My Radical LCS idea. It's just so crazy it just might work!

[thefreakytiki]

I was in the shower this morning thinking about how this wonderful niche industry can no longer be considered niche (I know, I need to get a life but this consumes me). The answer hit me like a bolt of lightning, MARVEL should follow in the footsteps of Apple.

About 8 years ago or so I remember how Apple was restructuring their Board. They hired Gap CEO Millard Drexler. So you ask why would they hire the CEO of a leading clothing store for a computer company's board (They were still known as APPLE Computer at the time). Apple had a solid hit in the iPod and wanted to take it to a wider audience. Apple had been frustrated by the sales techniques of CompUSA, Bestbuy and Circuit city employees (Hell, Apple had a history of pulling their products from the shelves of these retail outlets). Jobs wanted Apple educated people selling Apple products. When Mr. Drexler was put on the payroll it wasn't for his computer knowledge but rather his retail knowledge. Drexler was a guiding hand in the design of Apple's retail stores. Have you ever noticed how similar the two stores are (lighting, displays, shelving)?

It is well known how much of a success Apple's brick and mortar stores have been to their bottom line. Pundits have written about the Apple store "magnet effect" easily pulls casual shoppers into their store. Apple started slow and took their time in rolling these out... now they are everywhere. It has been widely reported that one of the main reasons Apple is pulling out of the annual convention known as Macworld (it costs the company $24 million for the con) and is instead reinvesting that money into their retail stores. A huge money maker for them. People came into the store for an iPod... but in time they walk out with a Apple computer.

NOW, this brings me to Marvel. They should do the same thing. Create a handful of MARVEL only stores. Something between the Apple Store and the Disney store (another store that my daughter BEGS me to window shop every time we walk by). Like Apple the would carry all products associated with their licensed properties. Besides creating a street level awareness of their properties they also can succeed where they failed 15+ years ago... keeping more $$$ out of Diamond's pockets and more in their own. They would still work through Diamond with any other retail outlet but they could work internally with their own store. They also get a bigger cut of any licensed toy because they get the retail cut as well.

The iPod was Apple's wide appeal/gateway to the masses. Marvel's movies are their iPod.

Now you might say, "Tiki, what about the Mom and Pop shops? Won't they lose out?". I don't think so. I see these MARVEL stores as a gateway into the medium. When the masses get a taste of comics they will search out other titles... and that is where the LCSs come into play. They will benefit in the long run as the Pimps waiting to whet the appetite's of the new found fans.

EVERYONE WINS!

Marvel doesn't rely on the business actions of any other retailer (Border's, LCSs, B&N, Amazon, Wal-Mart) or on Diamond themselves. Keep in mind Marvel and Apple are more similar than you think, they both have cult like rabid fans who will search them out and would KILL to work for them.


What do you think?


the Tiki http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/tiki_torches.gif

a.k.a. the Blue lantern of the LCS :)

[mikegraham6]

The idea of a Marvel Store gets me all kinds of excited!

[euchre0]

I'd sure like that store/chain. I don't know beans about any of this stuff, but I think it'd be interesting to see how much money Apple had at their disposal when they started that progression compared to Marvel. I'd imagine Apple, though not as wildly successful as now, was much wealthier/larger than Marvel is or ever was.

Plus, if Apple sells an ipod they get $250 + and if they sell a computer it is like $1200+, so each sale is more of a success than getting someone in the mall to wander in and buy an Iron Man T-Shirt and $12 worth of comics. Like I said, I don't know anything about business, but it doesn't seem cost effective to me.

Plus, it is a niche medium. Our society, by an large, uses computers and a substantial portion of the population is always eager to by the next new sleek gizmo.

[conorkilpatrick]

I feel like this was an idea Marvel bandied about in the 1990s.

[thenextchampion]

It's not a bad idea....but the problem is, is that comics is not in the same popularity as computers and music is.

Apple has gotten huge revenue thanks to mainly their ipod. People buy a ton of apple products just because they are in vogue right now and everyone has an ipod or at least an itunes.

Comics, I dont think, will get that popular ever again. Besides your only going for one side of the medium and just having a Marvel store. People will want to have more options and basically that's why LCS's exsist. I know I would be a little peeved that all I can buy is Spider-Man and Avengers comics. Even if they are the greatest Marvel titles put out, people are gonna want a taste of DC and Indy products. So it isnt a bad idea, but a regular LCS is more practical then having a niche comic book store.


