« Home | Some more about Neil Gaiman, from a woman whose hu... » | New Batman cartoon gender-swaps Penguin, and voice... » | My Hero Academia comes to an end » | Joe Quesada's new publishing company is one we don... » | Former cast member of Star Wars' Mandalorian spino... » | Past inventions of Jews includes superheroes » | What comics editor Alanna Smith says about women b... » | Newsarama gives muddled history of Psylocke » | More about Animix's exhibition dedicated to Octobe... » | Some more articles about the Sabra issue in Capt. ... » 

Thursday, August 08, 2024 

Another Canadian specialty store closes

The CBC reported on another comics retailer in Hamilton who's being forced to close due to health issues and higher rent:
Piles of bright comic books line the walls as Gary Burton makes his way around his Hamilton store in late July, attempting to pack up his business of over 30 years.

Burton, 62, who has lost most of his vision, is being evicted from his Barton Street East location, but said he's hopeful he'll open Burdin's Comics somewhere else soon.

[...] Burton was dealt two blows this year that led to the store closing.

The first is cataracts in both eyes that have caused him partial blindness. It's hard for him to see clearly, and small fonts are impossible to read, so he's been getting customers to enter their own totals into the cash register, he said.

He hopes to qualify for surgery soon to restore his vision.

Landlord says she's trying to force Burton out

The second issue is with his landlord, Burton said.

He's been renting the Barton Street East location for seven years, paying about $600 a month.

But in March, his landlord started increasing his rent, as she's allowed to do under Ontario's commercial tenancy rules.

By August, it was set to rise to $1,500 — more than double the original amount — and Burton knew he couldn't afford it
, he said.

Business has been slow, with customers feeling the pinch of inflation and higher cost of living, Burton said. Comic books aren't high on their list of essential purchases.
I'm terribly sorry the guy's suffered from eye infection, and it's too bad rent's going up, but the latter problem surely does involve plummeting quality of the mainstream, and for all we know, not every independent creator's doing a good job bringing something worthwhile to marketplace. Some retailers even rely too much upon Marvel/DC products, and that's got to be one of the hugest mistakes the medium's marketers made over past decades, which has likely made it difficult to make the shift properly to emphasizing independents more. Why, if retailers only knew how to rely upon Diamond Distribution in past decades, unlike regular book stores employing several distributors, that too is a serious flaw that's damaged the business.

I wish the guy good luck in getting his operations and maybe he'll be able to reopen his comics business in the future, but for now, it's got to be hoped future generations will learn some lessons in marketing here, and won't overlook how lack of merit is a leading factor in the downfall of comicdom.

Labels: ,

About me

  • I'm Avi Green
  • From Jerusalem, Israel
  • I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best.
My profile

Archives

Links

  • avigreen2002@yahoo.com
  • Fansites I Created

  • Hawkfan
  • The Greatest Thing on Earth!
  • The Outer Observatory
  • Earth's Mightiest Heroines
  • The Co-Stars Primer
  • Realtime Website Traffic

    Comic book websites (open menu)

    Comic book weblogs (open menu)

    Writers and Artists (open menu)

    Video commentators (open menu)

    Miscellanous links (open menu)

  • W3 Counter stats
  • Bio Link page
  • blog directory Bloggeries Blog Directory View My Stats Blog Directory & Search engine eXTReMe Tracker Locations of visitors to this page  
    Flag Counter Free Hit Counters
    Free Web Counter

    This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

    make money online blogger templates

Older Posts Newer Posts

The Four Color Media Monitor is powered by Blogspot and Gecko & Fly.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.
Join the Google Adsense program and learn how to make money online.