this special occasion!

Comic Zone is the best and only comic book store in Scottsdale, Arizona, conveniently located at 5909 N. Granite Reef Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85250, just off the 101. Take McDonald Drive to the third traffic light (Granite Reef Road) just two doors down from Casella’s Deli.

In addition to all of the latest and greatest comic books, trade paperbacks, and graphic novels, the store features ever-changing and ongoing sales on merchandise, regular video game tournaments, and much more. Come on by. You will like what you find!

http://prlog.org/10438884

Watching the sunrise

We got up at O’Dark Thirty this morning. It was cold and dark. But today is special. Today is known as Black Friday.  According to Wikipedia, the term “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

We opened up on Dec. 6th last year, so this is our first Black Friday, which is why we had to get up so early. The world is different at this time of day. (Can you tell I am not usually an early riser?) We actually watched the sky lightening as we drove in.

We’ve been open for less than an hour and we’ve already seen several customers. In fact, we even had customers waiting for us to open! What a trip!  I like this Black Friday stuff even if I did have to get up so early.

Internettings!

So, I missed both Friday and Monday’s posts because I was busy working on the store’s new website, which is probably how you got here.