[Frank Richards]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernel

^ Three of my LCS' have went out of business in the last 2 years, it's a tough time to own a comic shop. I've talked to owners who say they just can't compete with digital comics and pirated stuff. On FCD I talked to the owner, or manager not sure which, he said they have to pay for the free comics. He said they were discounted, but that it adds up when you have to buy thousands of them. I was lucky they had a 5 per person limit at the one I went to last year (in Spokane) and at one in Tacoma this year. I always feel guilty if I go into an LCS and don't buy anything. They do have to charge more to keep the doors open, which I don't mind if it means them staying in business. Where else can you find all that good stuff under one roof?

Ok...lol...so, what I am about to say may come across as cold, callous, and completely unsympathetic, and I apologize if anyone finds this offensive.
I've been to so many awful, dingy, under-stocked, poorly staffed comic shops in my time, that I think that the entire dynamic of the "local comic shop" needs to change. Frankly, I wish that Diamond Distribution would open their own chain of comic shops. I truly think that there is a need for corporate-owned comic shops. You may be shaking your heads is disagreement, anger, or disbelief, but hear me out:
When I was slowly transitioning from a kid who occasionally read comics into a more dedicated reader, I would buy my single issues and TPBs at my local Media Play. For those not familiar, this place sold CDs, DVDs, books, video games, and so much more. They even had an impressive action figure selection, as well as an impressive manga section. AND, they even hosted meetings for a local anime and manga club. Unfortunately, like many stores of its kind, the growth of Amazon and digital media led to the company collapsing, but.. let's not focus on that for now, lol.
It wasn't until Media Play stopped carrying single issues that I began going to my local comic shops. Quite honestly, I preferred Media Play over my LCS, hands down. Before they dropped the single issues, they were superior to the local shops in selection, service, prices, and even atmosphere. And, with the manga club, they established a sense of community; something the local shop has never done

Also, while my comic shop has a great selection of single issues, whenever I want to buy a trade, I go to my local Barnes & Noble. B&N has MANY IDW, Image, Dark Horse, Oni Press, etc... trades, while my LCS mostly has Marvel and DC trades.

So, again, I would like to see the emergence of some sort of corporate-owned comic shop. I have nothing against small, local shops, but, as I said earlier, there are soooo many terrible independently owned shops. These new stores would force the less than stellar ones to either make some serious improvements, or just go ahead and close their doors. Sorry if that seems cruel, but would anyone truly miss those crappy comic shops?

I imagine the corporate stores and independent shops having the same sort of relationship that video rental stores (before that industry collapsed) and music stores (again, before...) had over the past few decades. For instance, when I was younger, I loved Blockbuster Video for its immense selection and reasonable prices, but I also loved my neighborhood video stores for other reasons, like their HUGE anime sections, large independent and horror areas, and knowledgeable staff. Both of these types of stores had their advantages. Furthermore, the local shops had to step up their game and offer the consumer something that the big chains couldn't. If they were unable to do so, they had no choice but to close their doors.
The same goes of music stores. Best Buy was always a great place to buy inexpensive CDs of typically well-known singers/bands, but for more obscure stuff, as well as vinyl, local artists, out of print albums, and elaborate box sets, smaller independently owned record stores were the best option. While many may argue that the big corporate stores callously put the smaller ones out of business, I, and many others, see that scenario as the stores like Best Buy simply forcing the smaller ones to basically evolve or die. In my eyes, the big name stores served to, proverbially, separate the wheat from the chaff.

So, yeah, maybe Diamond, or a similar company should open their own shops. I've been to many comics shops to which I have no intention of ever returning, and I honestly would not be bothered by their disappearance. Again, if this seems callous, I'm sorry.
Meanwhile, the good shops would continue to thrive, and some currently mediocre and bad shops may actually improve and become places worth buying one's comics. That's just my opinion, anyways.

I do recognize that the corporate comic shop scenario could go horribly wrong as well. This corporate comic shop that I'm wishing for could became WAY too big and become the next GameStop. That's a thought that's just too horrible to fathom at the moment

Anyways... I realize that this is the "scalper" thread, so sorry about going off on a tangent, but all this talk about FCBD and shady comic shops got me fired up!