Brainstorming!!!!!!

A great deal if you’re a stranger? That was the situation at Brainstorm comic’s 50% of sale this past week.

This week had a huge everything 50% of sale at Brainstorm comics everything from comics, trades, gear, toys and everything else was 50% off great deal right? Wrong!!! The deal did not include anything in your pull list, that is to say anything you asked the store to order for you. Having a pull list is standard practice for many regular comic readers/shoppers, they order their books and stuff in advance so they don’t miss an issue if they can’t get to the shop that week or what not. This is a practice usually taken advantage of by regular loyal customers of the comics shop.

A few of my friends (who shall remain nameless to protect their secret identities) are regulars at Brainstorm and they were both angry and hurt by this 50% sale stipulation. Simply put the sale did not apply to their reserved books i.e. the stuff they read regularly and the material they want to buy sale or no sale. Also the sale turned them into second-class citizens who are treated worse than a total stranger from off the street.

In my opinion any store comics or other should cater more to their regular returning customers rather than a one time only buyer. I myself could very easily have gone into Brainstorm a bought a great deal of material as well as my regular Wednesday comics and gotten the 50% off discount but I’m loyal to my comics shop and prefer to give them my business.

While I do realize that selling comics and collectables is a business and we all need to make money, I just feel Brainstorm made a huge blunder during their sale. Brainstorm should have allowed the sale to cover everyone and every thing in the shop. The purpose of any sale is to increase business and attract new cliental to boost your profits. If you back hand your regular veteran customers in favor of new rookie customers it is not only disrespectful but also bad for business cause the veterans will say why should I go to this guy when I can easily go somewhere else and get treated better or just the same.

I have heard many, many retailers say that a regular customer is more valuable then any one-time sale. This is because regulars keep coming back even if they don’t need to.

Point of fact in today’s world one can super easily get comics, and collectables over the internet at great discounts usually better discounts than any shop can give their customers. People go to the comic shop for the personal touch, the corner hang out experience and the friendly atmosphere. The regulars want to come in and discuss(argue) about Movies, TV, Comics as well as current events, for many of us the comic shop is like our neighbor hood bar where the bar tender is poring us the usual as we walk in the door or the old barbershop on the corner where our dad brought us and we can in turn bring our kids. We go into the comic shop and everyone knows our name and they’re always glad we came.

So Just word of advice to all the shop owners out there don’t take you regulars for granted.