DC Comics reaches out to comic shops affected by Hurricane Katrina
Many businesses have been lost in the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and a lot of them will be of the small-business-owner-living-the-American-dream variety. I wonder how many of these small business owners are going to get this kind of help from their suppliers to rebuild....
This isn't the first time DC Comics has done something like this to help out the comic retailers who stand to lose their livelihood. Here's a link to an article from 1992, when Hurricane Andrew ravaged Florida and Louisiana and Hurrican Iniki blew across Hawaii. And we're not talking about throwing a few dollars at the stores. DC did things like giving stores 100% credit on their orders for a couple of months so retailers could use their 100% profits to help rebuild, sending back issues to help rebuild store inventory, offering 75% co-op reimbursement on print ads and sponsoring in-store creator tours to help bring customers back into the stores.
In the grand scheme of things, being able to get your weekly supply of comic books may seem unimportant to the average American, but remember that every shop is owned by someone who depends on the revenue from that shop to support themselves. When I was in high school and college, I worked part time in a comic book shop owned by a friend of mine, so I know a little something about how much (or how little) money those shops bring in - and this was in the boom days of "The Death Of Superman" when people were speculating in comics, and shops seemed to pop up on every street corner. Kudos to DC (and don't be surprised in the coming days to hear about Marvel getting involved in similar efforts) for offering to do what they can to help a few small business owners get back on their feet after losing everything.
DC's Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Stephanie Fierman, says, "We are extremely concerned about the safety of these comics retailers and their families, and DC will do everything it can to assist them both today and when they're ready to get back on their feet. For now, affected retailers will receive their DC items at no charge. We will be announcing a comprehensive set of actions next week, after consulting with our customers.”
This isn't the first time DC Comics has done something like this to help out the comic retailers who stand to lose their livelihood. Here's a link to an article from 1992, when Hurricane Andrew ravaged Florida and Louisiana and Hurrican Iniki blew across Hawaii. And we're not talking about throwing a few dollars at the stores. DC did things like giving stores 100% credit on their orders for a couple of months so retailers could use their 100% profits to help rebuild, sending back issues to help rebuild store inventory, offering 75% co-op reimbursement on print ads and sponsoring in-store creator tours to help bring customers back into the stores.
In the grand scheme of things, being able to get your weekly supply of comic books may seem unimportant to the average American, but remember that every shop is owned by someone who depends on the revenue from that shop to support themselves. When I was in high school and college, I worked part time in a comic book shop owned by a friend of mine, so I know a little something about how much (or how little) money those shops bring in - and this was in the boom days of "The Death Of Superman" when people were speculating in comics, and shops seemed to pop up on every street corner. Kudos to DC (and don't be surprised in the coming days to hear about Marvel getting involved in similar efforts) for offering to do what they can to help a few small business owners get back on their feet after losing everything.
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