I just read what I wrote yesterday and realized I might have offended some very good, very hard-working people.  When I said that all that came out of groups like ERCBRA and PACER were small conclaves of retailers banding together, I made it sound as if such a thing was not worthwhile.  That is not what I meant to convey.  What I meant to say was that not much more than local or regional get-togethers happened as a result of those efforts and that in spite of the good efforts of those local groups, it did not help to bring about a national organization that all comic retailers could belong to.

Such an organization could provide not only group buying benefits and a united voice with which to attempt to force publishers and distributors into treating us as partners; it could also provide opportunities for group medical, dental and life insurance.  A good friend of mine, Preston Sweet, had to close his shop in Athens, Georgia primarily because he could not afford to purchase his own insurance!!