We continue to get more comments on Free Comic Book Day.  This one, from Jay Bardyla, owner of Happy Harbor Comics & Toys in Jasper, Alberta, was prompted by some of the negative stories on FCBD. 

I wasn't going to comment on our experiences of FCBD but after reading some of the responses (especially the negative ones) I am compelled to write.  Before I tell you what happened, here's a quick idea of where our store is located.  We are nestled in a small town in the Rocky Mountains, a population of about 4,500 people and 4 hours from the any major city (that being Edmonton).  We have a 2-screen theatre that did NOT have Spider-Man showing opening weekend, a weekly newspaper, and 2 regional radio stations so our ability to cash in via other media is limited.

All that being said, FCBD was the single best sales day we ever had, even considering the newspaper messed up our ad.  Our customer traffic was up 1000% for a typical Saturday.  We sold things, we gave away all but a couple dozen of the 'free' comics and I have already seen return customers, notably kids under 12 with their parents.  FCBD was a success for us and if we made it work with such limited resources and clientele base, anyone could have done it.

For those stores who didn't participate, shame on you for not helping not only yourselves but the industry as a whole.  For those retailers who had a 'bad' experience with the day, you need to examine what you did and do things differently next year.  It may be dangerous to say, but for those who didn't join in or who did poorly, maybe your heart wasn't in it and if that's the case I would have to question why you're in this business to begin with.

As a hobbyist, a retailer and a businessman, I made sure to approach this event from all angles.  We promoted reading, we promoted collecting, we had a sale; all the bases were covered and it worked. It worked very well.