Reverend Jax Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Motivate employees by giving them comissions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbie Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I'm not sure about the commissions. It might lead to a kinda used car salesman approach that would mitigate against the kind of atmosphere Nick seems to want at the store, which is casual and social. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverend Jax Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 It might lead to a kinda used car salesman approach that would mitigate against the kind of atmosphere Nick seems to want at the store, which is casual and social. The kind of atmosphere where obnoxious D&D players come in, scare other people away, stay for hours reading all you books, don't pay for them and you make no money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newtype Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 See, most people would suggest dressing the employees of the shop as comic/ game characters. But yeah, imagine a space where I can indulge my 'dress as batman' fetish outside of halloween and have people say not "Get away from me you freak," but "Hey, excellent suit, man" Of course, There's a narrow line between pretence and delusion and you might just end up dealing with a lot o crazies. NO COSTUMES unless you want freaks in the store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbie Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Also, unless you want freaks in the store, I'd recommend not allowing in people who wear superhero t-shirts, either. (Like if a certain someone wears a Superman T-shirt to come into the store, that's a sure sign that they're a freak and we should ban them too.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arc Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 "OMG!!!! Arc, your my fhd man. Punctuation!!!!!!" What's a fhd man and why is my grammatical style such a hot topic? I don't mock anyone else's grammar nor do I attack them when they misspell something, although if fhd was a misspelling then this would be ironic and I would be a liar. But just in case, I'll go ahead and insure the irony as well as my liar status by make things awkward by pointing out that OMG should probably include three periods. "NO COSTUMES unless you want freaks in the store." The same can be said about selling comics. No comics unless you want freaks in the store. Honestly man, aren't you being just a bit hypocritical for a guy with a gun-toting cat for an avatar. Further more dressing the part is not a revolution idea. In fact it's not even a new idea. For example clothing employees at McDonalds, Burger King, and Victoria's Secret are required to dress in tacky or at the very least silly attire. Seriously how serious is Victoria taking her employees to have them dress in business suits when they are selling panties. Lets go a little further with this pick out any clothing store at random. I'll pick Hot Topic. Are you ready? Now think about the staff and their dress. In my case it's a bunch of Goth kids. Now ask yourself have shopped there before and did you feel uncomfortable with them. I have shopped at Hot Topic before and I haven't minded their attire in the past and I don't think I will in the future. "Hulk HELP!!!" This is funning and it can be quite cool if it's played off the right way. I would go there just to see that sort of whimsy. In fact I would rather go there, if it were properly maintain and orderly, than A&M or Anime Hurricane. Furthermore new people that typically would not go comic shopping with me, but would oddly enough go book shopping, might not be as worried about something like this if its done in an endearing fashion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the division of joy Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 FHD = favorite hondonian of the day.... and i'm guessing its such a hot topic as most of what you type seems like one giant slab of text, which is hard to decipher without punctuation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arc Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 I disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted November 18, 2006 Author Share Posted November 18, 2006 christ, we gotta move beyond his post stylings one day. yeah, i can see the ups and downs of costumes, but the notion of either costume events (cosplay - you should see some of the quality shit at megacon), or employees in such could be a good one too. im appreciating all the input here, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycaon Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 christ, we gotta move beyond his post stylings one day. yeah, i can see the ups and downs of costumes, but the notion of either costume events (cosplay - you should see some of the quality shit at megacon), or employees in such could be a good one too. im appreciating all the input here, by the way. Perhaps as an occasional event, then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganny McVagflaps Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 