But there is a more disturbing fact we're ignoring here.....You thought of this in the shower....

[georgexjr]

it'd prolly fail but i sure as shit would like to work there.

[sarahg42]

Comics, I dont think, will get that popular ever again.

Oh, I don't know. I think Comics are more popular given the recent trend in Cinema. It's just that people are mainly buying tpb's from Book Stores, rather than singles from a LCS.

[jasonb35]

The first thing that comes to mind is the old WB stores in the 90's but those never actually sold comic, just the comic related merchandise. I've definitely heard worse ideas but I'm not sure that Marvel has the brand recognition that Apple or Disney does. Get Quesada on the phone.

[johnvferrigno]

I would live in this store. That is all.

[optimus187prime]

The idea of a Marvel Store gets me all kinds of excited!

Me too, I would spend soo much money there my pockets would be sad.

[sarahg42]

Me too, I would spend soo much money there my pockets would be sad.

I'm pretty sure it would drive us to the poor house.... my bf being a Marvel Zombie and all. I would be pretty bored in that store.

[neb]

Why would this only be applicable to Marvel? Is DC too small for a store like this? :)

[cenquist]

Interesting idea, but I don't think it would work. But they could do things to help make it work. Marvel Store exclusives? (toy lines, special editions of there dvds, variant covers, even Marvel Store special one shots)

Things that would hurt it though could be big. Yes it would be cool to walk into a Marvel store. But I bet like the Disney store (haven't been in one in a while so may be wrong) I can get the most of the same products or basically the same at Wal-Mart and other stores that may have Disney shirts/toys/dvds ect ect. Also I wouldn't pull my Marvel books from the Marvel Store just because it is there....why make two stops if I can't get my DC/Image/Dark Horse/Indie books there?

[conorkilpatrick]

I knew I wasn't crazy. (http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue02/features/comics.htm)

"In 1994, after more than a decade of this production-distribution-retail system, Marvel comics began to branch out into distribution and retail. First, Marvel set up its own mail-order house and ran ads in their comics for book collections and merchandise not available to retailers. If you wanted those Mighty Moose condoms, in other words, you had to order them directly from Marvel--you couldn't get them anywhere else. (Subsequent retailer uproar made Marvel scale back their mail-order operation.) Marvel also spread rumors about starting their own chains of comic book stores, a step that would further cut into that segment of the market traditionally run by independent retailers. But Marvel's most audacious invasion of the distribution and retail wings of the comics market came with their purchase of Heroes World, a previously independent East coast distributor. With the buy-out came new terms for retailers: if you wanted to carry Marvel comics in your store, you had to get them from Heroes World. Marvel stopped sending their comics to other distributors, and began to jockey for a vertically-integrated hegemony over the entire comic book market."

[sarahg42]

I knew I wasn't crazy. (http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue02/features/comics.htm)



To be fair, that only proves you have a good memory. It says nothing about your sanity. *cheeky grin*

[conorkilpatrick]

To be fair, that only proves you have a good memory. It says nothing about your sanity. *cheeky grin*

Pay no attention to this woman!

[neb]

To be fair, that only proves you have a good memory. It says nothing about your sanity. *cheeky grin*

Oh snap!

[joexmas]

I think something like this could stay afloat only if it did not try to replace the current LCS. I can see this store appealing to the non-comic book reading fan. Someone who knows the cartoons or movies and wants more. They can sell specifically to this market and even make some more comic-reading fans in the process. Of course to do this they would have to be an event shopping experience. "Let's go to the Marvel store!" A place where parents can always find the latest marvel movie toys and apparel for the fam. "While we're here let's pick up some comic books too." Collectors could also frequent the place looking for that elusive bowen statue or action figure or life-size replica of Captain America's shield.

So at first it wouldn't be a weekly comic stop for current readers...but it could turn into one by creating its own weekly customers.

[gabeja]

IN any event, I do think that it would be an awesome store. Get some signings, have a big tv showing some movies, a kiddy corner. Yeah, I could waste a lot of life in this store. They could also heavily discount the book. A DC store would be great too. In fact, I briefly thought I saw one in NYC this summer when I was driving in a cab, and one entire wall of a store was a huge batman/joker poster, turned out it was a nokia store.

[cenquist]

Now that I think about it...this might work in some cities. If you put the stores in the right location that has lots of tourism (NYC, LA, Vegas? ect ect) you could get lots of "out of town" money as they wouldn't have the store in there city.

