Today we passed the four foot mark of snow in our city! After I cleared my driveway the snow at my house was piled higher than the first floor windows. Not sure if our books will be delayed this week or not.
Two weeks ago, mid-storm, we had a package go missing, in the UPS system, for a week. That along with a two day delay in New Comics day and other game delays. That package arrived 5 days after other orders we placed and received. The water damage to the package must have equaled a pound of snow. What will tomorrow's delivery show, if it arrives on time? FYI a pound of snow can equal less than 6 inches cubed or more than 12 inches cubed. Weight has nothing to do with volume. Sure, I own a comic and game shop but I still have a grasp on high school science.
I expect that much of northern American (which is not the equivalent of North America) has had to deal with this weather anomaly at some time, but not us. In eight years we have not had this string of bad luck and we are in rural New Hampshire. Seven years ago a crazy guy threatened to blow up Hillary Clinton's office, in our town, and every other business around us was told to close and go home. Not us though. The local constables can barely comprehend what we do, never mind take the time to protect us in a time of TNT. (I kid, kind of. We really were allowed to stay open while some guy with road flares tried to close down Hillary's office. Best part is the that my ex-girlfriend married the guy assigned to the cell with the fake TNT guy. You can't make this up. 'MERICA!)
Between parking bans and UPS snow delays I question why I didn't open a medical marijuana dispensary instead. I'm kidding. New Hampshire doesn't currently acknowledge the existence of those. I meant to say, why didn't I open a "insert other weird small business here" instead. I'm not like a big box retailer. I want my staff to make enough every week to survive and be able to afford "things." My staff can work their scheduled shift, even on 0 income snow day. They depend on me and their pay check the way I depend on them. They're not STAFF. They are friends. They are life-support. They are more than family. Without them we do not exist. I will sacrifice my kids’ education for them.
On a 0 income day (that is literal--last Monday we took in $150 which is -$250 after the $400 operating expense for the day) I am committed to still making sure the staff has the income they need to survive. On a snow day I have to try to find work for them that justifies their hours. Today I asked one of our staff to shovel off the roof in hopes it would not collapse under the weight of 48 inches of snow--I did explain that volume does not equal weight and they would be safe.
Just in case OSHA reads this. Boston just closed the train / subway for tomorrow. How many comic and game shops does that affect (and when does the e take precedence over the a?)? I can't imagine doing anything other than what I do now, but looking at how many events I canceled in the last few weeks, and looking at all of my delayed shipments, and looking at how much I paid staff to be there on a day with little money, and factoring in snow removal and equipment maintenance, and comparing the declining income of the last few weeks I wonder if this is worth it.
I seriously turned down job offers that were six figure to pursue this career in useless stuff (come on--we all know that no one needs what we are peddling). Yes, I can't imagine doing anything other than what I am doing right now. Here's to hoping that there are no sink holes or volcanoes in my future. I hope that all of my comic shop owner / manager / staff brethren are faring as well!
Comic Book and game retailing in New England is Amazon & Online vs. a shop with-in a rock's throw away vs. any jack-ass with an eBay account sniping your shop. I wouldn't do anything else.
This is a shout-out to EVERY brick and mortar comic and game shop in snow ridden New England and hoping our friends in real England (looking at you Forbidden Planet U.K.) see how tough we are! For real, if you are reading this and your shop isn't open today, or doesn't have their new books, or has some other weather or other related problem, cut them some slack. None of us do this for ourselves. McKey D's would pay us more, right Gary?
I expect that there is a handful of us that are in it for the big $ (no whammy, no whammy, no whammy) but most of us do this because we love the product. It really means more to us than the source material. We've another foot of white bliss coming Thursday to Friday and that's not the kind of white fun that Tony Montana is moving! Thank goodness February is a short month. Three less days doesn't shorten my monthly commitments, but I think I save on gas, electric and even labor.
It doesn't matter. If I did this for only money this is not how or what I would do. I am a New England Comic & Game Retailer and proud of it! A little bit (Four plus feet) of snow isn't going to keep us down!
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
