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[Superhero Movie Thread] Agents of SHIELD renewed. Agent Carter to series. Hail Hydra.

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  • WeaverWeaver Who are you? What do you want?Registered User regular
    Elektra-2-Preview-3-43081.jpg

    That art!

  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    The Uncanny Avengers were having a day off at the beach

    CYpGAPn.png
  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    edited April 2014
    I would love to open a gaming/comic shop

    The downside is I know people in that business and I know just how much trouble they have. One guy I know basically makes all his money at trade shows to make up for the money his store doesn't make, and the other just sort of barely makes it. Although the past two years he's had a table at PAX East which is a fairly huge influx of money the way he tells it. (If you were at PAX East this year or last, he runs Command D)

    Maddoc on
  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    Command D is an excellent comic shop name holy shit

    CYpGAPn.png
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    these are all good

    a note on pull lists, the shop I go to has a form that people fill out when they're signing up, that lets them list what comics they want to have in their pull list (SA has a minimum of I think 10 titles to start, but a new store starting out would probably need a lower minimum pull. I'd still set one of at least 3-5 though, you don't want to be managing dozens of lists for a $2.99 purchase once a month. The other thing on the signup form is something that @Hawkstone recommended - you get them to agree and sign that if they don't come in and pick up their books at least once/month, they get sold on the shelf.

    on expansion & location he is dead on as well. You don't really need to expand at all - a small shop in a good spot is far better than one twice the size in a location with less foot traffic. There's another store in town that is also pretty good - bigger space, more varied selection, but I can't easily walk there and back on my lunch break, so I haven't been there in almost a year. Most of what you'll be selling day to day just doesn't need much space, so you'd be trading something you need for something that is only nice to have.

    that said, if you can get a TON of space in a busy location, https://www.minotaur.com.au/ is one of the coolest places I've ever been. Their sign/entrance looks unassuming and small, but it's just a stairwell to a massive basement store of literally everything geeky.

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    edited April 2014
    I also don't know how you handle shitty customers at a hobby shop, especially while you're trying to grow, but you should figure that out because you are going to have shitty customers

    you handle them by politely but firmly asking them to leave

    yes, you'll piss them off, but if you allow them to stay they will be a cancer that prevents real growth, and keeps potential customers away. Better by far to have shitty assholes think you're a jerk than to have first-time customers leave and not come back because your store is filled with shitty assholes.

    Also, don't have places to sit. It may seem like it'd be nice to have customers sit down and read their new purchases, but really it'd just be people reading stuff they don't plan to buy, and people who want to sit and talk for an hour doing so. The latter might not seem so bad, but you'll avoid a lot of shitty customer trouble simply by having them buy their comics and then go elsewhere to talk about them.

    UnbrokenEva on
  • VisskarVisskar Registered User regular
    Dedwrekka wrote: »
    http://www.madnessgames.com/portals/0/madness_sm.jpg

    Our local one used to be a kids party/event place. Huge space, lots of room, still draws in more people than can reasonably play/read in their space.

    There are a bunch of great shops in DFW, which is fortunate as big as it is, and I love my local shops. But if I lived closer to Madness, it would be tough not to spend every day in there. That store is amazing inside, a gaming/comics wonderland.

    steam_sig.png
  • ChincymcchillaChincymcchilla Registered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    I also don't know how you handle shitty customers at a hobby shop, especially while you're trying to grow, but you should figure that out because you are going to have shitty customers

    you handle them by politely but firmly asking them to leave

    yes, you'll piss them off, but if you allow them to stay they will be a cancer that prevents real growth, and keeps potential customers away. Better by far to have shitty assholes think you're a jerk than to have first-time customers leave and not come back because your store is filled with shitty assholes.

    Also, don't have places to sit. It may seem like it'd be nice to have customers sit down and read their new purchases, but really it'd just be people reading stuff they don't plan to buy, and people who want to sit and talk for an hour doing so. The latter might not seem so bad, but you'll avoid a lot of shitty customer trouble simply by having them buy their comics and then go elsewhere to talk about them.

    Definitely disagree with that last one

    Especially if you're going to run games/events which seems like where a large portion of most shops' money comes from

    I have a podcast about Power Rangers:Teenagers With Attitude | TWA Facebook Group
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    also just having female staff will go a long way there. Shitty misogynist neckbeards are rarely brave enough to challenge someone with the authority to kick them out, or be shitty to other female customers in their presence.

