neilbeforezod

January 18, 2012 12:54 pm It's amazing how little understanding of the consumer's experience so many shops have. One of our biggest shops in downtown Minneapolis is a huge offender. I walk in, maybe get a half-hearted "hey", and then I'm left to wonder in silence. Floppies are interspersed with trades vertically on the shelf. Since very few floppies have a spine, this make browsing impossible. They sort by alphabet to the letter, including adjective. Heard Uncanny X-Force is good? Don't bother checking near the other X-books, because it starts with a "U" stupid. This shop is 10 minutes away from my house, 5 minutes away from my work and stock everything. I drive 35 minutes away to a suburb to buy my books (Minds Eye). Clean shop with an easy to browse, sensible layout and organizational system. A couple of comfy chairs for paging through potential purchases. But It really comes down to staffing. They have a friendly staff, who are nice to my wife (very important, don't make spouses feel unwelcome, they are potential customers) and open to conversation. LCS owners, please understand: These are stores, not clubhouses. This is a business, please treat it as such. Want more business, try talking to the customer. People constantly asking where a well stocked book is, think about reorganizing. See a familiar face, remember they keep the lights on, act like you know who they are. Someone asking for recommendations, ask what they are into and try to steer them toward indies or lower selling big two books, broaden your customers horizons and increase your abysmal profits. This shouldn't be hard. yet so many get it so wrong.

October 11, 2011 10:32 am wow, just wow.

September 21, 2011 11:21 pm Best book of the relaunch yet. It's great to see the DC having both Bats and Supes being in such capable hands at the same time (doesn't seem to happen often) with Snyder/Capullo and Morrison/Morales respectively.

September 21, 2011 11:14 pm Scott Snyder laid down a fantastic script, as usual, and found a pretty clever device to bring new readers up to speed with the various Robins. I like Capullo's pencils a lot. Hated everything I saw in previews, but he really won me over. POTW for me, and against strong competition to boot with Schism and Daredevil both being phenomenal.

April 23, 2011 8:54 pm An industry without out Vertigo would be a much darker place. No company can help you sing the praises of the medium to a non-reader like Vertigo can. Without Vertigo I wouldn't have been able to break my wife into comics (Y: the last man). Thanks for a thoughtful (as usual) and thought provoking piece Josh.

March 17, 2011 1:41 pm bummer