[cam-]

Or a Marvel store in an airport? What better way to get someone to casually pick up an Essentials book?

Still I wonder about this, I mean, how much of Marvel's non-comic properties do they actually produce? I'm sure the Toys, shirts, hell even the perfume

http://www.99perfume.com/image/THEHULK_M.jpg

are all made by different companies, it might throw in some monkey wrenches.

[jive-talking-robot]

Oh, I don't know. I think Comics are more popular given the recent trend in Cinema. It's just that people are mainly buying tpb's from Book Stores, rather than singles from a LCS.

Haha... this describes me to a "t". Were it not for the movie Iron Man and the Graphic Novel section at Borders, I would never have found my way back in to comics.

I, for one, would love to see a "Marvel" store on Michigan Ave in Chicago. I doubt it would likely ever work, but, then again, the Hershey's Store on Michigan Ave sells a hell of a lot of Kisses to pay off that high priced rent, so what do I know? (Note the guy who dresses up like a Reese’s Cup outside the store scares the hell out of my dog... though I am sure the pooch would not do much better with a dude dressed up as Cable.)


BTW, anyone know what "Marvel Mania" was? I found these images all over google... looks like a "Marvel Store" to me... wonder how it panned out?

http://www.thestudiotour.com/ush/attractions/images/shopping/marvelmania3.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2696347309_a09ecca07a.jpg?v=0

[conorkilpatrick]

Marvel Mania (http://www.thestudiotour.com/ush/attractions/food_marvelmania.shtml) was a restaurant. I ate there once back when I lived in Burbank. It looks like they had a Marvel Mania store at Universal City too.

"Massive range of superhero-related toys, merchandise and clothing featuring the stars of the Marvel Comics universe."

[jive-talking-robot]

Marvel Mania (http://www.thestudiotour.com/ush/attractions/food_marvelmania.shtml) was a restaurant. I ate there once back when I lived in Burbank.

Interesting. I understand Merlot to be the preferred pairing with Deep Fried Hulk Nuggets.

[esophagus]

Interesting. I understand Merlot to be the preferred pairing with Deep Fried Hulk Nuggets.But what goes with a Stanwich or a Fantastic Four Cheese Pizza?

[jive-talking-robot]

But what goes with a Stanwich or a Fantastic Four Cheese Pizza?

http://onecity.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/profile_img1_zima.jpg

Or "The Good Stuff", as it is known @ Casa De JTR.

[gabeja]

Reminds me of the resturant at the end of Kingdom Come

[conorkilpatrick]

Reminds me of the resturant at the end of Kingdom Come

That's basically what it was like. Waitstaff in costume, fake superhero memorabilia on display. I don't think we had a full meal there, I think we just got drinks at the bar. Captain America brought us our appetizers.

[jive-talking-robot]

Hey Tiki, I assume that was you on The Comic Book Page / Comic Timing episode #56 defending the LCS? I was literally just listening to that on my commute yesterday and am about half way through. I admired your spirit and point of view, especially in light of the (at times intense) fire sent your way. Nice work in sticking to your guns. While I do most of my TPB shopping outside of an LCS, I really enjoyed listening to you talk on the subject.

To echo others and expand on my thoughts a few posts up... I imagine this would likely only work as a loss leader in tourist destinations, but it would go a long way to promote "the brand." Out of town traffic in Chicago is off the charts... we are literally a hair behind NYC in visits. A Marvel Store smack in the middle of Michigan Ave (or Vegas / NYC / "Tourist Trap X") may not actually make Marvel money (many of those high-profile "flagships" are corporate vanity projects), but it would certainly garner constant foot traffic/attention and be a destination in its own right. The comics industry needs a) "re-discovery" readers and b) NEW readers; I imagine a flagship store like that would turn at least a small percentage of visitors on to (or BACK on to) "the habit". Is it enough to offset the cost? I couldn't say... but with the literally millions of annual visitors to Michigan Ave, there is a reason why traditionally non direct-retail companies like Garmin run gaudy flagship stores there... they are living billboards for their brand.

I mean Chicago is packed with families in the Spring, Summer, Fall and XMas, and, short of the Disney / Lego / American Girl / Hershey's Store on the Magnificent Mile, there is very little that appeals directly to the throngs of families that clog the sidewalks (seriously, "out-of-town-dad" has got to be the most clueless chachi on the sidewalk... note to "dad": walking against foot-traffic = Bad Idea Jeans (http://www.hulu.com/watch/10310/saturday-night-live-bad-idea-jeans))... it is hard to believe that a Marvel Store wouldn't be loaded with curiosity seekers. I mean, if the freakin' Nokia store can pack 'em in, The Thing would do wonders.

