Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comic store in your future, Comics, entertainment

Comic Store In Your Future – Year One

Rod Lamberti of Rodman Comics, writes weekly for Bleeding Cool. Find previous columns here.

Alright, In a previous week's column I didn't break the internet and Rich says as long as I quit with the pip, pip stuff I can keep writing plus so long as Jude Terror doesn't threaten to quit its all good. So no pip, pip. Jude, you're the best online writer the internet has ever known! Oh, Rich says second best after him. Also feel free to contact Rich with any ideas for subjects to write about. Maybe ask about the history of pip. Though Rich would have to write that up. So please do.

Last week I talked about getting ready to open up your own comic store. I stressed save money for it. Some people that are not in the business think having a store is easy money. If that was true why don't they have a store?

This week we talk more about the set-up and what maybe to expect of your new store. Honestly, the first year I was open was painful. It wasn't from lack of prep work or customer service. Odds are it is going to take time for people to find and get to enjoy a new store. I will also talk about how to prep and be ready for business.

Rodman Comics Year One.  The brutal year. I will not lie. If things were to go back to Year One levels there would be a good possibility I would close. Though they shouldn't since I learned. I adapted. I changed. The store adapted and changed also. And the store got more popular. Meaning more people found out about us and more started shopping with us. Though if the economy goes south badly enough it could hurt enough to close down. All the customer service in the world don't mean anything if there is no demand for a product.

I remember at my first Diamond Summit in Vegas a new store owner asking me how my first year was. I told him it was a bloodbath. He looked at me and said are you serious? I said yes. I wish I remembered his store's name so I could see how it all worked out for him.

So you have money saved up (hopefully). Your budget is set. Math is something your good at or at least getting better at. You have goals other than just to make money. Right?

First up your location. The bigger your space the odds are the more rent you pay. An interesting fact. People that buy off the internet from you they don't care how big your store is. They just want what they bought in a timely matter to get to them in the condition they thought they paid for.

I went small when I opened. Rodman Comics was new. I have never expanded to a bigger location. Though this year it may happen with our lease up. It will be interesting. I stayed and renewed the lease twice. Why did I stay small? One reason is I learned to sell on the internet. Again people buying off the internet have no care how big the place is they are buying from.  Low rent means low cost. I used the money saved on rent for other things. Such as the car being wrapped with the Rodman Comics logo. It's a one time expense. I found it more effective than advertising because once the newspaper, radio, or T.V. ads stop they're done. The car is a mobile billboard that has been around for years. Every few years I have T shirts made for our customers and give them out free. It is a way for me to give back to our customers and another way to advertise.  The store exclusive covers are costly. I have done them because as a comic store we are all just outlets of Diamond Comics for comics. Having store exclusives is something that are hard to find and give people another reason to check us out. Help makes Rodman Comics more unique. By keeping our fixed cost low I can splurge and experiment more. Are people at times disappointed that the store is not huge? Yes, as they say size does matter to some. Though it often times makes no logical sense to me. Often times these are people that buy one comic or one pack of cards a month. I have had people who wanted a bigger store and when the one title they collect was canceled they are done collecting comics.

Doesn't mean we will never expand. One of my goals in the future is to have a second comic store location. It wouldn't be here in Ankeny. It would be in an area that I feel could use one.

And just because we are a small store doesn't by any means mean your store has to be small.

I have limited resources.  No access to a wallet with never ending money. Though if you find one I would like to borrow it.

Like many comic stores you may also have gaming. Comic stores are often times thought of as gaming centers in this day and age. Why don't I have a game room? I figured out a way to have gaming so we could have gaming with out needing more space which would equal more rent. Central Iowa before I opened has plenty of businesses where one can play games at. There are places to play for free. If people want to play for free at a  business then by golly go play elsewhere for free.  When I first opened I had free Magic, Heroclixs, D&D, boardgame night, and more. After awhile I figured out that during the free gaming I could make more flipping burgers at Burger King. Started having gaming events that were not free and cost money. Those attracted people that were willing to pay to play? The ones that hung out for free? No thank you or anything for all the free gaming. Such as Heroclixs. A Heroclix draft where people get two boosters is better than a bring your own team and play for free. Who wins the bring their own teams events? The one who spent the most on their team. Same thing with Magic whoever spent the most on their deck wins. Granted game drafts involve luck. But the fact is it puts everyone on a level playing field. No I spent $200 dollars on my team or deck vs your $30 dollars team or deck because that is all you can afford. Only eight people show up for a draft? Heroclix wise that is roughly 25 bucks a person. Magic wise that is roughly over $12 a person. Per person that is a lot better than the free group that thinks since they bought a water each for a dollar to hang out for hours that is the way to go. And I know those numbers are not spot on. I am rounding and doing things quick to keep it simple.

