Post ComicsPRO Industry Conference thoughts

Well, that was quite a week!  

I just returned from the annual ComicsPRO Industry Conference. This year's event was back in Portland OR at the Portland Downtown Hilton.

From Wednesday evening until Saturday afternoon, it was whirlwind of meetings. seeing friends and colleagues, learning new things, seeing what's coming up from a variety of publishers and other suppliers... and generally, just trying to move the comics specialty business ahead in meaningful ways.

I use this meeting every year as a gauge of sorts--- How do my colleagues see this business? What can I learn from meeting attendees? What can I learn to bring back to Flying Colors to make my business better and please our fantastic FlyCo Faithful even more?

During the meeeting on Friday morning, we got the news that long-time DC Comics publisher Dan Didio was ousted from the company. That news which spurred lots of conversation and stories about Dan and hopes for some quick clarity on what the move means for DC Comics both immediately and in the longer term. I wish Dan all my best in whatever the future hold for him.

So back to the conference:
Over the last ten years or so, ComicsPRO, the industry's retailer trade association, has given Industry Appreciation Awards. There are two categories for the Industry Appreciation Award, one for professionals who are still active in the business of comics and a Memorial Award for those who have passed away and left an indelible mark on the profession of comic book specialty retailing. After a period of accepting nominations from members, the ComicsPRO Board of Directors presents the final ballot. Members will vote in each category. 

"So You Want to be a Comics Retailer?" panel with Mark Thompson from Cold Cut Distro, Joe Ferrara, Robert Scott from San Diego's Comickaze and Mike Camp, Arizona's Heroes & Villains. San Diego Comic-Con, 2005

 

The Memorial Award for 2020 went to Robert Scott, the San Diego retailer and founder of the Comic Book Industry Alliance, a hitching post for comics professionals to talk about business, exchange ideas and trade stock. CBIA was on the Delphi network but when Facebook groups became a thing, it really took the shine off other internet groups and the CBIA suffered for it.

Robert's CBIA advocacy work kept a lot of comic book retailers, publishers and creators in touch with one another for many years.  Robert was both a cantankerous argumentative conversationalist and a big bear of a sweet guy. He passed away in early December 2019. At the beginning of my remarks in the video here, I mention Robert and his wife Denise, since I know first hand that small businesses are a family affair even if other family members don't directly work in the business.

I was very grateful to receive the other 2020 Industry Appreciation award. In my acceptance, I talked about how my business is so dependent on not just our wonderful FlyCo Faithful who shop with us day in and day out all year long, but also dependent on the work ALL comic book retailers do on a daily basis. 

In order for our comics specialty market to be its best, we need the hard work, innovation and enthusiasm of every comic book retailer. The comics specialty market is a business built by fans, but we still need to apply sound business practices to keep our segment of the comic book business moving in the right direction.
I also relate a story--- a Goofy story--- that goes back to Flying Colors earning the 1995 Will Eisner "Spirit of Comics" Award. Please watch the five minute video, even though the cavernous convention center meeting room is horrible for sound. 

 

Thank you to my retailer colleagues and friends who gave me this recognition.

Believe me, I tried to get them all to vote for the other deserving nominees. 

You can see who those other nominees are and all they've done for comics HERE! 

Peace 'n' Comics!

Joe "FyCoJoe" Field




 

Your invitiation to visit Flying Colors!

"Great shop"

"Knowledgeable staff"

"Wide selection"

"Gives me the same fun and excitement I felt decades ago"

"I love coming here and my kids do, too"

"Exceptional customer service"

"Love how organized everything is"

"Flying Colors always has something for everyone"

And once upon a time, the late great Stan Lee said "Flying Colors is one of the greatest comic book stores in the world."

Thanks for the nice reviews, FlyCo Faithful!

We've got a great selection, organized shop and helpful staff...
Now all we need is YOU!

We're open every day from 11AM-7PM.  Every Wednesday we're open til 8PM for New Releases Day.

Please accept our invitation to visit Flying Colors Comics every week!

Follow Flying Colors on social media:
Facebook 
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Twitter

!

Gene Yang "Superman Smashes the Klan" talk

It's the Flying Colors version of a TedTalk! 

Here's writer/cartoonist/educator Gene Luen Yang speaking at our October 2019 launch event for "Superman Smashes the Klan."

Every time Gene gives a talk, it's definitely worth paying attention! Here he talks about his history with comics & his work on his hit series Superman Smashes the Klan.

