Hey, Folks!
The count down has begun to the final parts of Monarch Comics 2021 renovation plans! It’s been quite a learning experience for me and I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally seeing the completion! Of course, it isn’t quite everything I was planning for…what with having to put in new lights instead of getting my scintillating new floors, but I’m pretty pleased about it anyway. I did finally get all of the racks painted this week. In fact, I just completed the New Release rack on Monday and I am patiently waiting for it to dry and cure so that I can move it back into place and repopulate it with the new releases. (FYI…the new releases for this week are currently standing right inside the front door of the store and should be there until Friday afternoon.) The floor is carefully marked for new rack/counter placement and my new heavy furniture moving dollies are put together and ready to go, and I do believe I have a big enough work force recruited to actually physically move everything. While I am filled with excitement over the new look I also have gut churning levels of anxiety as well. Hopefully this will all work out as planned.
SO, in order to make this work in a smooth fashion, Monarch Comics will be closed on Sunday, July 18th. This is the day that the store will be literally torn apart in order to facilitate the movement of all of the racks and counters. I also want to warn everyone that on Saturday the work of dismantling various displays and such will begin and so there may be many items not a display. Naturally, Brian and I will do everything we can to help you find what you are looking for, but I just wanted to warn everybody that things may be a bit of a mess if you stop by this weekend. Also, just to reiterate for everyone who volunteered to help move things around on Sunday that we will be starting the project around noon. Hopefully moving everything around won’t take longer than 2-3 hours. Thank you so much in advance for your help!
Of course, with only a month to go, promotion of this year’s Free Comic Book Day event is beginning to ramp up. I’m going to try to find the time this week (HA!) to post the offerings for FCBD on the Facebook page again. I also want to officially announce that because of pandemic concerns we will NOT be doing our regular bit with cookies and pizza this year. I just don’t see very good optics in leaving a bunch of food sitting out at this time. Instead, I have arranged a partnership with Shivers, the ice cream place across the street from Monarch, and we will be handing out coupons for a free small ice cream cone instead! The Monarch Avengers will be joining us again for cosplay fun and I am in the process of arranging a photo booth for everyone’s use during the event. This along with a COMPLETE offering of all of the free comic books being published this year, a first for Monarch. Mark August 14th on the calendar, Folks, and I hope that I can give you the best FCBD ever!
On a comic book side note, you may notice that this week’s sub form/shipping list does NOT include Justice League #65 CVR B. I did order a small amount for those of you who prefer the “B” covers, but for some reason it isn’t shipping in until the following week while cover A is available for sale next week. If you prefer the “B” cover then let me know and I will hold one for you for the following week.
Well, I’ve got a mountain of work to plow through today so I better get started. Honestly, I was going to call Brian to see if he could work today, but there’s honestly nothing for him to do until Friday. The things that need doing can only be done by me so I thought it would be better to give him the day off as I am going to be tapping him for service the rest of the week. I really need to buckle down and sit at this stupid desk all day and get things cleared so that my schedule will be completely open for the weekend. Here’s hoping the move is a relatively easy and painless process! Thanks to everyone who has offered kind words, encouragement, and their help during this whole project. I look forward to providing a new and improved level of service as well as a new look!
Have a great weekend!
Eddie