House Of Secrets: Forums

Want A Fresh Perspective on Your Retail Shop? Change It!

Having schlepped in the retail comics biz for over 17 years, I am intimately familiar with the ups and downs of our business environment. Through good economic times and bad, loyal customer migration and surges of new customers, periods of great products to sell and horrible shortages of quality merchandise – I’ve seen it all.

The ebb and flow of retail comics has seen a lot of growth and decline over the years. Stores that have survived and thrived through all of this have avoided many of the pitfalls that typically crush a fledgling retail business. They’ve been successful by knowing their market, their customers, their strengths and limitations with a little bit luck and opportunity thrown in for good measure.

Successful comic retailers are like any successful small business. They have a passion for their what they do and the products they sell. Whether you’re selling surfboards, pastries, comic books or Pokemon cards – if you love what you do, what you sell and really support your industry to customers, that translates into a growth in your customer base and more importantly…a reliable income.

I am the first to admit, that like in any job, I can get burnt out on comics retailing. I know my clientele and have, over the years, honed the supply and demand of products that makes them happy to an art form. More than that, I’ve created a retail environment that to my 100 plus regulars is a haven for them. They come in to buy their weekly fix and typically hang out to talk sci-fi, movies, comics, Heroclix, illustration, action figures, you name it. On Wednesday nights, regulars come by to play games like Heroclix or Risk and shoot the breeze. In many respects it’s like a bar – where people of like interests mingle and pass the time, but most importantly it’s my bar.

Our shops and shop events are reflections of our likes and interests – a projection of our personalities. Our regular customers often mirror many of those same likes and interests. For those new to our shop, it’s the environment and vibe that we’ve created that makes them repeat and regular customers. That is why I now propose to local Southern California retailers a bold new initiative…

The Shop Swap Initiative

Like I mentioned before, sometimes I get burnt out at my shop. My routines, business style, clientele and products I sell narrows my worldview and leaves me sometimes lacking fresh ideas of how to be a better comics/hobby retailer.
Put quite simply, I propose local shop swap periods during the year where each retailer bold enough to commit, would helm another retailers shop for one or a few days. This would allow each of use to gain some fresh perspective on our business in many ways. Never sold action figures? Didn’t deal in Magna books and merchandise? Sell more gaming and cards than comics or vice versa?

Each of us brings something different to the table. It’s these unique niches, business perspectives and management styles that can generate new ideas for all of us on how to become better and more successful retailers.
If you are interested, I will be an exhibitor at the San Diego Comicon at booth #523 if you want to talk about it or you can simply call the shop after the show if you want in. I’ll be hitting up other retailers I know in the San Fernando, Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley to start building this informal group. For this first time effort, I would like to try and keep retailers within a commutable distance, but if you are a retailer anywhere else, please feel free to take this idea and run with it.

We May Need to Build a Bigger House of Secrets!

Well, it’s definitely one way to increase your customer base! Over the years, Paul & Co. have had their share of regular customers getting hitched or having children, but their has been a recent glut of young ladies and lads getting hitched, getting busy and thusly getting babies.

Congratulations to all our friends and their families! May the joys of marraige and parenthood keep your inner-child (who we all know and love) in a constant state of bliss to go along with your sleep deprivation.

To the happy couples!

Subject: Christopher Ryder
Married: July 2008! Congrats!
Results: TBD, pending licensing agreement

Subject: Austin Corbet
Married: March 2005
Results: Baby girl born June 2008 - Congratulations!

Subject: David Rossi
Married: 2005
Results: Baby girl born December 2006. Second child due September 2008.

Subject: Christopher Ray
Married: May 2005
Results: Baby girl born April 2008.

Subject: Erik Warfield
Married: May 1997
Results: Baby boy born November 2004. Baby girl born February 2008.

Subject: Jim Moraga
Married: October 2003
Results: Twin boys born September 2006.