NO COSTUMES If you Emma Frost LL they will come. But what about the ladies? Have you seen Jax in his Horny Hank McDoy threads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 reiterating a bit here, but fuckoff, im trying to sharpen some points and form a pitch, however long-winded. Hondo's Comic Shop: a modest, slightly drunken proposal by The NZA Phase, uh, zero?: reconnaissance. Find a plot of land - after talking with LL, ive started thinking Sweetwater/Doral might not be so bad, as its a) close to a college, b) central to all highways, and c) by the time this even were to get off its feet, the metrorail oughta hit here, too. So, we go to one of the shopping centers with a lotta space that's perpetually having a lot open, like the Winn Dixie shopping center on 97th ave & Flagler, and find out the cost of renting a lot there. Us keeping late hours means parking is wide open in that huge lot, too. LL's suggested a marketing research class at dade, things like that arent bad ideas either. Phase 1 - Funding! I takes my capital & good credit and try to secure a big-ass bank loan to get it going after the pitch, which'd likely take (im guessing?) several hundred thousand in startup fees, inventory etc. This is much easier if i ever meet another fanboy with funding/similar vision to go in on with me, or i could use my standing in coral gables to shop around for a few investors to start up, or even just invest with others for a while to raise capital...there's options, but none of them overnight. Phase 2 - Get the place going. With help from Panch, Sen, Newt, and other locals, as well as my fire schedule that has me only working 1/3 of the year, im hoping we can sqeeze by the first few rough years or so without having to pay too much out...volunteer work sucks but a small join with a lotta heart could help. We stock the front with trades mostly, a handful/small wall of this month's current issues (liquidating excess on an ebay store to cut back on storage space, natch), and an ample corner for merchandise - shirts, statues, props etc. let's say 1/3 of the lot is actual store, with a decent partition leading to the real moneymaker of said establishment... Phase 3 - The Danger Room. A large, themed area that's walled off to collect a door charge after a certain hour - store can remain open but staffed minimally at best. Let's say, mondays are B-movie night (alternating for major movie releases with earlier installments; i.e., before the next Batman, a fest of the old ones or animated ones). Tuesday could be LAN night, and there's a lot to be made here...here in miami, we use to have a group called Red Eye that'd meet like once a month in a warehouse and get 40-50+ heads (at least $20 to get in) and all they supplied was a server and tables, you bring your PC rig and link up for deathmatches/sharing porn & such. That shit got so popular, they had to make it a private thing. Toss in some legwork of buying digital media/hard drives at the wholesale joints here by the airport, then selling them for double at the event, and we could make a killing off of just this crowd, no lie. Wednesday could be game night - come play Wii one a huge digital projector, or a big Halo 3 LAN and such. Ive seen old places like Diehard gamefan charge by the hour to play imports or systems people cant afford - even smaller sets of PS3's with say, FF XIII when it comes out would bank. The best part is the social networking - instead of karaoke nights, we could have Rock Band competitions on a stage! How cool is that?! and instead of buying the whole set for $200 and hoping you can get 3 friends together, you come to hondo's after work and spend like $10+ at the door to jam until some obscene hour of the night, for some silly-ass mock statue or store credit prize. Thursdays - this is like phase 4 mind you - we could have (once we've stable $ to clear rent) local bands perform at our very small venue on a mock-stage. Barring this? Patrons can uh, cover anime themes, i dunno. whatever. Look at starlight diner; people love being on a mic, and clearly dont mind paying to do so. Other nights, we could rent/sublet out the room to groups like the FIU anime club, get even more folks involved. Even if we dont make as much on one particular night, we're still brining more people into the joint as possible regulars. Phase 4 - this is the kicker, and im thinking the faster we get here, the better: save/loan enough for a liquor license. Ive thought about it, and south florida businesses are said to expect up to a 40% increase from boozeahol sales alone; we could tag/bracelet those over age, and im willing to bet (at first) even charge club prices for drinks and still make a killing. After all, were not making $ after the door charge, so this could be our cash cow, and of all the aforementioned events - b movies, LAN, anime, console games, local bands etc - which event woudlnt people want booze at, really...? also, to fly in the face of newt's "no costume" stance, i offer you this: Sen offered to serve drinks as Chun Li, and LL as White Queen. If we have down-ass hot chicks cosplaying and servicing, im telling you: we can pay our