the stuffs inside my head that must get out
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Fri, 30 Jan 2004
Hijinx media blitz continues
As promised yesterday, here's the link to a nice little piece
the Mercury news ran on Hijinx Comics today. It's not an in-depth
piece or anything, but every little bit of exposure helps!
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Wed, 28 Jan 2004
Hijinx media blitz!
Make sure to check out the front page of this friday's (1/30/04) Mercury News
business section for a nice article about San Jose's best comic book
shop. Coincidentally, Diamond Comic Distributers also just ran a nice
feature in their trade magazine for comic retailers. It's not available
to the general public, so I'm including the text here:
It was 2002, and Dan
Shahin had had enough. A disillusioned software programmer during the dotcom
bubble, he was tired of dealing with bad bosses and ill-conceived business plans
that wasted money. For Shahin, it was time to find a new career.
Taking
time off from programming, he embarked on a cross-country camping trip, where he
thought long and hard about what he wanted to do with the next chapter of his
life. While software programming paid well, Shahin realized that his true love
was comics. And it was during this epiphany that he decided the course of action
he would take: save money and open a comic book specialty store.
Not
long after he made his decision, events seemed to work out well for the future
retailer. He'd negotiated a deal to purchase San Jose, CA's Mike's Coliseum -- a
comics shop he'd been working at on the side since he was a teen. And in April
of 2002, he renamed the store Hijinx Comics -- a specialty store reflecting what
he loves most about the four-color medium.
"I'm passionate about
diversity in comics," said Shahin, who quickly went about changing the look and
product mix of his new store, replacing sports cards with a wide selection of
comics and trade paperbacks. "My goal at the store is to appeal to readers of
all ages, young and old. I want my store to be a place for people who enjoy
reading."
To do so, he brought in a full line of trades, added new book
shelves, and diversified the comics he ordered by racking more titles from
smaller publishers.
While the previous owner emphasized sports cards in
"Mike's Coliseum," Shahin found the store's transformation into Hijinx Comics --
a store focusing on books -- to be smooth due to his former boss's knack for
exceptional customer service. It was for that reason Shahin had a solid core of
customers when he took over; consumers who were ready to embrace the store's
emphasis on offering primarily comics and trades.
To develop consumer
interest in the trade paperbacks and graphic novels he offered, Shahin created a
book club for his customers. Customers who sign up for his book club receive a
5% in-store credit towards their next trade purchase each time they buy a
graphic novel. This proven retailing tool provides Shahin with important
demographic information about his customers. He's able to track his customers'
purchases, allowing him to target advertisements and suggestive-selling tools
geared toward his customers' likes. It also gives his customers an incentive to
buy their trades at Hijinx so they can take advantage of the in-store
credit.
Shahin racks his trades by genre. These include: Horror and
Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Non-Fiction, Biography and Autobiography, Crime, All-Ages,
Super-Hero, Manga, and Humor. One of the things Shahin is looking to do this
year is rack his manga by genre as well. Shahin raises the question, "Why
shouldn't sci-fi manga be racked with the other sci-fi books?" He also thinks
genre-racking manga would help him develop a Romance section in his store.
On the subject of manga, Shahin is presently experimenting with renting
manga to his customers. Shahin believes with so many manga titles out there to
choose from, a lot of fans are not sure if they want to jump into a series with
so many volumes to buy. By renting manga, readers can pay a fraction of the cost
of buying the book -- and get a chance to try out different titles to see what
they enjoy. For example, readers can rent the first volume of Dark Horse's
28-volume Lone Wolf and Cub series to get a taste of the series. If the
customer discovers that he likes the title, he can purchase the series' other
volumes.
As a comics retailer, Shahin hasn't forgotten the skills he
learned as a software programmer, and has applied those skills to his business.
He's a big fan of Diamond Online, which he believes offers retailers a
tremendous amount of retailing aids -- such as Reorders Online, current in-stock
lists, and an easy Quick Item Look-Up function. He's also developed his own
sales tools based on free Linux software. Retailers who visit his website
(www.hijinxcomics.com) can download -- free of charge -- sales tools that Shahin
has created, including shelf-talkers, cycle counts, customer tracking, and a
wealth of tools for subscription services. He would very much like to see his
software used by more retailers. Not only is it free, but to Shahin, it's
another expression of free speech that retailers can adapt to their own
needs.
In 2003, Shahin took on a partner to open a second store in
downtown San Jose -- near the campus of San Jose State University. Due to the
success of his first store, Shahin has now brought his mix of comics and trades
to the center of California's third largest city, whose downtown had been
without a specialty store for many years.
A young, bright, and aggressive
entrepreneur, Shahin's hard work is a sure sign that the future of comics
retailing is indeed promising -- and like his novel comics store --in good
hands.
-- Diamond Field Representative Dave Hawksworth
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|
Keep watching this space for more info about 24 hour comics day.
For now, all you'll get out of me is that it takes place on
April 24th at Hijinx Downtown.
|
| Ok, if you really want to know more about the event try clicking on the logo over there, or this link right here. | |
[/topics/store] permanent link
Sat, 24 Jan 2004
Indy Mag relaunched on the web
If you are into comics as an artform, you need to check out the new
Indy Magazine. It's been
relaunched as a quarterly online magazine, under the auspices of
Bill Kartalopoulos of
Egon and like that excellent comics blog, it's depth and clarity astound me.
If the look of the website is familiar to you, that's because Bill also
did the recent redesign of this here website you're looking at. He
did an awesome job and I'm pleased as punch with the results.
The new Indy will feature in-depth articles, copiously sprinkled with photos and illustrations that truly exploit the website as a visual medium not unlike comics. This is not a site to be missed.
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Sat, 17 Jan 2004 |
Mark Evanier pointed out that today is the 75th birthday of that salty sea-dog Popeye. He first appeared as a minor character in the Thimble Theater comic strip but quickly grew to take over the entire strip and spawn countless years of great comics and funny cartoons. Make sure to eat spinach in his honor tonight! |
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Fri, 09 Jan 2004
Bill Spencer 1947-2004
I knew something was wrong when Bill didn't come in to pick up his
comics. He'd been a regular wednesday customer for over 20 years,
buying baseball cards and any comics with Superman or Captain America.
He had a gruff demeanor, but there was always a sly smile underneath it
all. Bill loved to talk sports, especially about baseball which he
coached for many years at local schools and youth leagues. He was one
of the purest sports and comics I've ever met, and I'm proud to have
known him for so long.
downtown Ebay auctions
The stock from the downtown store is getting in on the ebay action!
Check out this link for some great bargains, including:
- Amazing Spider-Man #52 VF+ 1st Joe Robertson
- Flash #175 F/VF 2nd Superman / Flash race
- Flash #129 F- 2nd modern Golden age Flash
- Fantastic Four 28 VG/F early X-Men appearance
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