The moment my local comic shop changed owners - total nightmare in 3 weeks

I watched the new guy rip out all the back issue bins and replace them with Funko pops and MTG boxes. He had a line of regulars drop from 20 people to 3 in under a month. Anyone else see a local shop get stripped of its soul overnight?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_piper17d ago

So you're saying it took 3 weeks to go from 20 regulars to 3. That's rough, but give the new owner a tiny bit of slack on the timing. Back issue bins don't usually vanish overnight unless he literally threw them in a dumpster. More likely he boxed them up to sell online or store them, which is still a lousy move but not quite the same as burning the place down. The Funko pop thing is just sad though. Those things are everywhere now, like someone decided every shop needs to look like a Hot Topic clearance rack. Magic boxes are fine, but when they crowd out everything else it turns the place into a card shop that happens to have some comics in the corner. Three regulars left in a month sounds about right for that kind of change.

jakewhite17d ago

Lmao I actually read something recently that said Funko Pops are basically the new beanie babies of the 90s. Stores are drowning in them and they're gonna crash hard in value. But yeah, the back issue thing sucks. I heard a shop near me did the same thing, claimed the bins were "inventory overflow" and then just never brought them back out. That's a surefire way to lose your diehard crowd.

martin.riley17d ago

Did you try talking to the new owner directly?