Hey, Folks!
It’s a pretty uneventful week and so I’ll make it short. The most important news is that Friday marks the last day for the first stage of our annual post-holiday sale. That means that our extensive collection of hard covers and trade paperbacks will be on sale for 25% off the price marked through tomorrow, so if there was a little something-something you’ve had your eye on you have but one more day to pull the trigger to take advantage of big savings!
Not to fear…our 50% off the back issue boxes sale will be continuing throughout the month of February. This includes 25% off our wall and showcase display titles and the dollar boxes will continue to be 3 for a dollar as well. With savings like this it doesn’t matter if we keep having these smaller ship weeks!
I also wanted to mention that I know the new release rack has looked a little barren this month. I mean, aesthetically speaking I would certainly prefer to have every single customer walk in and be greeted by a new release rack fairly bursting with comic book goodness, but I’m in the middle of a very delicate experiment involving inventory control. As I’m sure you can imagine, inventory control is the heart and soul of this business and I have been working hard with the tools I have at hand to perfect my life’s work of getting perfect new comics numbers. If a comic book retailer does not have an iron grip on his inventory they may become victim to “The Death of a Thousand Paper Cuts”. Put simply, having one unsold copy of a comic is no big deal, but if you multiply that one copy by a thousand you start to have problems. I will admit that I have been a little too zealous in some of my cuts witnessed by some of my quick sell-outs lately, but thanks to the subscription form and a better engagement with my customers I’m getting a handle on these little snafus. As much as it is great to sell out of a title, especially one that I ordered more or less blind, I also really hate that feeling of suddenly realizing Wednesday morning that I am going to be selling out of something way quicker than anticipated.
So please, ALWAYS remember…if you don’t see it on the rack ask for it at the counter. Oftentimes it is as simple as finding a copy behind the counter and usually I can reorder what you are looking for with no problem. If you don’t say anything then I will have no idea that I under ordered. If I am not in the store then please mention it to Steve as well. Steve has no ability to immediately find out availability of sold out items, but he is very good at passing messages on to me and I will sort through any requests as soon as I am back in the office! Additionally, never underestimate the power of Facebook Messenger. While It may take me a few hours to get back to you depending on the day and time of your question, I WILL get back to you as soon as I can. My job, nay, my whole purpose in life, is to make sure all of your comic book needs are sufficiently supplied!
One more thing to mention…a couple of weeks ago I took a chance and preordered some Mandalorian merchandise. Originally I wasn’t even going to try to carry anything Mandalorian related because I was (and still am) convinced that the Big Box and online retailers were going to see the stuff long before we would. I didn’t want to order hundreds of dollars of merchandise only to find out later that everyone bought it weeks or months ago from someone who got it from the manufacturer quicker. However, when I saw these particular items I decided to throw caution to the winds and order a couple of each. Plus, I wanted to see the look on Steve’s face when these items sold out within two hours after he groused about ordering them at all. So, as of Wednesday morning, we will have a small amount of…the Star Wars Mandalorian and Child Life Sized Standups! WOO HOO! They will be sold separately and retail for $39.95 each.
That’s it for me this week. I’ve got plenty of fussy paperwork to catch up on and so I think I’ll put on my headphones and enter Taylor Swift Nirvana while I do it. Have a great weekend!
Eddie