Funnybook Factory Closing

[Colleen]

From the UV scene:

"I just received news that the Funnybook Factory in Lebanon will be closing its door for good at the end of November. The shop has been there for as long as I can remember and Tom, the owner, got me hooked on several stories: The Sandman, The Walking Dead, Y: The Last Man, Fables and more.

Everything in the shop is 50% off- with the exception of new releases. Whether you want vintage issues, collectable figures, trade paperbacks, graphic novels, toys or action figures.

Shop hours: Mon - Sat 12pm to 8pm, Sun 12pm - 6pm

55 Hanover St. Lebanon, NH 03766

[phone]"

So...when's someone going to open a comic book store in White River?

[catgarza]

that's the million dollar question

[caitlin]

It's a really good idea, but ugh, what a headache. Especially because if you were trying to fill the void, you'd probably pick up some of Tom's creepiest customers. On the other hand, GO SCHOOL BOOKSTORE!

[penina]

Caitlin sighting!

[sean]

colleen said:

So...when's someone going to open a comic book store in White River?

if there was at all a way this would feasible, i'd be in like flynn. but as we sort of discussed on the other message board, it seems like comics shop are on the verge of dying. and it's not like a WRJ comic shop would get much foot traffic, other than the odd spike of a few events at CCS during the year which attracted the comics curious.

[catgarza]

ah, therein lies the answer. we need a shop that was more of a bookstore/shop that was able to host comics type events, stock books/supplies/etc that the students might need, be a good comic shop carrying just what the locals would want to buy. making a hell of a coffee drink to go along with all that wouldn't be half bad too...

[Colleen]

sean said:

colleen said:

So...when's someone going to open a comic book store in White River?

if there was at all a way this would feasible, i'd be in like flynn. but as we sort of discussed on the other message board, it seems like comics shop are on the verge of dying. and it's not like a WRJ comic shop would get much foot traffic, other than the odd spike of a few events at CCS during the year which attracted the comics curious.

Dude, I know people who own comic shops, and are making enough money to support their families, buy houses, etc.

The ones that are dying are dying because they only stock superhero books, are in tiny little spaces where all the windows are covered with posters so no light gets in, and the employees are assholes. A clean, well-lit space with a diverse selection and good customer service can do well.

[penina]

I like Cat's idea. And the events thing--there could be events for CCS' visiting artists there. But the question remains--are there/will there be enough people in the area who are interested to make that work? It'd be pretty sweet if it could work.

[caitlin]

Hey, I'd be willing to consult from afar! With all of my vast comic book retail managerial experience. Which is actually for crap, because I was comicopia's manager at the time that the store was in its most dire financial trouble and I think the only thing I really did to help out was not get paid very much.

There's your answer: keep costs low by not paying anyone!

Seriously though, for what it's worth (and sorry I am posting more on this topic than I ever have ever on this board): A store is a good idea. Come up with a plan. Find one of those rich people that is always buying property in white river and get them to back you. Stress the whole creative economy thing until you want to barf. It would be a good connection between the school and the larger community, it would give everybody useful experience with the reality of trying to actually sell their comics to an uncaring (sometimes caring) world. It might be a good way to get wholesale discounts on comics, ha ha.
Good god this is a long post I shut up now.

[gabby]

well, the hundredth monkey is closing their door too... not a good portent for any future bookstores in the Junc'. maybe someone could go and talk to that guy about lending some business advice (read: WHAT NOT TO DO) to anyone wanting to open a CCS-brand bookstore/cafe?

or maybe this is a blaring, 1000-watt neon sign of doom that WRJ is just a plain terrible place to open a bookstore. i was going to cite elixir as a business model (court them rich fuckers!), but something tells me they're about to go out of business too...

maybe dartmouth could front some bills for startup fees? who knows. this town's so fucking depressed i bet you could strongarm the planning council into a pretty sweet deal on rent. and you could probably con a bunch of the students into "interning" there for less than minimum wage. from there, it's just a matter of getting the shiny new SUVs to come... no matter how snazzy the place is, it'll tank if there aren't any actual customers. and if lebanon's even too far beyond the pale to support a comic-book shop, it seems... like a long shot, at this point, to pop one up here. not that it wouldn't be way effin' rad...

wait, i've got an idea... let's move CCS to brattleboro!

[catgarza]

we could move CCS to brattleboro, but then steve would kill us.

