First off, I am a retailer in the Harrisburg area, but not in the comics field. I have been working for the same independent retailer for 14 years and have been running the store for about 11 of those years. I have also been collecting comics for the better part of 27 years. I know the area, I know retailing, I know my comics, and most importantly for this blog I’ve been following the whole saga with an odd combination of amusement and amazement.

Riot failed (I don’t care how it’s spun by either side, if it was a success he would have hired someone else to run it and still taken the new job) for a lot of reasons, but Jason was the crux of all of them. His initial plan of independent-heavy product mix would work elsewhere, but not in Harrisburg; The regional pie is just not that big. The best thing I hope future comics shop owners use from Jason is his flair for visual presentation: his logo, store design, flyers, commercials, et al, were fantastic. He knows his advertising. Unfortunately, much like the chromium collectable comics of the late eighties and early nineties, the substance was lacking. And his plans had fatal flaws.

First: location location location! We all know that is the number one on any retailer’s list. Jason chose a strip center in a graying section of town. The shopping district is moving away from that center.

Second: The competition. Jason failed to notice that his geographical main competition was moving from a mall that was graying to a section of town where a large amount of housing and retail shops were being built. That should have been a sign, because that is where the money is going. Also, to any of you planning on starting a business, do not ever bad mouth the competition by name in print when you are in a small field. You might need their help someday.

And yes, there is a really bad store in this area. I was there ONCE and am sooooo glad I don’t have to shop there. But concentrate on making your own store better, not proclaiming how bad other stores are.

Third: Never, EVER insult your customers!!! He had several blogs where he talked about being mean to people looking around in his shop and not buying anything or trying to sell baseball cards, etc. Those were people inside his store! That’s half the equation right there! Give that guy with the unruly daughter a copy of Amelia Rules, for Christ’s sake!!! If the daughter likes it, you’ve got sales. If not, at least she’ll stop jumping on your couch. If you need to vent, don’t vent where your customer can read it.

The most amazing of these type of posts was (June 26, 2006) “Just an odd aside: In the last year, I’ve encountered more people who reek of marijuana than I have in my entire life. And it’s like they think that you can’t smell it on them. But it’s not just the smell. They forget where they set stuff down. They talk nonsense to you as if their lives depended on it. They get really defensive about things. They ask questions and then interrupt as you try to answer them. It’s kinda funny. At least they spend money here, right?” I’m sure they didn’t spend money there after that comment, and if I was a regular at Riot, that might make me stop. And if I had a kid going there, they wouldn’t shop there either after that.

Forth: We all have freedom of speech, but we shouldn’t say everything we think. I know this goes with the comment above, but I think this is something a lot of people have a hard time with in the new computer age. Is it really so hard not to write about the fact you are stealing wireless from the nearby school on your blog! (July 18, 2006). And if you are a retailer, DO NOT GET A MYSPACE PAGE WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!!!!!! After reading his Riot Blog and Myspace account, I would not hire Jason, nor did I shop his store after my one visit. His postings show a lack of maturity and an overall creepiness that makes me uncomfortable. Like “comic book store guy” creepy. You know, what he was accusing others of being.

As for the feeling that what he said before he opened the store having no bearing on business ethics, excuse me but what planet are YOU living on? Again, if someone called my business practices into question or said my business was no good, then opened the same type of business, taking food off my table, I’d be pissed. And if you are that forgiving, I am REALLY impressed.

Fifth: Where was the positive outlook? He spent so much of his time bitching on his blog most people weren’t clamoring for his demise, just betting he would fail. He finally DID address this, but by then it was far too late. If all you do is complain, people will leave to hang around someone else. And if you trying to sell them comics, they will either buy somewhere else (bad for you) or quit comics altogether (bad for us all).

Sixth: Keep financials between you, any partner you may have, and your accountant. Now IF his blog was for industry-only types, I wouldn’t have a problem with this (and I wouldn’t know about any of this), but no good can happen from Joe Consumer knowing how much money your store is taking in. Either they will think the sales figures are too high and you should be giving him a discount (or bigger one), or they will think they are too low and figure you will be going out of business soon. And those pot-smokers he was talking about could have mugged him.