[thenextchampion]

Captain America brought us our appetizers.

That might be the greatest sentence anyone has ever typed or said.

[neb]

That's basically what it was like. Waitstaff in costume, fake superhero memorabilia on display. I don't think we had a full meal there, I think we just got drinks at the bar. Captain America brought us our appetizers.

Did he serve them on his shield? If so, did he throw it and as it flew back to him you grabbed the food and drinks off of it? Inquiring minds want to know...

[conorkilpatrick]

Did he serve them on his shield? If so, did he throw it and as it flew back to him you grabbed the food and drinks off of it? Inquiring minds want to know...

It's funny, thinking back on it now I don't think that Captain America actually served us. I think that he as just a guy whose job it was to walk around and engage the customers as Captain America. The waitstaff might not have been dressed up after all, the costume people might have been seperate. I don't know, my memory on it is hazy, it was almost 10 years ago, I only went the once, and we were drinking a lot there (it was overpriced as all theme restaurants are, but I was with someone who knew the bartender). I do remember that as Cap was approaching we were debating on whether or not we should quiz the guy to see how well he really knew Captain America but in the end we decided not to be dicks.

[cenquist]

It's funny, thinking back on it now I don't think that Captain America actually served us. I think that he as just a guy whose job it was to walk around and engage the customers as Captain America. The waitstaff might not have been dressed up after all, the costume people might have been seperate. I don't know, my memory on it is hazy, it was almost 10 years ago, I only went the once, and we were drinking a lot there (it was overpriced as all theme restaurants are, but I was with someone who knew the bartender). I do remember that as Cap was approaching we were debating on whether or not we should quiz the guy to see how well he really knew Captain America but in the end we decided not to be dicks.

Ha, you should have asked him what it was like to be frozen in ice for so many years and once out he has to wait tables.

[thenextchampion]

It's funny, thinking back on it now I don't think that Captain America actually served us. I think that he as just a guy whose job it was to walk around and engage the customers as Captain America. The waitstaff might not have been dressed up after all, the costume people might have been seperate. I don't know, my memory on it is hazy, it was almost 10 years ago, I only went the once, and we were drinking a lot there (it was overpriced as all theme restaurants are, but I was with someone who knew the bartender). I do remember that as Cap was approaching we were debating on whether or not we should quiz the guy to see how well he really knew Captain America but in the end we decided not to be dicks.

So basically you had a 'Kingdom Come' moment?

[gabeja]

Even if I was a little kid, I think that I would be really depressed to see cap slinging drinks.

[miyamotofreak]

I think company LCS would be disastrous for the company as whole even if the stores were profitable. LCSs could get really screwed if those readers who just read one publishers stuff just go there instead. From my reading on the internet, it seems the most successful LCSs are the ones in major cities that have a shitload of stock. Signings and discounts also help. My local LCS has pretty weak stock. Everything pretty much sells out and their discounts are minimal (they'll have brief 25% off sale every few months on everything but current issues) and they have signings every few months (and when they do, they always have a 25% off sale so you can get a TPB from the writer/artist). They also give you 10% off if you have 10 subs a month. Pretty minimal but the people there are nice so I'll stick to them.

[voi666]

it certainly would be cool to have a marvel store that is reminiscent of an apple store.

in reality, i think it would be commercial suicide for marvel (or any comics company).

two reasons:

- apple stores draw crowds because they have something really cool, that (ordinary) people want (mac products). i don't think that comics would have the same reach among those people. apple is not a niche market anymore ... comics still are

- even the cheapest product in an apple shop still costs about 19-49 bucks (cables/earphones). i would assume that the average sale in an apple store would amount to several hundred dollars (ipod/macbooks). there is no way in hell that you can make that kind of money on comic books, dvds or action figures


edit: spelling error

[gabeja]

If there was a dc store I think I would spend an average of 5 hours a day in the vertigo room.

[vernson]

Maybe rather than a store you could have a kiosk, A Mighty Mobile Marvel Monument of Merchandise.

'Nuff said.

[gabeja]

Wow, my local borders just closed. I sure hope my LCS dosn't follow suit, its been around for a while though. Crumb did a signing at it in the seventies i think.