Pat Thompson of 8th Street Books & Comics in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan saw Barry Branvold's comments on holiday shipping (see 'Barry Branvold of Barry's Collectors Corner on Holiday Shipping'), and suggests that based on his experience, perhaps a regional approach to holiday release might work:

In response to Barry Branvold's comments I would like to point our that the one day delay was the second in two weeks and that statutory holidays in the United States of America do not usually impact Canadian shipments.  The Memorial Day hold on comics was unannounced and served no purpose.  It did manage to increase my labour costs and disrupt my sales.  The Victoria Day hold on the comics was a Diamond decision.  The comics were in Edmonton on the usual day and ready for delivery.  Diamond insisted they be held for one day.

Barry's comment on customers not driving to his store is very telling.  Since customers don't travel long distances when their local doesn't have comics on time then perhaps it is time for Diamond to consider holding comic shipments only on a regional basis.  If there is not going to be a delivery problem in a particular region then perhaps there is no reason to hold that region's comic shipment.

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.