Diamond, Dark Horse, DC Host SDCC Retailer Lunch

On July 22, during Comic-Con International: San Diego, more than 200 retailers joined Diamond, Dark Horse Comics, and DC Comics for a special Retailer Lunch to discuss each company’s upcoming plans, field questions, and hear comments directly from retailers.

Diamond was represented by Vice President of Operations Cindy Fournier, Vice President of Purchasing Bill Schanes, and Vice President of Marketing & Sales Roger Fletcher. “Recent years have posed challenges to every sector of our industry,” Fletcher said. “We wanted to let retailers know what Diamond, Dark Horse, and DC are doing to continue earning their business, and their trust, in the coming months.

“We are also grateful to Dark Horse and DC for co-sponsoring the luncheon with us, to Comic-Con International for providing the venue, and to ComicsPRO for integrating it into their retailer programming,” Fletcher added.

In addition to thanks, attending retailers received a free Comic-Con Thank-You Pack containing premiums from Dark Horse, DC, & Diamond, and from Marvel Comics, Diamond Select Toys, and VIZ Media.

The lunch opened with presentations from Dark Horse and DC.

Dark Horse discussed their Comic-Con announcement of three new titles, Orchid (from Tom Morello, frontman of Rage Against The Machine), The Strain (from Director Guillermo Del Toro), and House of Night from P.C. Cast, who was also was a surprise guest and spoke to retailers about the upcoming five-issue mini-series and its place in the House of Night lore.

DC reitereated their incentive and marketing support for DC's new 52 launch, and revealed details of its movie screen co-op advertising campaign. Retailers should also look for a complete hardcover omnibus of all 52 #1 issues later in the year, and a quick solicited Flashpoint TP as well. A full promotional trailer for the new The Dark Knight Rises film was also shown to retailers.

Diamond’s presentation opened with a review of the Comic Book Specialty Market’s performance for the year to date, which provided some encouraging data for the attendees: June PREVIEWS initial orders were the highest posted since August of 2010; sales of non-comic products rose by 39%, led by Toys, which experienced a 43% increase; and the customer count in Comic Book Specialty Market rose by .5% versus a year ago.

In light of these results, Diamond plans to formalize its assistance program to retailers seeking to expand or relocate their businesses. Extended payment terms, stock offers on backlist merchandise, and other helpful aids will be part of the program, as will a guide to best practices and pitfalls assembled from interviews with experienced chain-store retailers.

The Diamond presentation reviewed many of the company’s accomplishments from the past year:



• Day-Early Delivery: More than 1,700 retailers participate in the program. These retailers collectively represent 75% of U.S. & Canada retailers and over 85% of sales in the Comic Book Specialty Market. Secret Shoppers have made more than 2,700 visits to participating stores as of mid-July, documenting 33 violations that resulted in suspension of only 2% of the program’s participants. Retailers were also assured that, after refining the delivery process to compensate for the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays on Mondays, Labor Day week deliveries were expected to proceed smoothly.




• Diamond Digital:  The joint venture between Diamond and iVerse Media was reviewed in advance of its announced September rollout. Beta testing with more than 50 retailers is underway now. More than 30 publishers – including IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Archie Comic Publications, NBM, Top Shelf Productions, and others – have signed on to participate, with more companies in talks to join them. iVerse CEO Michael Murphey also took the floor to describe how the new initiative was taking shape and to assure retailers of their place in the digital process.



• Operations:  Earlier this year, Diamond’s Olive Branch Distribution Center successfully assimilated customers previously serviced by the Los Angeles Distribution Center. Now, the Olive Branch and Plattsburgh facilities combined ship an average of 1.37 million units of 350 new SKUs in double-walled shipping boxes for synchronized release to customers every week, for a total of more than 18,000 new items and 70 million units a year. Additionally, the number of out-of-stock confirmed reorders has dropped significantly. Fournier attributed the centers’ successes to Diamond’s dedication to providing the staffs with constant training that ensured fewer errors and greater efficiency.


• Free Comic Book Day: More than 2,000 participating retailers marked the event’s 10^th anniversary by giving away a record 2.7 million free comics. The event generated more than $1.8 million in free broadcast, print & internet media coverage that helped many FCBD retailers post record sales and introduce their stores to many potential new customers.





• Comic Shop Locator Service:  The Service is thriving in its 15^th anniversary year, referring more than 40,000 shoppers to participating comic shops every month via its toll-free phone number and website. Participants can now add links to their Facebook and Twitter accounts, and include Kid-Friendly and School & Library tags with their profiles. On the horizon: geolocation apps along the lines of FourSquare and MapHook.



• PREVIEWS Exclusive Apparel: Retailers were reminded of Diamond’s new line, which is showcased at the beginning of PREVIEWS’ Apparel section each month. These exclusives give Diamond nearly 100% penetration into the comic book and hobby-game markets – the only places where consumers will find these items. Response from retailers has been strong, particularly to the volume discount for eight or more shirts of the same style in any size (inspired by conversations with attendees at this year’s ComicsPRO meeting).



• Toys: Diamond has been working with Mattel Toys to obtain full sets of its bestselling DC Universe action figures for retailers at competitive pricing, with encouraging results. Additionally, new figures and restocks in Diamond Select Toys’ Marvel Select figure line have performed exceptionally well, and retailers can look for more sales-builders to come, including Minimates Max figures, neon signs (such as the popular Ghostbusters Logo Sign), bottle openers (such as the Star Trek Gift Set), and more.



• Eaglemoss Publications: Retailers continue to benefit from Diamond’s relationship with the publisher of DC Comics Super Hero Collection Magazine and The Classic Marvel Comics Figurine Collection, as Diamond’s large inventory of backlist issues from the publications have helped satisfy consumer demand for both.


Other innovations discussed during the presentation included Diamond’s Weekly Master Data Change File, the ability to enter Order Adjustments and PREVIEWS Plus orders online via Diamond’s Retailer Services Website, and updates to the website’s Unfilled Order Reports. Future plans for ComicSuite were also discussed, including ComicSuite Lite for managing in-store subscriptions and working with others in the industry to make the program even more affordable.

Among the other Diamond developments now in the works:

• ACH Electronic Payments, which will enable retailers to transfer money from their business accounts to their Diamond account.

• License to Thrive, a program led by Diamond Vice President of Business Development, and former Tokyopop COO, John Parker that will bring a wide variety of licensed products previously unavailable in North America to PREVIEWS and to specialty market retailers to further differentiate them from mass market competitors.

• Reorders Online Search Enhancements, enabling retailers to search for product in Diamond’s system by creator and publisher names, and to sort & display the results as they wish.

• Shipping Ts, a generic shipping aid that can be used for sending a single comic or up to 3 or 4 graphic novels at a time, ideal for retailers who ship these products to their customers via the USPS or UPS.

• Sale Sheets, which retailers would be able to customize and generate from a profile created in the My Account section of Diamond’s Retailer Services Website. These sheets would include ordering information for any item(s) in Diamond’s database and could be used as bag-stuffers, fliers, and other tools.


The presentation concluded with mentions of the 2012 Diamond Retailer Summit – which will be held from May 10-11 in Chicago prior to C2E2 – and of FAN, the website from Geppi’s Entertainment Museum that brings collectors together to share their passions.



“Overall, the attendees’ mood at the luncheon was very positive,” Fletcher said. “So, too, were the questions and suggestions we received from them afterwards. All of us – retailers, vendors, and Diamond – share a desire to build upon the industry’s successes of the past year. As always, our customers’ feedback will enable Diamond to provide them with the services and products they need to do that.”