Wizards of the Coast who make Magic the Gathering had their own stores for awhile years ago. They couldn't make it work even with all the money they have and closed them all.

When groups get together most people usually follow the groups lead. Things they wouldn't do such as be a freeloader by themself they do because of group mentality. If they all do it then it must be the "alright" to do.

That said if a store gets someone that is a buyer during gaming that changes everything.   Meaning a person who buys more than just the bare amount to play. Get a person buying boosters and cracking them open and getting excited about what they got usually gets others to follow.

My gaming focus is on casual players. New players. Why new players? Because they are spending money to get into a game. Where die hard gamers usually have everything they want or just get it the cheapest they can off the internet.

Some facts in store. Boardgames. We sell more without boardgame night than we did with. Same with D&D and Star Wars X Wing. Free events in many people's mind means a chance to hang out and spend nothing. And if you let them then why not? It's not their business. The average person plays the games in their or their friend's home. Not at a store.

You may get lucky. Your gaming group may see value in playing and getting their material through you. Everywhere is different. Also gaming groups can change.

Right now our Heroclix gaming group is a group I am very proud of. The Deadpool X Force Pre Release was a hit on all levels. From buying to fun for everyone. I could not ask for a smoother, more polite, better group.

Our Magic group is casual and a great group and the reason I have FridayNight Magic.

So experiment if you have gaming. See what works for your store. Do not become trapped thinking you have to do the same thing as other stores do.

Same thing with everything in your store. See what works for you. Experiment. Just because it didn't work for me or another store doesn't mean it will not work for you. No one knows what their customer base will be when they first open up. One of my sayings is we can try it once if it doesn't work we just won't try it again. Right now odd fact. I have less pull boxes than I have had in years but my comic sales are up. Like a lot of stores pull boxes often times end up with comics that are abandoned. Some people just don't care. I had one person once tell me that they stuck a previous store here in central Iowa with their pull box and joked how he helped put them out of business. I didn't find that funny. I have been letting the pull boxes slowly die off. Forcing new people to come in and if they are worried about me selling out to make the effort to get in and get what they want. It's the way it was before pull boxes were started all those years ago. It also helps to have material on the shelf that has a chance to sell instead of in a pull box and after a month the comic store is stuck with it as happens to often.

All the pull customers that make it in at least once a month and get their comics are great customers.

It has been suggested that I get people's credit card info for pull boxes and charge them. But I don't want people's credit info in case something bad were to happen.

Another fact. If the economy goes bad one of the first things people drop are collectibles. Priorities are for things like rent, mortgage, and food. So yes the state of the economy is important to comic stores.

So you have saved up or gotten a loan or done both. You go scouting for locations. You want to save money on rent but not get a total dive. People usually like areas with parking, low crime, and easy to get in and out of.  Ideal is a business with good street traffic. People driving by is a good way to discover your store. From my store the Taco Johns drive through across the street is aimed right at my store. I have had customers that have discovered us thanks to stopping to eat for tacos.

Now are you a two partnership store? Are you solo? Are you needing help?

Then you need employees.

As I have learned many people can do a good interview. I say many because some do puzzle me. I have had handwritten resumes. I understand some people do not have access to a computer and printer but if need be go to the libary and use one to print out a resume. I have had people stop in before going to an interview who tell me they have an interview and they are dressed like  they are going to a baseball game. Shirt un tucked and so forth. I will point out that they should look like they want the job when going to an interview and then I am told oh its not for that much money. Um, okay that says your not very interested in the job. So guess what the person that seems more interested most likely will beat you out.