You might be surprised what you can learn from comic books! Visit Flying soon and find out for yourself.

Watch the video NOW!

Thank You DEALS!

Hello, Flying Colors Faithful!

Last week, I shared how difficult the holiday season was for our small business here. You can read my post HERE!

Since then, the response has been nothing short of heart-warming!

After 31 years in business here at the corner of Treat Blvd and Oak Grove Rd, we've never experienced more challenges than we have recently. But many of you have responded in ways giving me hope we can keep this shop alive and vital for many more years to come.

So we're throwing a surprise THANK YOU sale. Call it "Christmas in January" if you like, or the Holiday That Wasn't That Now Can Be (kind of a Stan Lee sounding title, don't you think?).

Come in this week and take advantage of the specials below. You'll get some Cool Stuff at great prices and you'll be continuing to help us out of the sales doldrums we slogged through in December.

See you soon--- this week, OK?--- in Flying Colors!

 

 

 

 

Thank You... and a Hopeful Look Ahead

THANK YOU to all our Flying Colors Faithful helping to keep Flying Colors in business by shopping here on a regular basis.

Everything we do at Flying Colors begins with our gratitude to you for buying your Comics & Other Cool Stuff here.

Can we ask a favor? We'd LOVE your help in bringing more of your comics-loving friends and family into our shop.

* You know Flying Colors is well stocked.

* You know our FlyCo Retailing Brigade gives you top-notch service and great recommendations.

* You know Flying Colors has something engaging for readers of all ages and interests.

The thing is, community businesses like Flying Colors are getting to be more rare by the day. Drive through any shopping centers and you won't find many local businesses that actually sell stuff. Sure, there are a ton of fast food and other eating places, there are massage parlors, nail, wax and tattoo places and service centers for phones and other digital devices. And there are plenty of chain stores.

But there aren't many "Mom & Pop" shops selling actual merchandise.

National statistics for the 2019 holiday shopping season show overall retail sales were up 3.4%... and online sales were up 18.8%. That means shopping in physical stores was likely flat to down.

We really hate to admit it, but December sales at Flying Colors were off... substantially.

With the rising costs of rent (another increase is hitting us this month) and higher prices on pretty much everything else in the Bay Area, we're facing some difficult decisions ahead. No, we're not going to close anytime soon (it's surely not in the plans, anyway). But we don't want to be forced into finding a lower cost location or any other drastic actions.

We want to be here to serve this community for many more years... but some of that just isn't in our control.

After bringing the community some fun events in 2019 and maintaining the most deeply stocked comic shop around, we're seeing too many people coming into the shop, especially during the holiday season, taking photos of products, so they could price-hunt for them online.

Every time a phone came out to take a photo of a barcode, a Retail Angel had its wings clipped. 😞

If you're reading this, you're probably one of our HEROES, one of our angels, one of our FlyCo Faithful---  a regular shopper who does spend some of your hard-earned cash here. Or maybe you're a fan from a distance.... possibly a former local who no longer shops here but wants to stay in touch. Maybe you just just like seeing what we post here (we do make an effort to post engaging content).

How can you help?
1) Keep shopping here! If you visit once a month, maybe try to make it twice a month?

2) Give us your advance reservations for comics you don't want to miss, especially if they are from smaller publishers that may not get deep orders otherwise. Our FlyCo Retailing Brigade is happy to help you get just what you want.

3) If you have us holding comics for you on reserve, please come in to get them!

4) If you like what we do here at Flying Colors, please do some social sharing on Facebook, Instagram and other social media outlets to invite your friends and family to join us here at Flying Colors.

Please "tag" Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff in your social sharing... or tag @FlyCoJoe on Twitter and Instagram. Visit our Facebook page HERE! Hopefully the more reviews and notice we get on social media, the more new faces we'll see in the shop.

5) For teachers and librarians, we invite you to come in and get a stack of FREE Flying Colors 2020 Poster Calendars to pass out in your classroom or at your school or library. We also look forward to helping more teachers and librarians increase the number of comics and graphic novels in your classrooms, schools and libraries.

6) Remember every Wednesday Flying Colors gets a new shipment of Comics & Other Cool Stuff...and we'd love to see you here every week!

7) Watch this space! There's more to come, so please keep following us here and keep visiting us in the shop.

As I said up top, Flying Colors is a business built on gratitude. We are extremely grateful for the support this community is still showing us after more than 31 years.
THANK YOU!

