Honest question allan, what are your long term plans for your shop? Considering the downward spiral that the comic book industry is on.
Well,the shop is here for as long as it's a viable profit maker.So far it is that.The shop makes more than enough to pay it's operating expenses so that's a good thing.Learning to diversify product besides just comics is a big help due to the fact that the shop is in a mall and the general public is more prone to stopping in.Action figures,posters,wall scrolls,statues and things that aren't just comic-related but say....fantasy related such as fairy statues or Frank Frazetta art etc. keeps sales up. Gaming such as Magic:the Gathering,Heroclix and Warhammer brings in another group of sales. The comic industry is on life-support and honestly the boosts it gets from movies and events like Free Comic Book Day adds another few years to it,but digital media is rapidly growing and while I don't think print will be completely replaced,the market for it is shrinking.It's a wait and see case.The economy also factors in...disposable income isn't so disposable with high gas prices,higher food costs and so on.It's hard to get the average person to plunk down $4 for a 20 pg comic.We'll see......I take it year by year.