    Of course, the main female employee at Strange Adventures is an absolute badass, to the point of organizing a community of women who work in comic shops.

    Come to think of it, they would probably be fantastic people to ask for suggestions on this sort of thing: http://bewarethevalkyries.com/

  • Bluedude152Bluedude152 Registered User regular
    For competitions you just set up folding hairs and tables

    Bing bang boom

    p0a2ody6sqnt.jpg
  • UnbreakableVowUnbreakableVow Registered User regular
    Going back to first page, but wouldn't Thanos being cast be a known factor?

    They revealed a couple weeks ago that he is in GOTG after all, right?

    Anyway a middle-aged coworker of mine saw Captain America the other night with his eight year old daughter and now apparently they both want to know all about Rocket and Groot

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    I also don't know how you handle shitty customers at a hobby shop, especially while you're trying to grow, but you should figure that out because you are going to have shitty customers

    you handle them by politely but firmly asking them to leave

    yes, you'll piss them off, but if you allow them to stay they will be a cancer that prevents real growth, and keeps potential customers away. Better by far to have shitty assholes think you're a jerk than to have first-time customers leave and not come back because your store is filled with shitty assholes.

    Also, don't have places to sit. It may seem like it'd be nice to have customers sit down and read their new purchases, but really it'd just be people reading stuff they don't plan to buy, and people who want to sit and talk for an hour doing so. The latter might not seem so bad, but you'll avoid a lot of shitty customer trouble simply by having them buy their comics and then go elsewhere to talk about them.

    Definitely disagree with that last one

    Especially if you're going to run games/events which seems like where a large portion of most shops' money comes from

    I suppose, a gaming table is a different thing. I wasn't thinking about that at all. If you do have one though (assuming you have space to have one), you'll need to be extra vigilant about watching the people using it & keeping them respectful. It's a risk even then, because people tend to get worked up playing games, and you don't want someone dropping gendered slurs & rape threats while smack-talking their opponent with other customers in the store, but you also don't want to have to kick someone out mid-tournament.

  • ChincymcchillaChincymcchilla Registered User regular
    For competitions you just set up folding hairs and tables

    Bing bang boom

    I really think they need to be there all the time

    That way you foster a community of players that are going to be loyal to your store

    I've never seen a hobby shop that didn't have permanent tables stay open

    I have a podcast about Power Rangers:Teenagers With Attitude | TWA Facebook Group
  • Bluedude152Bluedude152 Registered User regular
    That's what mine does

    Because why would you need table for games if the event where said games go on isn't happening

    p0a2ody6sqnt.jpg
  • WeaverWeaver Who are you? What do you want?Registered User regular
    Have a standard rule to behave as if Aunt May was there babysitting for Luke Cage.

  • DedwrekkaDedwrekka Metal Hell adjacentRegistered User regular
    Weaver wrote: »
    Elektra-2-Preview-3-43081.jpg

    That art!

    Is it weird that this almost seems like a step back, not in quality but in style? This seems more like the older painted style of Frazetta or Vallejo.

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    eh, I can see the appeal to having customers play pick-up games in the store, or use the table to go through cards for trades or whatever

    or have sample board games for people to try out, or whatever. It'd be a good spot to lay out stacks of free issues for Free Comic Book Day as well (most stores use this to unload overstock they couldn't sell or return as well as the publisher-supplied free issues)

    but it really is a double-edged sword as it gives shitty customers a chance to stay in your store longer and exhibit shitty behaviour in front of other customers.

  • WeaverWeaver Who are you? What do you want?Registered User regular
    I like painted. So atmospheric!

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    edited April 2014
    from the Beware the Valkyries! tumblr:
    N47fNRV.png

    UnbrokenEva on
  • ChincymcchillaChincymcchilla Registered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    eh, I can see the appeal to having customers play pick-up games in the store, or use the table to go through cards for trades or whatever

    or have sample board games for people to try out, or whatever. It'd be a good spot to lay out stacks of free issues for Free Comic Book Day as well (most stores use this to unload overstock they couldn't sell or return as well as the publisher-supplied free issues)

    but it really is a double-edged sword as it gives shitty customers a chance to stay in your store longer and exhibit shitty behaviour in front of other customers.

