What Makes a Good Comic Book Store?

My first comics store. The one I'll always come back to.

AMP_ Seeker of Lost Knowledge: Other than advice about writing comics, I remember doing an interview with my local shop about successful he got for operating his shop back in early May. Do you have some advice about operating a comic book store?

I could talk about variety of selection, proper promotion and the (sadly oft-neglected) importance of cleanliness, but, above all, the store needs to foster a sense of community. I go to a "brick and mortar" store to shoot the breeze with the staff and regulars about comics. That's something you don't get a big chain. That's what's going to get your customers to come back every week. That's what fun about the experience.

You often don’t realize the value of something until you find out what the absence of it is like...

When I was in college, I got turned off of getting comics every week because the manager of a store I went to didn't appreciate the kind of atmosphere I'm talking about. He wasn’t an out-and-out jerk - - and I’m not sure if “passive aggressive” is really the best term - - but he’d make you feel stupid for asking him when a book was coming out or that you were bothering him if you asked for his thoughts on a particular title. Whatever you want to call that, it made me leave the store feeling ticked off every week; really spoiling my enjoyment of the comics themselves. For a while, I even tried to find out when the staff's shifts were, so I could avoid this guy. But, eventually, I got turned off of the experience all-together and cancelled my pull-list entirely, something I'd never thought I'd do in the ten years I'd been collecting. == TEASER ==

I didn't pick up comics regularly for almost two years. I was still reading comics, of course. I ended up trading in my collection for a lot of credit at a store back home and the experience was truly worthwhile. It got me to reach outside my comfort zone and try material that I never would've picked up otherwise. And, when I did eventually get back to being a "regular," I was much more appreciative of the fine customer service.

So, rather than focus on negative, I’ll name some greats stores I’ve been a regular at; stores that are all have great communities. Stores that are god examples to follow. In alphabetical order...