The Four Color Media Monitor

ABC-30 announced yet another specialty store located in Fresno is closing after business of more than 3 decades:

A beloved comic book store in northeast Fresno is set to close after more than three decades in business.

"Heroes Comics" on Shaw Avenue will be shutting its doors on December 31.

Owner Dave Allread says the current landlord wants to increase rent by 70 percent, which is something he can't do.

He says following the news, he has made the decision to retire at the end of the year instead of moving to a new location.

Despite the announcement, Allread says he's grateful for being in business for so long.

Higher rental fees are obviously a leading factor in leading to the closure of these specialty stores, but let's also consider that if these stores rely heavily on Marvel/DC and not enough on independent publishers, that's surely another serious mistake made in business practices. I think if there's still chances for specialty stores to succeed going forward, they have to start building more on independent publications, and be far less reliant on the output of major companies that have long abandoned quality in favor of political motivations. And they certainly can't serve as apologists for the Big Two anymore. Only that way will it be possible to rebuild the business with better standards.

Labels: sales