    Yeah a lot of stores use the tables for sample board games and stuff

    I think what you need to do is separate the merchandise section and the play section

    That way the thing you described would be really easy to stop cause hey you didn't buy that comic you can't just read it over there

    I have a podcast about Power Rangers:Teenagers With Attitude | TWA Facebook Group
  • UnbreakableVowUnbreakableVow Registered User regular
    I switched comic shops simply because the one that had chairs and tables set up constantly had those chairs filled by asshats

    I found a better one that's a bit closer, a bit smaller, no chairs and tables, and no employees that tried to sell me on how great DC's current stuff is

    It is a marked improvement

    I personally prefer the shops that either don't have tables and chairs set up, or if they do, have them in an entirely different room

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    yeah, if you have space an entirely separate game room is the best possible option

    if you have the gaming table in or near the store area, you're going to need to babysit it constantly to avoid scaring away other customers.

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    I mean, it could turn out to be a good thing if you got a regular crowd that were good, friendly people using it, and drove off the more unpleasant types, but that'd be a lot of work for a new store finding it's feet, and there are plenty of people who you wouldn't want to stay in your store for any length of time who can still be a source of income provided they come in, buy, and leave.

  • WiseManTobesWiseManTobes Registered User regular
    On the recommendations note, even if it's your most favorite thing ever in the universe, if a customer isn't interested after 1-2 mentions, let it go.

    Steam! Battlenet:Wisemantobes#1508
  • UnbreakableVowUnbreakableVow Registered User regular
    On the recommendations note, even if it's your most favorite thing ever in the universe, if a customer isn't interested after 1-2 mentions, let it go.

    God yes this

    A couple of the clerks were cool at the one store but there was this one who would not shut up about Forever Evil and Batman and wondered my whole pull list was Marvel with a couple Images

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    Blankzilla wrote: »
    Command D is an excellent comic shop name holy shit

    I had to repeat it over and over in my head before I caught the Kamandi reference

  • Mr PinkMr Pink I got cats for youRegistered User regular
    The store I go to, Dr Nos, has a huge game area sort of a step down from the comic place. There is still merchandise lining the walls, but its board games and stuff so it's not really things you would sit down and read. Plus the tables are usually in use.

    I feel like a comic store with no seating would feel less friendly, which is a big factor in a customer's mind. I don't think many comic/game/nerdy fans want to just run in and run out, almost every single person seems like they want to talk about their purchases, movies, etc. The friendlier a place feels, the more money I'll pour into it, even if the selection is as little slow or late.

  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    Blankzilla wrote: »
    Command D is an excellent comic shop name holy shit

    I had to repeat it over and over in my head before I caught the Kamandi reference
    Yeah, it is where he got his name.

    CYpGAPn.png
  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    Going back to first page, but wouldn't Thanos being cast be a known factor?

    They revealed a couple weeks ago that he is in GOTG after all, right?

    Anyway a middle-aged coworker of mine saw Captain America the other night with his eight year old daughter and now apparently they both want to know all about Rocket and Groot
    Nah, James Gunn has said he is all mo-cap and doesn't have a significant role so they could easily not have cast him

    CYpGAPn.png
  • ChincymcchillaChincymcchilla Registered User regular
    On the recommendations note, even if it's your most favorite thing ever in the universe, if a customer isn't interested after 1-2 mentions, let it go.

    God yes this

    A couple of the clerks were cool at the one store but there was this one who would not shut up about Forever Evil and Batman and wondered my whole pull list was Marvel with a couple Images

    The best way to keep customers is to tell them their taste is shit

    I have a podcast about Power Rangers:Teenagers With Attitude | TWA Facebook Group
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    Mr Pink wrote: »
    The store I go to, Dr Nos, has a huge game area sort of a step down from the comic place. There is still merchandise lining the walls, but its board games and stuff so it's not really things you would sit down and read. Plus the tables are usually in use.

    I feel like a comic store with no seating would feel less friendly, which is a big factor in a customer's mind. I don't think many comic/game/nerdy fans want to just run in and run out, almost every single person seems like they want to talk about their purchases, movies, etc. The friendlier a place feels, the more money I'll pour into it, even if the selection is as little slow or late.

    you can still stand around and talk at Strange Adventures, and the staff is good about making recommendations and so on, but those are the sorts of conversations you typically have standing up, next to the shelves of comics you are talking about - sitting in chairs and talking is more for longer, in-depth conversations with your friends which is fine if you and your friends are decent people, but less fine if you're awful. Those conversations can also take place literally anywhere else. The idea of having the comic shop as a fun place to hang out is great in theory, but hard to keep from turning toxic in practice, and that's a big risk for a new store that has no idea what sort of regulars they're going to get. You're also likely to get people that have been kicked out of other stores in the area, and people hoping to "claim" the new store as their hangout. You do not want these people hanging out in your store.

