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A Tale Of Two Comic Shops in Frederick, Maryland as Brainstorm Comics & Gaming Opens a New Store in Walkersville

Published Tue, 14 Jan 2020 11:20:49 -0600

Brainstorm Comics & Gaming, a comic store in Frederick, Maryland, owned by John Frazier has opened a second comic store in neighbouring Walkersville, and has been getting some local press as a result from the Frederick News-Post. And telling people that the new Walkersville location has an emphasis on back issues — older issues that date back as far as the 1960s — and board games. And that Frazier has seen continuous growth in the business since he bought it five years ago.

They also quote neighbouring store owner Jon Cohen, owner of Beyond Comics in Frederick and Gaithersburg, who says that many people come in to look at products they want, and then immediately try to find them cheaper on the internet. "We do a lot to compete, but people are so in tune about saving an extra penny, so the retail stores try not to be jaded. Because all we get in our face is, 'Do you discount this, what's this, will you match that?' We're paying thousands and thousands in local costs just to be open. … That's our biggest fight."

But Frazier told the Frederick News Post "Once you explain to people, OK, can you go and knock on Amazon's door and say, 'Hey, I'm here to play [Dungeons and Dragons],' the answer is no. There's no community to Amazon. It's just cheaper prices. So there's no loyalty necessarily to the company. It's just loyalty to the price."

It does seem to be a Tale Of Two Comic Stores. Regarding the increased appeal of superhero TV and movies, Cohen says "they're not going to walk in and say, 'I need an Iron Man comic. I just saw the movie, so why do I need to read the comic book? I can't give you this great concise starting point or anything like that, except in a graphic novel, and then it might not be the current version they're doing in the movie".

But they quote Frazier as seeing the movies and TV shows as another way that new customers might get involved in buying comics. "Did you like the relationship aspect of it, did you like the villain, what aspect of the movie spoke to you most? And then I try to think of a graphic novel or a storyline that encapsulated that feeling, not necessarily the storyline. I emphasize with my employees, they are real collectors, they got into it through a different medium, but they're interested in those same characters and everything. So if you help them find the right story and the right creator, you can definitely cultivate them into being a regular."

Cohen complains that most monthly issues — or "floppies" — will sell only one or two copies in a store of his size. But Frazier said that he has seen his sales increase every year, across the board since he took over the business five years ago. "I'm a big believer, if you have the right attitude, and the right approach to comic books … that there's still a lot of growth in the market" and he is also using the new store to display their increasing back issue selection. "I think it's an untapped market for a lot of people, because collectors still want those older issues. They want to be able to go and thumb through things, and find that issue they've been missing and they've been hunting for quite some time" while Cohen has another reason for increasing his back issue selection. "New comics are $3.99. So we reached a point where it might be cheaper to buy an older comic than it is a newer comic," Cohen said. "And we're going to keep that price down."

The paper quotes Frazier as looking to open more stores, and publish his own line of comcis written by him and drawn by customers at the store. While Cohen is quoted as saying "If anybody asks, 'Should I open a comic shop?' the answer is no," he said.

One town, two comic stores, different outlooks on the industry…