Support…
Uncle Bernie is the new Uncle Sam in this post nationalist world
At the beginning of 2020, we were hit hard as most businesses were, but we quickly recovered, thanks to the support of the community! We thought we passed the worst of it, but we got hit hard in the last couple of months.
Before you begin to worry, let me assure you we aren’t going anywhere. What follows is a breakdown of what happened, and what we need to do, to solve it fast.
The TLDR is we need to make cuts, so we will suspend discounts hopefully, only until October, and ask you to pick up your books if it’s been a long while.
The problem:
You’ve seen price increases on a bunch of items in your everyday life. The same thing is happening for us on a distribution level. Higher cost of item, higher cost of shipping, smaller profit margin.
In comics, you expect ebbs and flows in sales, after all the same books aren’t coming out every week. Judging by our book sales, people are less excited of this year’s offerings than last. This is not to say, that books were better than they are now. This year we saw the return of Saga, the launch of the best X-men book yet, X-men Red (it’s about Storm on Mars), some amazing DC storytelling in World’s Finest by Dan Mora and the return of The Many Deaths of Laila Starr graphic novel. But for example, Hellfire Gala didn’t generate nearly as many sales as it did last year. Saga is great, but many of its readers only read the writer Bryan K Vaughan’s book. Compare that to Saga’s 2020 counterpart Something is Killing the Children, and you’ll find that the writer, James Tynion IV is working on many projects that his readers can follow him to, including The Closet and Department of Truth.
Other factors include publishers putting out less books, due to production limitations or shipping delays, and customers personal finances. It’s a rough economy and we are all feeling it.
The Closet Issue 1 cover where a child plays with a bat in front of a closet
How you can help (very easy)
Buy your books.
The most basic service that we provide is our subscription service aka pull list aka your folder. We order things and hold them for you ensuring they don’t sell out. In this model, some people consistently picking up supports those who pick up infrequently. Unfortunately today, we are urging those who are infrequent to show up for us. And we understand if it’s not possible for you, so consider these other option that we provide to make it as easy for you, as possible
We can deliver to you at no extra cost. We do deliveries in Brooklyn on Thursdays, so we can drop off your books at your home or job. We also ship via USPS. In this case, your cost will be that of the packing material.
A lone biker across a wasteland art by Kirk Zanis
You don’t need to pick up all your books at once. We understand you can lose track of time and your books can accumulate. We mainly need your acknowledgement that you are aware that you have books, and we can then give you the time you need.
Drop your books. Once again, we only need your acknowledgement, but just as helpful, if you have no intention of picking up, or can’t. Don’t be ashamed reach out to us and let us know. We are losing money on not having the product out for sale and even more by ordering books that no one will pick up, where we can allocate it to other products.
Suspending Discounts
One of the other things that helped us during the pandemic, was suspending discounts; I was able to bring employees back and invest in the delivery side to help Covid-proof our business. The plan is to suspend them until October, at which point we evaluate and ideally restore everything. Orders are also placed 2 months in advance, and I’ve made major cuts for September. I anticipate things will balance out by then. We are also maintaining our Half-iversary sale on Sept 7 as a testing ground for bringing discounts back sooner.
Of course, it would be hypocritical of us, if we didn’t consider those who are depending on their discounts. Let us know via e-mail or just mention it to us at the shop or by phone, and we will keep yours in place.
I know for most of you, the reason you shop with us isn’t because our discounts are spectacular, and hopefully, despite paying full retail on products, you find a value in something else when you visit the store, like our budget therapy sessions!
Rooms for Rent
The other thing that helped us was our tenants who used the office spaces in our basement. Having the income from room rentals gave us the secondary income we needed to keep doing comics, instead of filling our store with Funko Pops. Unfortunately, with the frequent floods (exacerbated by Brooklyn Winghouse’s neglectful handling of their garbage) had destroyed our renters’ items. The landlord has taken steps to improve the drainage of our shared alleyway but unfortunately the damage to confidence has already been done. I myself have been wary of renting the rooms again, but it is an essential part of our model.
An empty room
If you or someone you know is interested in an affordable studio space and amenities once again contact us. Rooms are $450 to $700 negotiable. The offices themselves are 90 Sq feet but you have access to the rest of the basement when it is not reserved. Previous tenants, have used the space to put on concerts, classes, networking parties and art galleries.
A bigger empty room
Hopeful
It was this year, that I felt nostalgic for the early days of Anyone Comics and how fun it was getting to be the metaphorical bartender, but what my nostalgic brain was leaving out, was the STRUGGLE! Now I’m feeling exactly how I felt when we first opened up the store five years ago. It’s tiring, it’s achy and it’s worrisome. But we made it out the first time, and we will again!
An empty new store!
Thank you so much for all the help and support you’ve given us over the years. Sorry for the inconvenience. Feel free to e-mail us, call or stop by with any questions, recommendations, advice, or any ideas that you have that might help!
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-Dimitrios
