Month: December 2022

Hey, Folks!

 

Another holiday season (mostly) gone and done and working towards the end of the year! 2022 was a loooong year and simply making it across the finish line intact will be a truly marvelous achievement as far as I am concerned. Of course, one of the best decisions of my life came about when I decided to ask Mr Crawford for his hand in marriage and despite having to rush the process a bit, I couldn’t be happier with the way things turned out. I can’t believe how happy my marriage has made me and how much I am looking forward to the years ahead with Hillman by my side.

 

Everything related to the business has been great as well and I find it remarkable that even after running the business beside Mr Shufritz for 30 odd years there is still so much to learn. It’s also amazing to me that the industry itself could go through so many changes after being more or less rock solid steady for a couple of decades. I mean, who would have guessed that we would end up getting a period that was even more tumultuous as the late 90’s!?!! I guess that’s what a pandemic will bring to the table, among other things! Still, with Brian’s aid I have weathered the storm and I am looking forward to another successful year in 2023.

 

One of the big changes I am making is that I will once again be opening on Mondays! I originally closed the store on Mondays when I took over back in 2021 because I was running things solo and I needed a day off where I wasn’t tied to the store. I was still Guardian for my father and there were lots of things that needed to be done every week and Mondays was the best day to set aside for getting them done. Now I am here all day Monday and I am constantly surprised by the amount of people who come up to the door. Of course, part of that was the dear #$%^&*#$ who kept changing our open times on our Google page to show we were “open” on Mondays. I can’t thank whoever that was enough for the confusion that created, but I must say I was surprised by the amount of traffic that continue to show up. So, starting January 9^th, Monarch Comics WILL be open on Mondays from 12pm-5pm. I was going to stay open until 5:30pm, but realized I really needed to get out of here by 5pm, so here we are. I’ll stay open on Mondays for at least 6 months and if the business justifies it I will make it permanent this summer!

 

The Annual Post-Holiday Monarch Comics Sale will begin on Tuesday, January 3^rd, and I look forward to seeing everyone swing by with their holiday cash in order to take advantage of the deals. Brian has been working very hard to get a bunch of new back issue stuff in the bins for the sale and I am looking forward to everyone bringing in their gift certificates! Please remember that we will only be open 11am-5pm on Saturday this week and we will be closed on Sunday and Monday! I’d like to take this moment to thank everyone one of you that contributed to the store’s success this year and I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year’s!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, here we are waiting for the results of Snowmageddon 2023! It does seem a little bit of the same old song…what with all of the local weathermen and news organizations acting as prophets of doom. I do, however, appreciate how all of the local guys I’ve been watching (YAY, WTVG!) have been very careful on underlining how it might not be the apocalypse, but still cautioning us. I’m a little nervous about what’s gonna happen tonight /tomorrow morning mostly because it is, you know, two days before Christmas and I really don’t want to have to close the store on Friday or Saturday. At this point, I am kicking myself a little because I didn’t schedule Brian to come in today for coverage as it has been a LOT more busy than a usual Thursday…lol. In any case, Monarch Comics will continue our usual snowy weather policy of staying closed if it is a Level 2 OR 3 Winter Weather Emergency. Brian lives out in the country and I don’t want any of our customers out on the roads if they don’t “have” to be. If there is a Level 2 or 3 announced tomorrow morning then we will stay closed and if it ever lifts completely or goes down to a Level 1 then we will be opened as soon as either Brian or I can get to the store. Of course, I will keep everyone posted via Facebook for any changes.

 

I was thinking that the next two weeks were going to be something as a nightmare, shipment-wise, but it looks like all of the distributors actually put some thought into this year’s shipping situation and it seems like everything should go pretty smoothly. UPS, you see, will not be running on December 26^th or January 2^nd and we get much of our weekly shipments on Mondays. Lunar (D.C. Comics) has already delivered the next wo weeks worth of D.C. Comics releases and I am expecting next week’s Penguin Random House (Marvel Comics) shipment later this afternoon. Even Diamond Distributors should be here tomorrow assuming that UPS is running. All in all, I’m feeling pretty good about it and even if Diamond’s boxes don’t get here tomorrow they will be in town and I should have them on Tuesday with plenty of time to get them unpacked and ready for Wednesday. Of course, I haven’t started unpacking anything yet so maybe I shouldn’t be so optimistic…lol.