And by the way, if he had given out MY sales figures, I would have sued his @$$ so fast, and I’m not even in the same industry.

Seventh: Know your limits. Jason was great at making his store look awesome and his ads nice. But he was a terrible salesman (I experienced that first hand), and if he had a good employee handle the sales and he was able to spread the advertising at his opening over several months, he might be keeping that store open. He did have great connections with the press from his former advertising job, and he did very well with getting coverage. But in the end enough people just didn’t shop there, for whatever reason.

Finally, if you are starting a business and someone tells you an idea is really bad, find out why they think it is a bad idea. Learn from other people’s mistakes, so you don’t repeat them. Apparently, a lot of people who had experience in the field tried to help Jason with some points about running a comics store and he disagreed with them to the point it was some kind of tempest in a teapot. I am 36 years old with 17 years of experience in my field, and if someone with 20 years of experience I’m wrongheaded with a business idea, I listen to them. If no one in an area is doing something, it might just be they tried the very same idea and it didn’t work for them, so they adjusted. And if someone very successful in my field tells me something, I listen VERY carefully and take notes.

In the end, the shop a frequent IS indie friendly (and always has been), and the sketches framed on my office walls prove it! I wish Jason nothing but the best, and I hope my meager contribution is seen as constructive criticism, and I hope he has learned a lot about business.

Anyway, sorry for being so long-winded, and thanks for reading! (and keep reading comics!!!)

“However, as it was still in his blog archives after his blog was discovered by the press, I can see that some people might not make that distinction.”

My bad!

“I have no idea why comments made before he started his store would have any bearing on appraisals of his ethical conduct as a retailer.”

Personally, I couldn’t agree more.

However, as it was still in his blog archives several weeks after his store was open and blog was discovered by the press, I can see that some people might not make that distinction.

And I’d have to agree with Tom. I don’t ever recall reading about him badmouthing the other stores.

Thanks.

I have no idea why comments made before he started his store would have any bearing on appraisals of his ethical conduct as a retailer.

[...] blogosphere. For example, you can catch the he-said-this / no-he-didn’t between people on the Comics Worth Reading blog, or you can check out The Beat’s report for even more [...]

Now I can’t speak for Richards behavior off-line, but as a retailer who owns a shop myself I didn’t think that one post from Richards was particularly scathing. If he had said those things about my shop, I probably wouldn’t *like* the guy, but his comments certainly wouldn’t have hurt mine or my staff’s feelings. And certainly none of it made me think that Camp Hill was full of “crappy stores.” Perhaps when you combine that post with Richards off-line behavior you get a different picture, I honestly don’t know.

So while Steve may have acted fairly obnoxiously on-line himself, he definitely has a point.

Which dove-tails nicely into *my* point… In the past two years I’ve talked to literally hundreds of people considering opening up new comic stores in this country and others. A very large percentage were regular readers of Riot’s blog. The insights gained from watching Richards working through the process will no doubt prove invaluable for many. And that goes for both his successes *and* his bone-headed mistakes.

As to the notion that Riot! was overpraised, I’m kind of unclear on that, too. There was a series of articles on a very superhero-centric store in Muncie, Indiana that exhibited many of the same qualities that are supposedly so objectionable about the blogosphere’s coverage of Richards’ store, except that they appeared on Newsarama and therefore probably had about 10 times the readers, and they weren’t from damn comics elitists or whatever.

