Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Nov 24, 2015 20:36:37 GMT -6
www.comicsreporter.com/
Totally Missed It: Locust Moon Closing Its Doors
I whiffed on this one: Locust Moon in Philadelphia, widely regarded as one of the elite 50 or so comics shops in North America, is closing its doors at the end of the year. They made the announcement on Facebook last week.
As you may recall, this comes after Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn closing this Fall. Like Bergen Street, the Locus Moon co-owners Josh O'Neil and Chris Stevens hope to continue with and expand the publishing press side of their business. (Locust Moon also runs a festival; inference from the Facebook discussion seems to put it into some jeopardy, but I'd need to be directed to a formal announcement. Festivals are a year to year thing at best, so a status may not be determined.)
Is two quality stores choosing to go out of business for whatever reason each might have, is that a bad sign? Sure, but maybe not for some mysterious "they're killing good shops" reason. First, every comics store going out of business it is now believed has a significant impact on the comics-buying habits of their customers; not as many simply switch stores (if they even could) as one might think. Comics doesn't exist at a saturation point to be happy seeing any group of consumers go. Another thing maybe worth noting is that neither of these was a first or near-first generation store. While many of the very first couple of waves of shops anchor this imaginary top 50 list, they'll go away or will be very much changed by the passing of their owners. Sometimes great comic stores are held together by force of will combined with momentum. I don't know if a general retail model whereby stores don't exist for decades but become first jobs and retirement-retail gigs for their owners doesn't alter things in a significant way. We may know in about 10-15 years.
In the meantime, those customers in Philadelphia were lucky to have a fun, activist shop like that one for as long as they did. I wish Team Locust Moon the best with their publishing efforts moving forward, and its most passionate customers a place to interact with the comics art form equally helpful and rewarding.
Totally Missed It: Locust Moon Closing Its Doors
I whiffed on this one: Locust Moon in Philadelphia, widely regarded as one of the elite 50 or so comics shops in North America, is closing its doors at the end of the year. They made the announcement on Facebook last week.
As you may recall, this comes after Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn closing this Fall. Like Bergen Street, the Locus Moon co-owners Josh O'Neil and Chris Stevens hope to continue with and expand the publishing press side of their business. (Locust Moon also runs a festival; inference from the Facebook discussion seems to put it into some jeopardy, but I'd need to be directed to a formal announcement. Festivals are a year to year thing at best, so a status may not be determined.)
Is two quality stores choosing to go out of business for whatever reason each might have, is that a bad sign? Sure, but maybe not for some mysterious "they're killing good shops" reason. First, every comics store going out of business it is now believed has a significant impact on the comics-buying habits of their customers; not as many simply switch stores (if they even could) as one might think. Comics doesn't exist at a saturation point to be happy seeing any group of consumers go. Another thing maybe worth noting is that neither of these was a first or near-first generation store. While many of the very first couple of waves of shops anchor this imaginary top 50 list, they'll go away or will be very much changed by the passing of their owners. Sometimes great comic stores are held together by force of will combined with momentum. I don't know if a general retail model whereby stores don't exist for decades but become first jobs and retirement-retail gigs for their owners doesn't alter things in a significant way. We may know in about 10-15 years.
In the meantime, those customers in Philadelphia were lucky to have a fun, activist shop like that one for as long as they did. I wish Team Locust Moon the best with their publishing efforts moving forward, and its most passionate customers a place to interact with the comics art form equally helpful and rewarding.