Having employees means you are a manager if you do not hire a manager.  If you stay open for years odds are you are going to have to fire people. Retail has a high turn over. Get ready for people quitting. They move on to a new college or move or get a better job or don't want to work or something. Whatever the reason there will be turn over. Are you able to fire someone? If you catch someone stealing can you fire them? If an employee shows up late and later every day and you have warned them to be on time multiple times but they don't seem to care can fire them? I don't say that to be mean. If you want to be a successful business owner then you have to manage it, successfully. There are going to be tough calls. Uncomfortable calls. Times when you seem like the villain because you own a store. I mean if you own a comic store you must be part of the 1 percent right?

Right now I am feeling pretty good. Sales are up. Costs are down. Staff is the best its ever been. The store is the cleanest it has ever been. The weather has been over all not to bad this year. Meaning not many snow storms keeping people away. Owning a store often times is a roller coaster. Ups and downs. Enjoy the ups while you can.

You hire employees you move into the store. You set up your store layout. What is the goal of your store layout? All ages friendly? Then having scantily clad posters of people hanging up most likely isn't a good idea. I have been to other stores with  family.  If the parents in our group say they weren't comfortable taking their kids in and the store wants kids as customers then they need to change so other families are alright coming in.  If an older crowd is what a store is going for and doesn't care for kids then maybe keep the posters up.

How is my store set up? I try for all ages. The best thing about kids and comics? They don't care if it is a first issue or a collector edition. They truely just want a comic to be entertaining to them.

That said if your store is located by a college then it may make sense to be more aimed at college kids.

Another one of my sayings. When I opened up I said this was going to be a marathon and not a sprint. Meaning it would be great if a new business could just throw open its doors on the first day and be flush with people coming in spending money. That's not very likely to happen though. That money you to save up? Odds are your going to use it to stay afloat while you learn and figure out how to be profitable. How to you learn to be profitable? You learn what your customers want. Are they mostly Marvel fans? Mostly DC fans? Is it a pretty good split?  Are the smaller publishers in demand? Once you think you have it figured out and your orders seem to be pretty spot on things will change. Marvel's sudden in store drop was quite the surprise. Does that mean Marvel here will not make a comeback or sell even better in the future? Not at all. I actually hope it does. I myself miss great books like Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender.

From what is being talked about Marvel is finally pulling itself away from their none stop addiction for number one issues and going with Legacy numbers. A Thor #700 will be much rarer than a Thor #1 thanks to all the relaunches.

One of my first-year mistakes? Not selling on the internet. My thinking of making sure to have everything available in store on hand was a mistake.  If you can get some good money off something and it's just sitting in store sell online if you have to.

What makes your store unique? Different than the others? If there was another stores sign over your door would people have no idea they were not in fact in a different store?  Another of my goals for my store was to be . Not just some carbon copy of a previous store. I came up with a weekly newsletter for the store. It is to help customers to get to know what all goes into Rodman Comics. To help people know my thought process. Why do we do things this way? At times people will get upset at what they read. Such as I do not want Standard (Magic the Gathering where people bring their own decks to play others) events for Magic. The  whole charge $6 to let a person bring their own deck and hang out for three hours or more is not worth it. $2 an hour? And then to give out prize support out of pocket so a store doesn't even make that? What other business chargers $6 to let someone hang out for three hours or more? If you go to a bar odds are you spend more. If you go to a movie odds are you spend more. Instead of hosting a standard Magic event I can sell online and make more. Businesses are a two way street. People need a reason to spend money at a business and a business needs to make money.

So to be different we have our Projections newsletter every week on our website. I am sure other stores have newsletters also. To my knowledge not that many do.

I rent the movie theater out for comic and comic related movies for private showings for customers of Rodman Comics. It's not the easiest thing to do. Meaning people are very busy usually. With kid sports, work, family, etc. If it rains then more people usually are able to make it. Their kids sporting event got canceled. If everything works out for them then there is usually a really good turn out. Just seen Logan over the weekend. It was a hit with our group. Why do I do this? It's unique. A chance for our customers to get together and do something enjoyable.

We give out free bags and boards with every new comic purchase. It gives value to the customer when buying new comics. Again other stores do this but to my knowledge not that many do.

Rod Deals. It's not just a sale that we have roughly bi-monthly, it's an event. I won't get into the details since this is running long but it is something I thought of. When I first though of it I thought it wasn't a very good idea actually. I figured it would be a try once and never again idea. It was wildly popular. It also helped people get into new comic series, games, and more. For us, it is much more effective than Free Comic Book Day. This year I am going to combine Rod Deal's and Free Comic Day and see what happens.

