Whatever you do, if the store offers a discount, STOP IT IMMEDIATLEY!

That was the biggest lesson learned in my early days. I thought I had to discount to compete with my nearest competitor, part of a then 10+ yr old chain who was offering 20% off.

Someone explained the math to me, I could afford to lose 1/2 my customers and I'd still net the same $$$ with less work and less overhead!

I only lost a dozen or so customers many of which still shopped with me as a secondary store because I could now afford to stock more deeply and offer a wider range of books than the discounting competitor and a handful ended up coming back because they hated having to go to 2 stores to get all of their books.

Update...

I'd also like to thank everyone who replied on this thread. The time you guys took to give you input and advice will always be appreciated.

I've been working toward opening my own shop... but everytime I read posts about doing so, I hear aqbout how little money it makes and how near impossible it is to actually make it through... the average rent in this area for a 1200s.f. store is $3000. If I can't make any money to pay myself or bills. Why bother?

Am I missing something? I fully intend on selling CCG's, RPG's and someother games and products. But if everyone else says that it's not a money maker, (hear me right I fully expect to lose money in the first couple years just like any new business) then why bother opening up a shop... this has been a dream of mine for a while. And I have a strong passion for comics and sharing the art with others. But really, I need to hear from soneone that this business actually CAN make money and CAN be my livelyhood...

Is it possible? I just really need to hear some good stuff...

3000.00 is a lot of money for a start-up to pay in rent. You'd need to do 200.00 a day in sales just to pay the rent alone. There's a reason that most comic shops aren't in high rent districts. To me, it all comes down to math. You may have a great store, a winning personality, good inventory, nice location...but do you have enough people who will be coming in on a REGULAR basis to buy from you? In the comic biz you could go out on the street and hand out comics free, and maybe only 5% of the population would be interested in them as anything other than a curiousity. Can you draw 5% of the population in your area and still make money?

What's the population base? Say within a 10 minute drive? Are they affluent? Is there someone else doing a good job within the same zone? What extra's can you carry that you can fully support, (games, books, cards, DVD's, toys, etc.)? How much capital do you have?

For a 3000.00 a month rent, I'd want to be in a major metro area, (at least 500,000) without much competition, a nice location, plenty of operating capital, a good inventory and nice fixtures, and some way of getting word out that you are there. Otherwise, I'd scale back my expectations, start smaller and eventually grow into a larger spot. There are a number of comic shops who do pretty well, but they almost all have 1.) large populations 2.) universities and/or military bases. 3.)major tourism. (I think Mel Thompson would tell you of a fourth option, an active internet presence.)


There are lots of smaller shops who do o.k. in smaller towns, probably with rents well below 1000.00 a month and very modest expectations. They like being their own boss, but could probably earn more money working for someone else. We all want to have big, fancy, profitable shops that carry every kind of inventory, but sometimes the local comic scene just isn't big enough to get there right away.

Your idea of carrying other product lines is what most comic shops already do. But, remember, most places have pretty active games stores already, toys and DVD's are in the mass market, etc. All lines have advantages and drawbacks. Being in a small town, I carry toys, anime DVD's, manga, rpg and ccg games, sports and non-sportscards, used books, not to mention t-shirts, posters, etc. All require a major investment of their own, don't turn over all that quickly, and are usually being done full blast by a competitor (which is why they are sidelines for me.) Just do the math, and use common sense. Go up to the small business center at your local community college and they'll run through the numbers with you.

Frank-- Even though you are keeping your first job I assume that you're going to be in your shop a lot anyway. That's the only way you can do it. I fully expect you to drop in at least once every day (not just after work) and do the full weekend shift.

Dunc's right in that you are going to be your most valuable worker. You will have to work incredibly hard to ensure that everyone else does too. I trust your evaluation of staffing with your family but still you are probably going to be the one that will notice which corners need shaving and which shelves need shifting etc. As for minimum wage... you get what you pay for. Pay more demand much more.

I tend to go on too much about back issues but that's because we're a used book store and for the most part don't carry new issues. I doubt that there are many comic shops that turn over as much back issue inventory as we do but that may be born out of necessity. Most established comic shops wouldn't buy a 10,000 piece collection because they've already got most of it in the basement. We don't have a basement. Must...reign...in...tangent... The shift to Graphic Novels and collections is obvious so stock appropriately-- but there is still plenty of life in the back issue market if handled intelligently.

