On this year’s Local Comic Shop Day, shoppers at local comic shops bought comics for half off; participated in buy one, get one free deals; and picked up special edition comics and pamphlets of the latest news from the comic universe.
Local Comic Shop Day is like Black Friday for Hero’s Nest, Hillsdale’s comic book shop, but it’s also akin to Small Business Saturday.
The best part of the event at Hero’s Nest was the grab bag: customers received a brown paper bag of “goodies” with any purchase from the store. Inside were coupons and gift cards to local businesses, a free comic book, action figures, and candy.
Shop owner Alison McDowell said the point of Local Comic Shop Day is to support local shops, and said that while Hero’s Nest welcomed an average turnout of customers, the shop also saw a 10 to 15 percent increase in sales compared to the average business day.
“There’s been a great response,” McDowell said. “That’s the heart of our business: doing all the community events and supporting the community.”
McDowell opened Hero’s Nest Aug. 9 when the previous comic shop and screen printing business, Alternaprint, moved back to Chicago. She kept some of Alternaprint’s comic collection to sell, then started purchasing her own inventory.
Alternaprint was mainly a screen printing business that sold comics on the side, but McDowell said solely selling comics at Hero’s Nest has been a very successful venture.
“Business has been pretty solid, and it’s turning up, actually,” McDowell said.
Hillsdale College senior Aaron Schilling was unable to visit Hero’s Nest on Local Comic Shop Day due to a conflict, but frequents the store weekly after discovering the shop at the Source.
“They have a pretty good selection,” Schilling said. “I like to collect used stuff, and the shop has a lot of good stuff from the 80s and 90s.”
Hero’s Nest’s success comes from the direct market approach — which is the comics distribution network, based on a non-refundability model that only stocks comics most likely to sell nationwide or in a particular community, and “archives” surplus inventory for “back issue” releases — but also from active involvement in the community.
Apart from Hero’s Nest’s participation in other national comic events — like the annual MeggaXP comic con in Jackson, Michigan — the shop participates in local events like Awesome Autumn and will walk in Hillsdale’s annual Light Up Parade and host Santa Claus. The shop also regularly allows other businesses to use the shop space for their own events.
McDowell said Hero’s Nest is in the process of starting its own screen printing business to meet local demand for custom-made T-shirts. She originally wanted to stock only Hero’s Nest T-shirts, but couldn’t find anyone to print them, so she said her husband decided to print them himself.
“He mentioned [our project] to a customer, and within 24 hours we had 20 different businesses messaging us about printing shirts,” McDowell said. “So he will be working on that.”
As Hero’s Nest continues to expand and succeed, McDowell said she plans to host a grand opening in a couple months. She regards her shop not only as a resource for local comic readers, but as an invaluable contributor to reviving business in the city of Hillsdale.