  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    q3plolbvhljy.jpg
    Oh shit

    CYpGAPn.png
  • ChincymcchillaChincymcchilla Registered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    Mr Pink wrote: »
    The store I go to, Dr Nos, has a huge game area sort of a step down from the comic place. There is still merchandise lining the walls, but its board games and stuff so it's not really things you would sit down and read. Plus the tables are usually in use.

    I feel like a comic store with no seating would feel less friendly, which is a big factor in a customer's mind. I don't think many comic/game/nerdy fans want to just run in and run out, almost every single person seems like they want to talk about their purchases, movies, etc. The friendlier a place feels, the more money I'll pour into it, even if the selection is as little slow or late.

    you can still stand around and talk at Strange Adventures, and the staff is good about making recommendations and so on, but those are the sorts of conversations you typically have standing up, next to the shelves of comics you are talking about - sitting in chairs and talking is more for longer, in-depth conversations with your friends which is fine if you and your friends are decent people, but less fine if you're awful. Those conversations can also take place literally anywhere else. The idea of having the comic shop as a fun place to hang out is great in theory, but hard to keep from turning toxic in practice, and that's a big risk for a new store that has no idea what sort of regulars they're going to get. You're also likely to get people that have been kicked out of other stores in the area, and people hoping to "claim" the new store as their hangout. You do not want these people hanging out in your store.

    Fear, is Strange Adventures purely a comics shop?

    Cause I think that's pretty different than also being a games shop

    Also in most smaller cities/towns seems way harder to pull off

    I have a podcast about Power Rangers:Teenagers With Attitude | TWA Facebook Group
  • HermanoHermano Registered User regular
    Blankzilla wrote: »
    q3plolbvhljy.jpg
    Oh shit


    Who's that?


    PSN- AHermano
  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    We don't know, but presumably a secret sister to Loki and Thor that has been kept hidden

    CYpGAPn.png
  • WeaverWeaver Who are you? What do you want?Registered User regular
    edited April 2014
    ugh secret Asgardian sibling was already bad when they did it as Odin's brother

    Weaver on
  • HermanoHermano Registered User regular
    Oh!

    Oh wow


    PSN- AHermano
  • BlankZoeBlankZoe Registered User regular
    Weaver wrote: »
    ugh secret Asgardian sibling was already bad when they did it as Odin's brother
    Odin's brother sucked because he was incredibly generic and eeeeevil

    Jason Aaron and Al Ewing creating a new sister to Loki and Thor sounds much better

    CYpGAPn.png
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    Mr Pink wrote: »
    The store I go to, Dr Nos, has a huge game area sort of a step down from the comic place. There is still merchandise lining the walls, but its board games and stuff so it's not really things you would sit down and read. Plus the tables are usually in use.

    I feel like a comic store with no seating would feel less friendly, which is a big factor in a customer's mind. I don't think many comic/game/nerdy fans want to just run in and run out, almost every single person seems like they want to talk about their purchases, movies, etc. The friendlier a place feels, the more money I'll pour into it, even if the selection is as little slow or late.

    you can still stand around and talk at Strange Adventures, and the staff is good about making recommendations and so on, but those are the sorts of conversations you typically have standing up, next to the shelves of comics you are talking about - sitting in chairs and talking is more for longer, in-depth conversations with your friends which is fine if you and your friends are decent people, but less fine if you're awful. Those conversations can also take place literally anywhere else. The idea of having the comic shop as a fun place to hang out is great in theory, but hard to keep from turning toxic in practice, and that's a big risk for a new store that has no idea what sort of regulars they're going to get. You're also likely to get people that have been kicked out of other stores in the area, and people hoping to "claim" the new store as their hangout. You do not want these people hanging out in your store.

    Fear, is Strange Adventures purely a comics shop?

    Cause I think that's pretty different than also being a games shop

    Also in most smaller cities/towns seems way harder to pull off

    Fair point, it is probably 90% comics, but I think the atmosphere is a big part of how it's been able to own that particular niche. We're not exactly a big city, and the shop itself is tiny.

  • DedwrekkaDedwrekka Metal Hell adjacentRegistered User regular
    Blankzilla wrote: »
    We don't know, but presumably a secret sister to Loki and Thor that has been kept hidden

    Irony would be if it was Hel.

This discussion has been closed.