rent. also, watching guys like Panch work anime hurricane taught me: 1) your loyal and loving clientele will go above and beyond to help keep you open and successful, which is really cool, and 2) since this would be a side-venture and not my primary source of income, as employees/friends helped bring in more people and have us make more, we could reflect that in the pay scale and really share the wealth, creating an environment that's happy for everyone. I really think this could work; its my opinion that miami, like most major cities, has a huge underbelly of people that dont wanna go to clubs, but want social interaction and dont mind tossing around discretionary income to do so (after all, the non-club crowd doesnt cite the awful cost of drinks there, they cite the environment). Again, perhaps we'd have to sell out to some pokemon/yu-gi-oh trend at first to stay open, but for the most part, i think there's' enough crowds within these events that could really mingle and would love a place to go to after work to hang, especially on weekends. also, by emphasizing this cultural angle over the modest comic shop itself, i dont think we'd really be in competition with anybody, as no one currently (to my knowledge) goes after this market. Sure, we'd start off with flyers around FIU, UM, and anywhere in between, but much like hondo's bar, we'd likely do best by word-of-mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 PS i know i preached about location at first, but i keep thinking: im pushing a lot of niche things here, as if its like the hub of niche if you will. all the previous ideas of asian horror night, blaxploitation night etc still stand, but i got to thinking: local digs like Churchill's over in little haiti get people from far & wide to drive down there. a location like doral'd be more central, offer better parking, and come far less than the grove or the beach would. if we could sustain rent down here, or even a wee bit further out, we could see how we're doing a few years into it and decide to either buy a nearby plot of land or move to a more prime location. There's a whole warehouse district down here that's pretty popular with businesses during the day (meaning, traffic woudlnt be so horrendous later on) but it can be tricky to find which place you're looking for there too, hence why i suggested a preexisting commercial strip to start off with. I think stocking the place at first wont be nearly so big an expense if we're selective and wholsale the books, shop around for electronics etc, itd mainly of course be rent, and then seeing how much we make/how long till we could serve booze. Anyway, im ranting but the point is, i think this area might not be bad to start off such a venture in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntercrow Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 I completely agree that a comic shop should mostly stay a comic shop instead of morphing into a gaming shop. But are really willing to completel abondon that crown and not allow any gaming there or supplies? I remember when Outland station switched over from mostly comics to gaming when they were still in South Miami and it through me off a bit. It kind of sucked that all the comic stuff was both figuratively and literally pushed to the back. They seem to some sense of balance now in there new location but thier prices still suck. What exactly would you do about maintaining such a balance, it's a slippery slope, or is gaming stuff in the store just not going to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 problem with comic shops is that, well, they don't do as well if they're on their own, and I'll point to Sunshine Comics on Bird as an example. That guy's been there since the dawn of man, and he doesn't even sell comics anymore.Adding D&D type games, cards, miniatures, board games and the likes ON TOP OF Comics would work, or just do Comics and Games (Video Games). But not comics alone.the miniatures angle would probably go best considering there's a new thing called 'hero clix' (which i don't even know how it works) that seems popular these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntercrow Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 I'll point to Sunshine Comics on Bird as an example. Dude that place is still around? Geez i would have sworn that place was torched to the ground to keep it from reproducing. I don't know how that guy keeps that place running, he undersells most other places and the stuff he kept in stock just looked a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 he recently 'remodeled' the place (which is his way of saying 'I cleaned up'). but yea, he's still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntercrow Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 cleaned up? How? how does he make any money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 yea, business has actually been going well for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntercrow Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 in the remodeling was he able to get rid of the smell that place has? