Diamond, Leading Suppliers Offer Incentives for Retailer Expansion

As part of its ongoing efforts to grow the comic book specialty market, Diamond and leading suppliers now offer an initiative to encourage existing retailers to open new locations and/or relocate their current stores to larger, higher traffic locations.

BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, DC Entertainment, Diamond Select Toys, Dynamite Entertainment, IDW Publishing, Image Comics and Marvel Comics have all signed on to provide incentives to qualifying retailers.

“Promising retail sales for comic book stores in 2011 and 2012 have encouraged a growing number of retailers to expand into larger stores or to open new ones,” said Diamond Executive Director of Business Development Chris Powell. “Together with our leading publishers and suppliers, we’re excited to announce a program that will allow these retailers to expand with confidence and, by doing so, continue to strengthen the entire comic book industry.”

Programs initially offered to qualifying retailers vary by supplier, but will include:

Increased discounts of up to 69% off orders of backlist products from Diamond and participating publishers and manufacturers;
Backlist consignment programs, allowing retailers to fully stock their stores with graphic novels, trade paperbacks and other pop-culture merchandise with extended payment terms and the ability to adjust stock levels after 6 months;
Increased discounts and/or consignment billing on a new store’s initial orders of comics for its first two months of operation, with consignment billing deferred until retailers have the opportunity to return overstocked product after keeping it on sale for a period of 6-12 weeks; and
Store Starter Kits, offering selections of free trade paperbacks and graphic novels from participating publishers that showcase the vast breadth and depth of comic stories that retailers can use to attract any audience into their stores.

Under the new programs, Diamond will continue to provide professional advice and in-depth instruction on Diamond’s systems from Powell and a team of Diamond personnel.

Expressing views held by many in the industry, DC Entertainment SVP-Sales & Marketing Bob Wayne said: “The weekly experience that the comic book specialty market provides for our fans is extremely important to all of DC Entertainment. We’re excited about this opportunity to work with our retail partners to expand the size of the market, in cooperation with Diamond and our fellow publishers.”

According to Powell, most retailers opening new locations of existing businesses must invest a significant portion of their cash-flow to fleshing out their backlist inventory and preordering monthly comics based on projected sales.

“With this new initiative,” he said, "we will work with retailers to minimize these risks and outlays. This allows the retailer to stock the latest comicsand the hottest graphic novels, trade paperbacks and other bestselling merchandise from day one, which lets them make a great first impression on new customers. It also gives them more flexibility in their budgets for marketing their new store so that they can continue attracting customers and generating sales."

Existing retailers who wish to learn more about the program should contact their Diamond Customer Service Representative for more information.

New retailers seeking to enter the Comic Book Specialty Market should contact Diamond’s New Accounts team via phone 1-800-45-COMIC or via email at newaccounts@diamondcomics.com.

Expansion Benefits & Terms Breakdown

To participate in the following programs, an existing retailer must be opening a new store or must be moving a store into a larger/improved location. That retailer should begin by contacting their Diamond Customer Service Representative to inform them of their plans of opening the new location to begin a simple credit/good standing review process.

Once that process is concluded, retailers that receive approval will be notified and will be able to enjoy the following benefits and place orders accordingly, which are subject to the terms outlined under each program benefit. For more information, please contact your Customer Service Representative or Chris Powell, Diamond’s Executive Director – Business Development, at pchris@diamondcomics.com.

Consignment Backlist Program (includes BOOM!, DC, Image, Dark Horse, & Diamond Select Toys):

No assortments allowed.
Retailers will be invoiced at $0 for backlist products, then billed 1/10 of retail each month for 5 months.
Retailers will be allowed to return products at the end of the 5 months with a 50-cent fee per piece returned, and invoices for applicable product will be generated using typical discounts after returns are checked in.

Consignment Frontlist Program (include BOOM!, DC, Image, Dark Horse, & Diamond Select Toys):

No assortments allowed.
Product will be invoiced at $0.
After 6 weeks, the retailer will have the opportunity to return product and will be invoiced:
- 20-cents per stripped-cover piece returned
- 50-cents per whole-copy piece returned
- After returns are checked in, the retailer will be invoiced at the regular earned discount.

Increased Discount Frontlist Programs:

Retailers will receive the discounts outlined below for the first 2 initial order periods following approval.
Discounts to be received:
- Dynamite : 60% off
- IDW : 60% off (comic products only)
- Image : 69% off
- Marvel : 65% off (contingent upon separate approval by the vendor being provided to Diamond)

Increased Discount Backlist Programs:

Retailer will be eligible to place one stock-up order for backlist products from the below publishers at the discounts outlined. (For Marvel, no more than 50% of the products ordered may possess an on-sale date 90 days or less from the time of the order, and retailers may place an order of no more than 5 per SKU.)
Discounts to be received:
- Dynamite : 60% off
- IDW : 60% off (excludes net-priced items)
- Image : 69% Off
- Marvel : 65% off