C.C. I don't know what to say. $3,000 rent seems pretty high for a start up comic shop but I know nothing about your location. If it's in the upscale high end neighbourhood as opposed to the junkie ghetto backdrop that most comic shops seem to gravitate to then it might work out for you. Quick guestimate would put you closer to needing $8,000+ for break even- and that's a lot of comics to sell. So you need other things*.

Both of you will have to decide what kind of store(s) you want to be. An all purpose Diamond Catalogue Dispensary will cost you thousands weekly so you may want to scale back. That said, exclusively stocking spandex, goth bunnies, or alternative angst is going to make you miss some potential customers; recognizing, of course, that by merely stocking one catagory you will probably antagonize members of another.

I know nothing of RPG's and if you don't either I'd suggest staying away. If you already know and love them by all means... but I see more work than reward-- hosting tournaments, talking to them...

Understand the Manga demographic. Many shops attempt to stock Manga because they keep hearing how well it sells only to discover they can't get rid of what they ordered. If your store is set up like Tubby's Boy's Only Clubhouse you're not going to move a lot of Manga.

Mom's shop too. Archies and Simpsons are gold.

Think of stocking anime, figurines, DVD's and toys. They can take up space and are expensive so you may want to only order for subscribers for the most part but if you have a catalogue on display you can figure out your customers needs better than an anonymous message board poster.

Good luck.

*You bring up CGC'd items Edit: You don't actually. Apparently I don't read too well. I'll leave my sermon here anyway for later generations: which suggests to me that you believe in the comics to be a speculative collectible niche which I hope is merely a misinterpretation on my part as I firmly believe regarding comics as investments is one of the worst things to befall the industry. Your milage may vary of course, but there you go.

That's great info guys... the store is going to be located in Wellington, FL which is an upscale suburb in the West Palm Beach area... there is only one other comic shop in town within 30-40 miles. They have been around for over 10 years, and do a pretty good job, but there is a TON of room in this city.

I love comics, and have a very well rounded knowledge of the industry... I'm not a fan of just one genre... I have a lot of knowledge and a great love for RPGS, CCGS, Toys, and all related products.

I want to treat this completely as a business, but I also want to use this as an opportunity to be a positive influence in the community and give kids a place where they can come and be accepted. (The other store is great, but kids & teens usually get the feeling that they are not welcomed there.)

QUESTION: Could I run a good comic store in a 600-700 s.f. space? It's kind of small and I would have a spot for kids to play games, but could it work? What's been the experience? I could probably get a store that size for 1400 - 1600 dollars a month. A friend of mine runs his own business and he's interested in fronting me the money to get started. So the start up costs are mostly covered.

Simple answer? No. Most shops seem to be around 1,200 sq ft and the biggest complaint I hear (me included) is the store is too small. I can't see being able to do even a comic only store in less than 1,000 sq ft, let alone having a gaming area (which will probably alienate your comic customers), toys or any other product line.

Thanks for sharing this experience with us, Frank. Very informative.

Why not try the 700-1,000 sq ft sized store to begin with since your rent is so high? As for a place for kids to play games, maybe you can rent out a legion post for a day and attract them there if that's the idea?

Otherwise, you can certainly nitche your store which is what I'd suggest. You don't need all the fancy stuff like statues, posters etc. Leave that to the big stores, or competition like the Media Plays, internet, or other Corporate stores in your area. There must be at least one. Or do the smart thing, order it when the customer puts the money in your hand.

I say since this is your first, start smaller and grow it. Escpecally since you're the main component of the store.

Trim your hours like 12-6 or so, so that you have a family life as well. Don't just live in that store, it's not healthy and does'nt allow you much time to get things done.

What of zoning issues? Are they retail friendly? Will they require a sprinkler system? Costing you thousands of dollars? I'd aks first before you hit your head ... so much more to consider than how many Spider-Man comics to order today.

Frank Carerra, 2005: "The guy who owns the shop down the road from my job offered to sell it to me last week..."

Frank, do NOT buy that store, or anything else. There will be a huge "economic downturn" in 2008, and you will quickly lose everything. Repeat: Do NOT do it!!!

- Super psychic Ed