Charlie Platt of AnimeMountain in Bend, Oregon saw our article on Best Buy's new policies for enforcing age restrictions on videogame sales in response to shareholder pressure (see 'Best Buy to Enforce Age Ratings') and sent us this comment, which lets us know how he handles age-rated items in his store:

While I am the first to defend our rights to sell whatever we want to sell I also work with parents so they are comfortable with their purchases.  This is even more critical when dealing with 'foreign' material.  Cultural differences need to be addressed and explained.  Parents are pleased when you take the time to help them make better choices for their kids (pleased parents tend to spend more by the way).

[ICv2 wrote:]

While these groups are primarily concerned with video games, retailers of other age-rated items such as comic books, graphic novels, anime, manga, and movies should take note of the current campaign targeting video game retailers and come up with and implement a strategy with their own employees for dealing with age-rated items.

My strategy is a simple one.  While my older customers are aware that I order and stock (a few SKU's) I do not even display 'mature (adult)' manga.  My 'older teen' manga is on higher shelves than other manga.  I WILL say no to sales to younger customers -- cheaper to loose a sale than to litigate.  I actively interact with parents to determine 'their' rating system and abide by their wishes.

This is NOT censorship.  It just makes good business sense to make sure that what you sell is appropriate to who you are selling it to.  Instead of being thought of as a sleaze merchant you will be thought of as a responsible and trusted friend of the family.  It's been working for me, it's simple, and it's just good business.

The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.