[sean]

Now, obviously the Funnybook Factory and the 100th Monkey are not remotely models of good stores in any way shape or form, but I'm not sure if it's just WRJ that's a bad place for bookstores these days. The distributor I work with is freaking out because orders from comic stores are down accross the board - for Fanta, D+Q and Top Shelf books and little indie minis. The market is flooded with graphic novels and the public is confused, disinterested and doesn't have a clue where to start which leaves comic stores in a bind - do they take the safe route and pander to the same dwindling, but reliable super-hero fanbase or take on riskier books and try to educate their audience and curate an awesome selection? The latter is risky for a couple of reasons - obviously everyone's tastes differ and there's no guarantee someone will like Love and Rockets if they like Chris Ware or Seth or Huizenga or whatever and these books are now quite expensive. $40 at the comic store now gets you, what? Two graphic novels? Why go to a comic store to get these when you could get them on amazon.com for $25? I dunno.

I think there's room for smart bookstores in general, but I don't know if there's room for one here I guess. You'd have to attract dartmouth kids down here and also tourists and also pull locals away from the borders. One thing that shocks me is that Savannah, GA, home to one of the biggest art schools in the country and I believe the single biggest comics program does not have a comic store in the downtown area. I dunno, I think comics stores may be on the way out with most of the graphic novels everyone wants to read being available at borders, b&n, amazon and any decent local bookstore. It seems like there'd be a way to combat that here by being able to offer local, handmade comics and selling art supplies and maybe like decent coffee and stuff, but it'd be extremely risky. The only local kids around here stole gabby's ipod. There isn't a lot of disposable income and kids are probably spending what little they have on cell phones, ring tones, ringback tones, movies and soda. Then you're left with the college age folks and they're spending their money on the same, plus booze and gas for their cars.

I dunno.

[gabby]

>>The only local kids around here stole gabby's ipod.

we could put a trapdoor in front of the Insane Clown Posse cd rack to trap those fuckers

or we could just LAUGH AT THE SMOLDERING WRECKAGE OF THE "COMIC BOOK STORE" CONCEPT ITSELF! haha, fuck those joints. they never did anything but give me 'tude about buying acme novelty. those places have been lost causes for decades now. the only reason they still blight the stripmall landscape is because of that Magic the Gatherin stuff, and the carrion-picked corpse of illiterate superhero-comics "collectors" who are so sheltered from puberty and reality that they actually think frank miller is the new joseph conrad. do comics REALLY need to be associated with that perpetual state of pungent preadolescence? if comics aren't just for kids anymore, then let's kick them out of mom and dad's house already and make them get a real job. maybe they'll even finally start attracting some girls then.

[morgan]

I hate to say it, but I think the best thing that could happen re any sort of CCS comic/bookstore would be to follow the model of the Dartmouth bookstore; i.e. become a Barnes and Noble or Borders affiliated franchise. While Colleen is right in that there are plenty of traditional comic shop owners who are able to survive, I think it's pretty obvious that it's a dying industry. I mean, there are still people who can support their families making buggywhips, but nowadays that is a novelty market; much like where the comic shop is headed. The ratio of comic shops closing vs opening is so disproportionate as to make baby Jesus sit up and cry Juicy Juice tears.

Probably the best/easiest/most practical thing to do would be to set up a sort of partnership with the Dartmouth bookstore. Sort of like the one we had with 100th Monkey for selling library overstock. But we'd also need to foster that relationship in the form of CCS-related events such as signings and talks and such. I don't think this is unreasonable, seeing as how the CCS already has a working relationship with other Dartmouth departments. And while the Dartmouth bookstore is a semi-franchise of Barnes and Noble (or is it Borders..?), they are still backflip by the college.

That's my twenty-seven cents.

-Morgan

[saraht]

Just saw this thread -- Three years ago, just as the school was about to open, I had a bee in my bonnet about opening a cafe/bookstore called Coffee/Crime/Comics (I know . . I thought it was a cool name at the time) I did a bunch of research, talked to a bunch of people and what I concluded was that the only way you could open a niche crime/comics bookstore would be to front it with a really good cafe with excellent coffee, tons of seating and wireless, music, late opening hours, etc. Then you could have the books and comics and school supplies there too, but you wouldn't need to make too much money off of them, which is the key. I still think this is probably the only model that would work in WRJ. I sort of came to the conclusion that I wasn't really interested in going into the restaurant biz, which is what it would be. I was also gigantically pregnant at the time and kind of lost my enthusiasm for the project. I worked at a great indy bookstore all through high school and the owner once told me that people who love books, writers and passionate readers, shouldn't open bookstores because they're usually not very good businesspeople. Sigh. You're all right about where things are going for indies, sadly. But one bright spot -- a guy is opening an indy mystery bookstore down in Brattleboro next week -- he thinks he can make a go of it. He told me he'd be interested in carrying relevant comics. We'll see how he does. Part of my eventual vision for the Writer's Center is that there will be some sort of cafe element (backflip by someone else). I don't know -- there might be an argument for combining all of these ideas. . .