I thought the Muncie series and the Richards stuff were interesting despite having no use for either store because they were both providing insight into a process we’re not used to seeing. Support of those insights doesn’t mean you support their implicit criticism of stores like The Comic Store in Lancaster, PA or Bob’s Comic Castle in Muncie — that’s absurd. Saying that anyone who wrote about it supported Jason Richards’ characterizations of his competitors is equally insane unless someone wrote a post that said, “I support Jason Richards’ characterizations of his dumb-ass competitors because they clearly suck” or something like that.

i can also see where there may have been some jealousy. the dudes shop was beautiful and i would have loved to visit it if i ever happened to be in the area. would i have bought my comics there? i dont know.

i live in Kansas City, and we have roughly 7 large comic shops in the greater metropolitan area, and few hole in the wall types of places as well. 3 are owned by the same man. he opened one of his stores directly across the street from Kansas City’s oldest comic shop. a shop i used to spend 2 hours on the bus each way to get to 23 years ago when i was 14 and couldnt drive. it was, and is a shop that is beloved by many, many comics fans in the area and most retailers are jealous of his massive sell through, bottom line, and incredible back issue stock. when the other guy opened up across the street from him it was ostensibly because the other shop didnt carry hip new indie stuff and manga. guess what? alot of the stuff he opened up claiming the area needed is still on his shelves. and alot of fans locally wont visit any of his shops due to the a-holeish nature of opening up right across the street from another store. (if anyone cares to read a decent article about the situation and the Kansas City comics scene in general, of which i am happy to say i am a part of, you can find it here http://www.pitch.com/Issues/2003-04-24/news/feature.html
)

anyway, i digress slightly, but the point is, in a world of MARVEL SUCKS!! NO SCREW YOU DC SUCKS!!!, is it really all that surprising when some bad blood erupts? not to me, not in my experience. i also think steve makes very valid points. i dont see any grave dancing, i see someone pointing out that he didnt really close of his own volition. he wasnt making enough money to support his lifestyle, otherwise, why the government job? and the fact that he wont be supporting his former competitors obviously shows that he is bitter towards them. if he was such a sweetheart his attitude might more reflect, “i gave it a good run guys, but it didnt work out, can you order these books for me that i want out of previews like everyone else has to do?”

but for me, the bottom line of where i shop comes down to dollars. i dont care how cool and beautiful your shop is, i dont care what you put on the shelves. as i said, i order what i want out of previews. i dont know any retailers in my area that will leave money in my pocket if they can get me what i want. what matters to me is the discount i get for ordering x amount of books. it is jjust an economic reality for me. comics are expensive and i am on a limited income as far as what i can spend on my comics. fortunately, i have not yet been priced out to a mail order, and i hope that never happens. visiting the folks at my shop is one of the highlights of my week. but when mainstream comics hit 3.50 or 4 bucks a pop, i will unfortunately be forced to evaluate the situation again. as it stands, with shipping costs, my savings would be minimal at this point.

iit is to bad riot is closing. in a dream world, i would like to see evry shop like his. but the reality is, if you want to keep the doors open, you have to cater to Marvel/DC fanboys (and girls), and do what you can for your indie fans. unfortunately, comics fans like jason, and others whom i like to consider myself akin to, are a small minority in an already small minority.

forgive my rambling and punctuation please, i am an artist, not a writer and i suck at typing :)

Love to all, Scott

[...] the situation, Johanna Draper-Carlson wrote: And the fact is, it’s not logical or smart to become a comic retailer. It’s a no-win situation, [...]

My opinion that Jason’s store closing is a loss has no bearing on any regional competition

On the internet, everyone with a blog and a lot of free time is suddenly an expert.

My opinion that Jason’s store closing is a loss has no bearing on any regional competition, whether they were good or bad. I applauded what he was trying to do — build and stock the kind of comic shop he, and people like me, want to shop in. What he may or may not have said about any other stores in the area had no bearing on what I thought about the store. I loved the design, I appreciated the kind of books he sold, and when I dealt with him as a retailer through the mail, I got good product and great service. (Thus, the basis for my earlier comment.)

And you’re not listening when people tell you that your comments look like overreactions and you’re more likely to change readers’ opinions about you than about any regional stores, which no one knows the name of anyway because you won’t say. You can’t defend them if you won’t name them. Continuing to say “yay” about a good store closing is only going to reflect on you.