Corbit Wilkins of Captain Comics in Boise, Idaho saw the comment from Jerry Ringi of Amazing Fantasy Comics on street dates (see 'Jerry Ringi of Amazing Fantasy Comics on Street Dates') and agrees '100%:'
I just wanted to send a quick note to comment on Jerry Ringi's words on receiving comic shipments a day early before the Wednesday street date. I agree with him 100%. Wednesdays can be a nightmare for us here at Captain Comics, Inc. Just to get the comics out to our customers on Wednesdays requires us to:
- Drive to UPS to pick up our books. They don't open until 10:00 a.m., but let us pick up our shipment at 9:00 - only because the manager there is very nice.
- We then drive 25 minutes to each store and begin to un-pack.
- Before we open at 10:30 a.m., we have to count all the books, break down the boxes, and clean up any mess we've made before unlocking the door.
- We then begin to pull subscriptions - while still trying to service our customers who are now starting to come into the store.
- This requires us to pay an extra employee for a few hours, as we are trying to get so much done in so little time without sacrificing service.
Then, if a box is missing or damaged, we may lose sales to the other comic shops. And this happens a lot! Almost 50% of the time from November through March, we have at least one box that doesn't make it on time. UPS has to truck the packages over the pass west of Reno, and it's restricted or closed for much of the winter! So there are many Thursdays where we have to pay the extra employee and do the whole 'Wednesday' routine again.
If the packages were scheduled to arrive on Tuesdays, we would have the time to prepare for the Wednesday release date without having to pay for extra help. And if a package was delayed a day, we could still pick it up on Wednesday morning and try to work it in with the rest of the books without missing sales.
I feel most retailers would honor the release date. If there were those few who didn't, it probably wouldn't take long for Diamond to know who they were. They should then lose their early shipment privileges.
Anyway, after thinking about it, I feel it would be a huge benefit to comic retailers -- without any major consequences. Diamond... get it done!