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 yes, yes he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alive she cried Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 reiterating a bit here, but fuckoff, im trying to sharpen some points and form a pitch, however long-winded. Hondo's Comic Shop: a modest, slightly drunken proposal by The NZA Phase, uh, zero?: reconnaissance. Find a plot of land - after talking with LL, ive started thinking Sweetwater/Doral might not be so bad, as its a) close to a college, b) central to all highways, and c) by the time this even were to get off its feet, the metrorail oughta hit here, too. So, we go to one of the shopping centers with a lotta space that's perpetually having a lot open, like the Winn Dixie shopping center on 97th ave & Flagler, and find out the cost of renting a lot there. Us keeping late hours means parking is wide open in that huge lot, too. LL's suggested a marketing research class at dade, things like that arent bad ideas either. Phase 1 - Funding! I takes my capital & good credit and try to secure a big-ass bank loan to get it going after the pitch, which'd likely take (im guessing?) several hundred thousand in startup fees, inventory etc. This is much easier if i ever meet another fanboy with funding/similar vision to go in on with me, or i could use my standing in coral gables to shop around for a few investors to start up, or even just invest with others for a while to raise capital...there's options, but none of them overnight. Phase 2 - Get the place going. With help from Panch, Sen, Newt, and other locals, as well as my fire schedule that has me only working 1/3 of the year, im hoping we can sqeeze by the first few rough years or so without having to pay too much out...volunteer work sucks but a small join with a lotta heart could help. We stock the front with trades mostly, a handful/small wall of this month's current issues (liquidating excess on an ebay store to cut back on storage space, natch), and an ample corner for merchandise - shirts, statues, props etc. let's say 1/3 of the lot is actual store, with a decent partition leading to the real moneymaker of said establishment... Phase 3 - The Danger Room. A large, themed area that's walled off to collect a door charge after a certain hour - store can remain open but staffed minimally at best. Let's say, mondays are B-movie night (alternating for major movie releases with earlier installments; i.e., before the next Batman, a fest of the old ones or animated ones). Tuesday could be LAN night, and there's a lot to be made here...here in miami, we use to have a group called Red Eye that'd meet like once a month in a warehouse and get 40-50+ heads (at least $20 to get in) and all they supplied was a server and tables, you bring your PC rig and link up for deathmatches/sharing porn & such. That shit got so popular, they had to make it a private thing. Toss in some legwork of buying digital media/hard drives at the wholesale joints here by the airport, then selling them for double at the event, and we could make a killing off of just this crowd, no lie. Wednesday could be game night - come play Wii one a huge digital projector, or a big Halo 3 LAN and such. Ive seen old places like Diehard gamefan charge by the hour to play imports or systems people cant afford - even smaller sets of PS3's with say, FF XIII when it comes out would bank. The best part is the social networking - instead of karaoke nights, we could have Rock Band competitions on a stage! How cool is that?! and instead of buying the whole set for $200 and hoping you can get 3 friends together, you come to hondo's after work and spend like $10+ at the door to jam until some obscene hour of the night, for some silly-ass mock statue or store credit prize. Thursdays - this is like phase 4 mind you - we could have (once we've stable $ to clear rent) local bands perform at our very small venue on a mock-stage. Barring this? Patrons can uh, cover anime themes, i dunno. whatever. Look at starlight diner; people love being on a mic, and clearly dont mind paying to do so. Other nights, we could rent/sublet out the room to groups like the FIU anime club, get even more folks involved. Even if we dont make as much on one particular night, we're still brining more people into the joint as possible regulars. Phase 4 - this is the kicker, and im thinking the faster we get here, the better: save/loan enough for a liquor license. Ive thought about it, and south florida businesses are said to expect up to a 40% increase from boozeahol sales alone; we could tag/bracelet those over age, and im willing to bet (at first) even charge club prices for drinks and still make a killing. After all, were not making $ after the door charge, so this could be our cash cow, and of all the aforementioned events - b movies, LAN, anime, console games, local bands etc - which event woudlnt people want booze at, really...? also, to fly in the face of newt's "no costume" stance, i offer you this: Sen offered to serve drinks as Chun Li, and LL as White Queen. If we have down-ass hot chicks cosplaying and servicing, im telling you: we can pay our rent. also, watching guys like Panch