May the best still be yet to come!
--- Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field

Flying Colors 2019 Best-Selling Comics & Graphic Novels

Here's Flying Colors' best-sellers list of single issue comic books for 2019.

This list was assembled by total individual copy sales for each issue. When an issue featured variant editions, all sold copies were combined to make the total.

Breaking it out just a bit, the number of different issues for each publisher on the Flying Colors Top 100 for 2019:

DC: 52
Marvel: 42
Image: 4
IDW: 1
Boom: 1

                                

Top  25 Publishers at Flying Colors in 2019.

This list is in order by total dollars sold in 2019.

* The top five publishers represent 66% of total dollars.

* Flying Colors sold comics and graphic novels from 291 *different* publishers in 2019!

In addition, Flying Colors sold "Other Cool Stuff" from another 100 or so manufacturers! 

 

The chart to the right is a list of best-selling graphic novels first released in the calendar year of 2019. 

The graphic below this one is a Best Sellers' list including graphic novels released prior to 2019. This is where you can see which back-list titles continue to chart long after their debuts.

This chart shows the enduring popularity of graphic novels primarily targeted to younger readers by Dav Pilkey (Dog Man), Raina Telgemeier (Guts, Smile, Sisters,  etc), Kaz Kibuishi (Amulet), and Jeff Smith (Bone).


 

In 2019, Flying Colors sold at least one copy of more than 5000 different graphic novel titles.

Roughly 2400 of those 5000 different graphic novels sold just one copy each.

That illustrates the difficult stocking choices we wrestle with every day.

One explanation:
Flying Colors is happy to do one-off special orders for those shopping with us in our Concord shop. 
 
It's a beautiful thing that comics and graphic novels are finding new readers every day and that publishers and creative pros are producing so much material aiming to find an audience.

What are my hopes for those seeing these lists?
* I hope you'll see a few titles on these lists to remind you of what to check out next time you visit Flying Colors. All of the comics and graphic novels here have resonated with lots of happy readers... hopefully you'll join them!

* Also, I hope everyone seeing these lists will understand the high-wire challenge it is for comic book specialty retailers--- like Flying Colors--- to have everything you want in stock whenever you visit us.  We strongly encourage you to place advance orders to make sure you get just what you want.
 
Flying Colors provides a wide selection of current comics and graphic novels while maintaining a solid and deep core of frontlist and backlist graphic novels.  We're honored to keep earning your business. 

Since Flying Colors opened for biz on October 3, 1988, our goal is to have a well stocked, fun shop with top flight customer care. We hope to make every visit here a good time that makes you look forward to your next visit. We hope to see you soon in Flying Colors!

 

Holiday Hours!

Our newest member of the FlyCo Hall of Fave!

Our newest inductee into the FlyCo Hall of Fave is Jeff Bonivert!  (TMNT, Atomic Man, Fun Boys, Captain Four-Color)!!
We’ve long been fans of Jeff’s singular style, his heart & humor he pours into every panel he creates.

Jeff's long career in comics started in 1977 with the publication of his Edgar Allan Poe "Raven" adaptation in Star* Reach Presents. Since then, he's worked on his own creation, including Atomic Man and Fun Boys. He's also done  72 page graphic novel featuring Casey Jones and the Teemage Mitant Ninja Turtles which you can read right here on FlyingColorsComics.com.

On top of all that, Jeff is also the co-creator of Flying Colors' own super-hero mascot... Captain Four-Color)!! Jeff’s been a long-time supporter of what we do here at Flying Colors, so it’s our pleasure to induct him into our FlyCo Hall of Fave!

Here's a quick video of Jeff's induction into the
FlyCo Hall of Fave!

Snoopy: A Beagle of Mars Launch Event!

Happy dance time!

Join us at Flying Colors on Saturday December 14 from 11AM-2PM for this Launch Event celebrating the release of the "Snoopy: A Beagle of Mars" Original Graphic Novel!

This event will feature artists from the Charles M. Schulz Studio. Bios and photos are posted on our Facebook events' page HERE!

A signed copy will make a very cool gift for Peanuts & Snoopy fans of All Ages!

2020 Calendar/Poster Debut!

Wednesday December 11 @ 11AM

Get your FREE Flying Colors 2020 calendar/ poster & get it signed by Jeff Bonivert, the cartoonist & designer who put it all together!
 
It's also our weekly New Releases Day, a great time to visit. 

We'll have a fresh slate of New Comics, Graphic Novels and other Cool Stuff for you, too!