Hey, Folks!
Well, Brian has passed the test! I took a WHOLE weekend off…the first since he started working for me…and he got all the way through it with no problems. YES! I am very proud of him and glad to see that I am apparently getting the hang of this whole “Boss” thing. Now we go to the next level of training where I set him up to handle a whole week without me here in preparation for Hill and I’s Bahama getaway in September. That will be a little trickier, but I have faith in him. By the way, does anyone know where I can download a template for an employee guide?
As many of you already know there was a problem with DC and their DC Connect monthly catalog for July. Apparently, they were planning a Flash variant cover featuring Ezra Miller and, due to his recent mental health problems and the attendant bad publicity, they decided to nix it. Unfortunately, they didn’t make this decision before including the image in the catalog. Instead of just telling people “Sorry, it’s cancelled” they pulped the entire printing of the catalog and then delayed its release two weeks in order to reprint it sans cover image. It wasn’t really that big a deal for me because I generally don’t get much in the way of D.C. special orders to process every month. Well, the damn thing is supposedly shipping next week, but I got my shipment for next week in yesterday and they were not in the box! I double checked my orders and I had a record of ordering them, but when I checked it against the order history on Lunar’s site my order had disappeared. I mean, it literally shows me ordering all of the DC Connect’s EXCEPT the July issue. Understand that I can’t call Lunar to talk to someone about it and the only way to communicate is through e-mail. Instead of going down THAT rabbit hole, I simply went onto their site and ordered some more copies of the damn thing. As a result, I won’t have them for start of business on Wednesday, but they should be here by the end of the day. In any case, I will simply pull one of them for all of the subscription service customers and leave the rest out on the counter for folks coming through for their new comics. I apologize for whatever happened and hope that this is the end of D.C.’s catalog problems for a while.
So Brian has been at me for a while about having some kind of semi-regular sale in the store. It is kind of a foreign concept for me as up until this point I always figured having the big post-holiday sale for two months every year was more than enough “sales time”, but I am willing to be convinced otherwise. As a result, we are going to have Monarch Comics’ first Christmas In July Sale starting on Friday, July 23rd, and continuing through Sunday, July 25th! For this weekend, and this weekend only, ALL HARD COVERS/TRADE PAPERBACKS will be 25% OFF cover price or price marked, the BACK ISSUE BOXES will be 25% OFF, and the SHOWCASE BOOKS will be 15% OFF! I am told this will be for the best as with all of my purchasing lately the back issue boxes are getting to be a bit tight and we need space for more new product. SO make your list and check it twice and we will see you then!
I have talked a bit on here and in the store about trying to up Monarch’s merchandise game a bit since I took over ownership. It has had its ups and downs, but I have generally been happy about it. Unfortunately, due to rising costs behind the scenes, including the product itself as well as the crazy amount of shipping I’m being charged by Diamond, I’m sad to announce that we will not be ordering any Funko POP figures from this point forward. I recently did the math and it is to the point that I am making little to no profit on carrying the Funko material and the problem has been compounded by Diamond’s packing process which has resulted in receiving lots of damaged product which further cuts down the profitability. Understand that there is already months of Funko stuff already ordered and I fully expect to see a ton of it ship in over the next six-twelve months, but from this point forward I will bot be ordering anything new offered. I am still willing to special order Funko material for those who inquire, but understand that any orders I put in may take months and months to fill. I recently received POP merchandise that I ordered LAST summer as an example. I am going to look into possibly going direct with Funko and I am always looking for a new distributor for other types of comic related merchandise. I will be sure to keep y’all updated as I have more information.
That’s it for me this week! I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and I look forward to seeing you in the store this week. I know my schedule has been a bit weird lately, but there are things going on behind the scenes that I am hoping will make everything a little more regular…at least until Hill and I escape to the Bahamas!
Have a great week! 😊