Hey, Folks!
We certainly seem to be doomed to live in interesting times.
I honestly can’t believe how much things have changed in the last week. It seems like months since I was dealt the crushing disappointment of a cancelled concert and now I feel a bit foolish being as upset as I was about it. What initially seemed to be a massive panic and overreaction has now morphed into a situation where it seems we weren’t taking it quite seriously enough. Now with everything being so uncertain and hazy I am dealt the inevitable task of figuring out how to be a socially responsible business owner AND keep the business running through perilous times.
I’ve talked it over with Steve and our current plan is to keep the store open at regular hours as long as we are able to before we get shut down like so many other small businesses. If, however, you don’t feel comfortable coming into the store we are relaxing our rules regarding how long we will hold your books until you can pick them up. Please just reach out by phone or Messenger to let me know that you are either ill or just simply going with the quarantine and we can reach some sort of arrangement. Otherwise, I can assure you we are open and that at this point we haven’t had any problems with he supply chain side of the business.
All of that being said, if the governor does closed down non-essential businesses (although how comics can be considered “non-essential” is quite beyond me) then we have plans in place to deal with that eventuality. Monarch Comics will switch over to curbside service, a solution that other comic stores have used successfully in cities where a full quarantine is in effect. Obviously I’ll have to work out the fine details, but if we have to switch to curbside service then you will simply let us know what you want and you may pay over the phone and I will run your comics out to you when you pull up to the store. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that, but wish in one hand and $#!@ in the other and see which fills up first, as my dear old mother used to say.
As for the other elephant in the room, Free Comic Book Day, nothing has been officially announced from Diamond as of yet, but I think it is pretty safe to say that it is at the best going to be postponed and at the worse cancelled entirely this year. Diamond attempted to float a bizarre idea for Free Comic Book May, but they were laughed out of the room by comic retailers everywhere and were forced to go back to the drawing board. The big problem with rescheduling the big day is exactly when we are supposed to reschedule it. I mean, at this point, nobody can even wrap their heads around the extent of the emergency NOW much less two or three or six months from now. Unfortunately, the FCBD titles have been ordered, printed, and are currently on their way to us now and that cannot be stuffed back in the box. Because of the time sensitive nature of some of the FCBD titles I do believe that we will be able to hand them out to regular customers as of May 2nd, but even that situation is fluid at this point. I will keep you updated as I get information in from Diamond.
On the quasi-good news front, those brave and hardy souls from Fantasticon have rescheduled the Toledo show for August 22nd-23rd at the Seagate Center. Obviously this date is subject to change depending on the state of the country by then, but all previously held tickets will be honored. So make sure you hold on to your tickets and let’s hope things clear up by August.
I literally just received word from Diamond as I am writing this that Free Comic Book Day 2020 HAS been officially postponed for a later date, hopefully sometime over the summer. While I know there is a bigger picture involving sickness and tragedy, I can’t help but feel extreme disappointment at the postponement. This, as many of you know, is Steve’s final Free Comic Book Day before his retirement in December and I was hoping to make it a good one. But still I totally understand the need to, you know, NOT have 800 people crammed into the store during a pandemic situation. As I mentioned above, we should be able to start handing out some of the books as of May 2nd and we will make them available to regular customers, particularly if they are spotlighting upcoming storylines.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and that there are no fatalities because of having to live close quarters with your family. Again, I will be here all weekend if you need a break from isolation. Unfortunately, there is rarely more than 10 people in the store at a time…lol.
Eddie