 

Just a quick reminder to let everyone know Monarch Comics holiday hours:

 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24^TH, CHRISTMAS EVE- 11AM-5PM

 

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25^TH, CHRISTMAS DAY- CLOSED

 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31^ST, NEW YEAR’S EVE- 11AM-5PM

 

SUNDAY, JANUARY 1^ST, NEW YEAR’S DAY-CLOSED

 

As many of you know I have been closed on Mondays since I took over the business back in 2021. Well, after recently giving up my Guardianship duties with my father as well as seeing how many people show up on Monday afternoons I have decided to begin opening on Mondays again. As of Monday, January 9^th, Monarch Comics will be open from 12pm-5pm on Mondays. Sometimes it will be me here and sometimes it will be Brian, but the store will be open. Now I just have to go back and change the hours AGAIN…lol.

 

That’s it for me this week, Folks! Time to get my Diamond December initial orders loaded onto the website as well as unpack some boxes that came in via UPS while I have been working on this missive. Brian and I would like to wish each and everyone of you a safe and happy holiday!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Here we are ten days short of the big holiday and, well, it just doesn’t feel very holiday-like for me. You would suppose that working in a retail concern that I would end up being immersed in the holiday spirit, but no, I actually feel pretty far removed from it. I’m lucky that the comic industry has a built in weekly audience and that most of this material is made for serial enjoyment. As a result of this I have a pretty locked in audience and so the vagaries of traditional retail wisdom don’t always affect me the same way. I think that there is a lot less gift procuring traffic this season,  but normal traffic seems unaffected. I don’t know if people have simply started ordering their comic related holiday gifts online or if I need to start doing different kind of promotions. We will, of course, have our annual post-holiday deep discount sale in January and February which never ceases to be popular so maybe I just need to wait until then for my holiday traffic. I will say that gift certificate purchases are up a bit this year and that I really need to get off of my duff and get some gift cards printed up by Square. Oh, well, something to look forward to next year.

 

I sold a few hundred books from the dollar boxes this week and now I have to get moving and do a cull of the overstock boxes in the back room as well as a cull of the back issue boxes on the floor. I have rather been enjoying Monarch’s foray into the back issue market after not really carrying much for years, but these collections tend to build up pretty quickly and I have to remember that we need to live within our space. I suppose I could squeeze a couple of more tables of back issue boxes into the area allocated for them, but that would a little monetary investment and a lot of shifting things around to really make it happen quickly. Plus, Brian has been at me to replace the tables that we’ve used for the back issues for over 30 years before they collapse on themselves and he’s not wrong. UGH…another issue for next year although it must be said that next year isn’t far off…lol.

 

I’ve finally gotten around to listening in to Part Three of the Sandman audio book series. I loved the Netflix miniseries adapting the first three trade paperbacks of the series, but I have to admit that I REALLY loved the audiobook presentation. I think at this point I actually love it more than the TV show. I’m currently listening to the end of Brief Lives and it just amazes how Neil Gaiman is a brilliant enough writer that he can once again rewrite and adapt his own material from 30 years ago and make it as interesting and involving as it was the first time around. Also, adapting a comic book into an audio book!?! What kind of sense does that even make? Well, I can tell you that it is a real pleasure and Gaiman has done a fantastic job with it. I’ve been listening to it via the Audible app, but if you have any friends or family who are Gaiman fans or, indeed, of good audiobooks then this would be an amazing present for them.

 

Okily Dokily…that’s it for me this week. I’ve really got to get this stuff ready to go live and get it posted. Thursdays are generally my “Quiet Day” and I use it to get caught up with all of my Lunar and PRH FOC orders and I really should be working a bit more on the Diamond December initial orders which are due next Thursday. One of these days I’m going to have to really dig in and show Brian how to manage these things, but at this point I am so used to be the person in charge of all of the ordering that I’m not sure I could handle someone else doing it…lol. I hope that everyone has a great week and if I don’t have a chance to see you before next weekend let me offer all of you a hearty HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, here we are with the holidays right in our sights and the end of the year so close you could almost touch it. Regular readers know that I am not much for the holidays. I mean, sure, I like it for the store’s sake, but personally I really don’t do too much with it. There’s a lot of reasons for that, but mostly I am a person who likes their routine and anything that upsets that routine is meant to be viewed with suspicion and disdain. Since taking over the business I have more or less established new habits and routines, but things  are in flux again and I am currently trying to get into the new groove.

