DivaLea: Where has all the manga gone?

Guest commentary by Lea Hernandez

Our LCS has stopped ordering manga.

And here I was, ready to buy it from them, rather than B&N or online, so I could SUPPORT MY LCS, instead of ragging on it for having cramped aisles, staff eating at the counter, and a seriously picked-over and tired manga section.

The guy at the counter told my husband it was because they can't compete with the bigger stores. Well, okay, right. You don't get their discounts. You don't get books shipped directly to you.

On the other hand, you aisles are cramped, you say "I dunno" a lot, you always have an excuse for why you don't have something and never offer to order it, ALL your displays (except the new comics display) are picked-over and getting dusty, and the window decor, in spite of the lonely sign near the bottom of one window that says "Where families collect," still screams GUY HOLE, CAVE OF BLUNDERS, GIANT SIZED MAN THING.

You're doing two things to make moms and girls (or even the average dad) want to go into your store and buy manga or tag along with their kids so YOU CAN SELL SOMETHING TO THEM, TOO.

TWO THINGS:

Jack.

(and)

Shit.

I realize shops run on budgets. I realize you can't offer the selection a big box store does.

But you aren't even, as far as I can tell, taking steps. Cleanliness.

Eating in the break room, or at least the part of the store set aside for the gamers. Get the damn old painting of the Hulk out of the window. Put up some nice posters, of ALL SORTS of comics, including ones GIRLS WANT.

Answer questions with, "I don't know, but I can check," instead of "I dunno." Ask your manga-reading customers (you had at least ONE until today), what they want, get it for them, and stock a bit more. No one says, and I never would, even if I were QUEEN OF ALL COMICS STORES, to stock all manga. A lot of the titles out are crap. A lot aren't. Stock what's good, and build a clientele that comes in because you hand them a manga THEY asked for, with a smile. If you're nice to them and their moms, they'll come back.

Courting girls and women is the key to your survival against the big box stores when it comes to selling comics in general and manga in particular. The heady days of the mom's basement atmosphere are over.

I've been in sales. I AM in sales, I sell at conventions, hand-selling my books and art one book, one person, at a time. I've run a retail store selling clothes. It's hard work, running a store, but IT'S JUST NOT THAT DAMN HARD to SELL, and it's possible to build a customer base that will drag themselves over broken glass with their tongues to be there on Wednesday.

I bought Tsubasa 3 and 4 from Barnes and Noble.