Hey, Folks!
Looks like another good week for doing a quick note and moving on to posting everything! I mean, I am getting better at getting on a regular schedule with the “keeping the store going” type stuff like the shipping list, but I still tend to fall a little behind schedule when we get to the end of the month. I mean, I’ve gotta do the regular Thursday jobs, like the sub form and the ship list and the Penguin FOC order, but I also have to deal with Diamond initial orders and end of month/beginning of month bills and stuff. (In fact, let me take a quick break here to write my monthly rent check. (It isn’t due until the first of the month, but I’ve had a friendly competition with Laura from the framing shop next door on who pays their rent earlier every month…lol) Anyway, I AM ahead this month and have the Diamond initial orders figured and collated…they just need to be physically entered into the system and I have updated my Excel spreadsheet with my PRH FOC information through the first week of March, so I should get everything done just fine and I probably won’t have to take anything home with me tonight. We shall see…
I do want to take a moment to apologize for the mistakes and omissions that have been made on the Subscription List orders this month. Whether I missed your whole order or just a single title, that is entirely on me and has nothing to do with anyone else. I honestly don’t even have a good excuse for it outside of a comic retailer’s post-apocalyptic whine about the changes in distributors or the industry or whatever, but I can’t even hide behind those excuses. I simply screwed up…but I do believe that I have identified the problems and I think I have things covered now. This is important to me because one of the selling points I am trying to push here at Monarch is our customer service and if I @#$% up the subscription orders, well, that is a bit counter intuitive to what I am striving for. Too many of you have to deal with a crapload of difficulties, many of them brought on by this pandemic, and I really want Monarch Comics to be an oasis of calm and certainty where you can come in and enjoy your hobby along with a bit of natter with your friendly neighborhood comic book retailers! As a side note, the time when I have to train Brian on how to handle subscription service orders in coming up fast and how can I properly train my beloved employee if I can’t totally figure it out myself?
My training regimen for Brian has to move on here soon because of my upcoming vacation! Well, maybe “upcoming” is a bit strong of a descriptor, but Hillman and I will be going on my dream vacation in September! I know that many of you have already had to sit through my breathless description of my upcoming trip, but you can’t imagine how truly excited I am for the experience. Hill and I will be spending 7 full days at the Sandals all-inclusive resort at Emerald Bay in Exhuma, Bahamas! So exciting to look forward to a total pampering as we opted in for a Beachfront Oversized Villa Suite with a butler and everything! There will also be an opportunity for me to FINALLY swim with the pigs! Of course, there are also 11 restaurants at the resort for me to eat my way through as well as all of the “top shelf” booze I want to drink. It almost makes me sad that I don’t really drink much alcohol anymore…lol. Of course, I am very muchly looking forward to putting on my best oversized moo-moo, a big floppy hat, and large sunglasses so that I can sit on the beach and sip expensive liquor out of a fancy glass and look at all of the attractive beach goers from my cabana with a pair of binoculars! As far as I am concerned September can’t come fast enough. I just hope that between the resort’s wifi and my cell service that I will be able to take plenty of pictures and video to share with y’all!
I will be ordering the Free Comic Book titles for this year soon as well. It looks like we might have some really good ones this year and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that the big event is returning to its place on the first Saturday of May this year! So…mark it on the calendar, Folks, we’ve got FCBD on May 7th, 2022! WOO HOO! I will be making a post on Facebook soon showing the titles we will be carrying at this year’s big celebration!
That’s it for me this week, Folks! Remember that our post-holiday sale will continue through the end of February. Also, always remember to take a look at the weekly FOC page located at Diamond’s PreviewWorlds website to make sure you aren’t missing any variant covers or 2nd printings that you might be interested in. I know I go on and on about not carrying open order variants and the like, but all I mean is that I do not order them for the rack. If you know that you want a specific cover for an upcoming title then please ask about it and Brian or I can help get you set up with them. We just generally need to know at FOC rather than three days before the book is released. That’s not to say that we still might not be able to score you a copy just that it will be more or less confirmed if you order it at FOC.
Thanks for your support and I hope to see you in the store this week!
Eddie