work anime hurricane taught me: 1) your loyal and loving clientele will go above and beyond to help keep you open and successful, which is really cool, and 2) since this would be a side-venture and not my primary source of income, as employees/friends helped bring in more people and have us make more, we could reflect that in the pay scale and really share the wealth, creating an environment that's happy for everyone. I really think this could work; its my opinion that miami, like most major cities, has a huge underbelly of people that dont wanna go to clubs, but want social interaction and dont mind tossing around discretionary income to do so (after all, the non-club crowd doesnt cite the awful cost of drinks there, they cite the environment). Again, perhaps we'd have to sell out to some pokemon/yu-gi-oh trend at first to stay open, but for the most part, i think there's' enough crowds within these events that could really mingle and would love a place to go to after work to hang, especially on weekends. also, by emphasizing this cultural angle over the modest comic shop itself, i dont think we'd really be in competition with anybody, as no one currently (to my knowledge) goes after this market. Sure, we'd start off with flyers around FIU, UM, and anywhere in between, but much like hondo's bar, we'd likely do best by word-of-mouth. Wow, all i can say is wow. you are really serious about this, are'nt you? it sounds like a really good idea. the only thing is that people would have to work regular jobs at the start and volunteer here at the same time. it's a lot of work, ye'd have to be very passionate about the shop and also be confident that everyone would see it out through the tough early stages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverend Jax Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Nick, you might have to get financing first before finding a location, as any good location might not stay available while you get financing. The exception is in a new development. There, you can sign a lease and have lots of time (sometimes years) before you'll need to have you financing in order. The fact is, your retail end of this business model (let's call it that for now) is facing an uphill battle looking into the future. Retail, especially geared to a tech-savvy market, is going to face stiffer competition from the internet as overhead and expenses are obviously lower. So, emphasizing the social interaction might be the crux, then perhaps making the name reflect that (like using the word "club" instead of "store" or "shop"). Also, I would find people interested in these events who own cars, and give them a discount admission to be carpoolers for students without cars (most students without cars live on campus, so it's an easy carpool, not many stops). This will only help create the social cohesion that will make your place unique. As for names, unless you want to name it Hondo's Bar, how about Buena Vista Comics Club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 The first thing you need to do is decide exactly what the 'product' is going to be. Let's say its Firstly comics, secondly gaming (either electronic or RP...or both?) and tertiary a social gathering spot. You have a few things you need to decide, since this will impact, well, everything else. If comics is your primary function, are you also going to include fanboy collectables (like statuettes, cards, heroclix, comic book boardgames, RP games, electronic games, etc) or just your a typical 1980's style comic book store? If you're going to include things like games, are they going to be Electronic games (and then the consoles associated with them, or not) and Role Playing Games and other table tops, or just one but not the other? What kind of gameroom are you going to have? What consoles, if any? How many? What games? Are you going to have a space for Table Top games? Will this be on top of the electronic games? If it's a social gathering spot as well, are you going to be offering food and drinks (forget alcohol for now). If so, are you going to need to have a 'mess hall'? What are you going to serve? Are you going to have to cook there or not, or will you be relying on neighboring stores for that (you can usually strike up a deal with them). If you answered 'yes' or 'maybe' to at least two of the above, where can you find a local central to your target clientelle that has enough space and amenities that will allow you to do all you want to do? How late do yo plan to stay open? How much do you plan to charge for each of the different events? Will you have a VIP 'club' which offers discounts and the like? Raffles? Host Competetions or Conventions? Will you get licensing permission to use the likeness of any Marvel or DC Characters for your promotion? How many? Alot of questions you need to answer, but this is quite doable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Man...I'd go. I may be a bit far away to volunteer to work behind the counter, but if you get something going I'll do your advertising for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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