 

For example, the whole marriage thing. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like…I LOVE…being married. Honestly, it came as a huge surprise to me how much I like being in this institution. I knew I loved Hillman, if I didn’t I wouldn’t have asked, but my actual new role as “husband” has been absolutely amazing. Always having someone to eat dinner with or someone to bitch at about work crap or having someone who is pretty much always on your side, but still able to call you on your bull$#!*…I love it. I can no longer remember why I was so resistant to it in the past, except that anyone who I was tempted to propose to in the past would clearly not be a suitable match. Right now Hillman and I are trying to sort out the post-marriage living arrangements. He needs to keep his apartment in play because of his work from home schedule and I, of course, own my home and am not in a position to move anywhere permanently. I do kind of love having two basic residences though and we are exploring our options. It’s been fun!

 

I’ve also been working on a regular work schedule for myself as well and that has been pretty tricky. I think I have it finally worked out though and have been trying to enjoy having Saturdays completely off while spending at least a few hours at the store on all other days. Brian has done a pretty solid job of managing things on Fridays and Saturdays so I feel pretty confident taking the time off. I’ve been closed on Mondays since taking over the store as I needed a day to take care of personal things as well as basic clerical duties at the store, like paying bills and stuff. I have, however, been toying with the idea of reopening on Mondays with the same hours as I usually have on Sundays (12-5:30). I mean, I’m already here for most of the day futzing around with stuff it seems silly not to unlock the door. Plus, it will give Brian a potential new shift to work if I need coverage. I don’t know…let me know what you think if you catch me in the store.

 

Just to let everyone know we are keeping our regular holiday hours the same this year as they have been for the last 30 years. For the cheap seats, however, here’s the official Monarch Comics Holiday Hours:

 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24^TH, CHRISTMAS EVE: 11AM-5PM

 

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25^TH, CHRISTMAS DAY: CLOSED

 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31^ST, NEW YEAR’S EVE: 11AM-5PM

 

SUNDAY, JANUARY 1^ST, NEW YEAR’S DAY: CLOSED

 

TUESDAY, JANUARY 3^RD: THE BEGINNING OF THE 2023 POST-HOLIDAY SALE!

 

Despite my basic Scrooge-like nature, I hope that everyone is enjoying this holiday season!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

We are getting closer and closer to the end of the year which means that Monarch Comics will soon be once again running the big Post-Holiday Sale that we do in January and February! I’ve already begun running my pitifully rudimentary ads on Facebook to remind you of the sale and Brian and I are currently working on getting in some more back issue and hard cover/trade paperback material in stock before it begins. The sale will, of course, mirror the recent Black Friday sale, but will continue for the entire months of January and February.

I will be out of the office this weekend as Hill and I are going to be attending the Holiday with Heart Gayla at the Toledo Club on Sunday. Yes, once again we will be among the glitterati of Toledo celebrating the holidays as well as raising money for local LGBTQ+ charities. Monarch Comics is one of the backers for the event and I am looking forward to an evening of wining and dining and also getting a chance to wear my fancy suit that I bought for last year’s ball. I do believe that I will try wearing it in the store at some point this month just to get a little more use out of it…lol. Honestly, I meant to wear it at some point earlier this year, but I only just got it to the dry cleaners after last year’s Holiday Gayla. Maybe I need to get formal wear for Brian so that we can really stun everyone!

This week was a pretty dinky ship week, but next week everything snaps back to the usual tsunami of books and titles. I have a feeling that next year I am going to have to clear off the rack that is next to the New Release rack in the back of the store and expand the new release items on to it. I’ve been kicking the idea around for a couple of months now and I think it  is soon going to be time. Of course, just as soon as I am about ready to mentally commit to it we get a week like this one where I can’t even fill the New Release rack much less the rack next to it, but since this kind of thing rarely happens I’m thinking I’ll have to do it anyway. UGH…I’m becoming more like Steve every week with my crappy memory and true hatred for change.

That’s it for me this week, Folks! Time to get back to work, get my D.C. and Marvel FOC orders done, and start sorting through the subscription form orders for the week. Brian will, of course, be here on Friday through Sunday this week so try not to give him too hard of a time. I’ll see everyone after the ball!

 

Eddie