So there are a few things that I do to try to make the store stand out.  Yes, we stress good customer service. We work hard. But that shouldn't be unique to any store. It should be common sense.

Don't be afraid to be creative and do things that work for you and your store. Don't pay no mind to rude people. There are always going to be haters. Haters are going hate. At the end of the day it is still your store.

That said there is no comic book club safety net. No comic store entitlement fund. And there shouldn't be. It was my choice to open one. No one put a gun to my head. No one to help you money wise other than maybe your family and maybe your friends and maybe your bank if you haven't maxed out your borrowing from them yet. So that saved up money can be your safety net.

Once you have a business not bleeding out money then go to the various summits and trade shows if you can afford them. The Diamond Summit in Vegas that I went to was great. Talking with follow comic store owners outside of Iowa felt good. I was luckier than can be. I met and talked with Brad Owens, owner of Rock Shop Music and Comics out in Georgia.  What are the odds we both opened the exact day and year? I think we both thought we were trying to pull one over on the other at first. It was great to talk to him. We both were thankful for the new 52 at the time. It brought in new comic readers that we needed. To this day I still chat through Facebook with Brad about the comic industry and what challenges we face.

Just when everything looks good get ready for things to change. Often times comic ordering will feel like whack a mole. That thick Previews book with hundreds of pages you get to order out of? Good luck with that. And most if not all of it most likely not returnable. Meaning selling out of something often times is far better than not selling out. A sell out means no copies left and every copy ordered was profit. Leftover copies means money left on non-returnable product. Ordering is a thankless job. Online people will heckle store owners for not ordering everything spot on to demand. Like it is that easy. In a future column (like say maybe next week's) I will try to write about this.

Online you will learn that people like to leave reviews. The reviews are often one sided. For instance someone doesn't like your store. Though they will fail to mention they were banned from the store for stealing. Or you don't have the one back issue a person is looking for. Your store sucks for not having a first printing of Walking Dead 1 for ten dollars. Just remember online is online. It's mostly stuff people would never say to someone's face.  Everyone is human and dislikes it when people talk bad of them. Though as a store owner you will have no choice but to let it roll off you. I know that is easier said than done. As my dad told me "Do as I say not as I do." Whatever amount of facebook likes or good reviews or bad reviews do not matter. Focus on the people actually coming into your store. Show them the truth. Your landlord and all the other bill collectors don't care how well liked or disliked your store is. The only thing they care about is getting paid. Do you have the money to pay them? As long as you have that you are golden.

How do you get the money to pay the store bills? You sell. That is, of course, the most important thing your retail store will do. The bigger the sale the better. The more sales the better. It sounds simple right? After opening in my first year I got distracted. Free gaming. I thought I needed to get people in by any means necessary. Not saying no enough to people. Carrying a product line because one person wants one action figure out of the case is quite foolish. Granted when I ordered it I did not know it was for one figure. At times I wonder if I should not be writing columns and newsletters and should be instead selling. Even if at the moment your store has no customers in it, you can sell. The internet makes that possible.

Some people will try to make you feel guilty that you are making money off them. Don't. Odds are that very same person works for a living. Does that person ever take a cut at work for someone? Does the person ask for a discount at Wal Mart? At the restaurant they are going to go eat at after feeling you out for a discount do they ask for one? Once you cut someone a deal odds are they will expect it every time and once you tell them no they will not care about all the previous times that you did. They will be upset over the one time you said no.

Protect yourself. There will be plenty of people you will meet through the store that will be quite helpful. Quite friendly. Quite happy you opened up a comic store. It may take time to find these people though they are out there. And they are the ones that will give you the mental boost to keep going.

Very important. Always try for new customers. No matter how great a store is or how great the customers service is a store is always going to lose customers. How is that possible if the store is doing everything "right"? People move for a new job or for family. People lose their job and have to stop with their collecting. It is the responsible thing to do. Or heaven forbid they pass away. There just are things totally out of a store owner's control that happen.

Again not trying to scare anyone out of opening a store. Unless you are going to open next to a pre-existing store. Why cannibalize an area? It is your money but I would say find your own market.

Even after I have typed all this up there will still be plenty of curve balls thrown at you in this business. You adapt and hopefully thrive.

Thanks for your time and hope everyone is reading some enjoyable comics.

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