Maryland-based Diamond Comic Distributors, responsible for all distribution to comic stores in North America, has let us know that Superstorm Sandy has had a limited impact on distribution, but a major impact on some stores.  UPS shipments to comic stores were disrupted in the Northeast on Tuesday, but almost all stores that were open had received their shipments by Wednesday, according to Diamond Vice President of Sales and Marketing Roger Fletcher. 

 

The Diamond headquarters in Timonium, Maryland, did close at 3 p.m. on Monday (West coast customer service normally works until 8 p.m.) and opened at 10 a.m. on Tuesday (instead of the normal 8:30 a.m.), but service otherwise was uninterrupted.

 

"Maryland was spared the worst damage but Delaware, New Jersey, New York didn’t fare as well," Fletcher said.  "We’re in the process of contacting all retailers in the impacted areas.  We’ve identified a few so far that have been hard hit and will be working to help them reopen, if possible.  It’s definitely a business interruption for all."

 

Diamond has been having e-mail problems this week; e-mails after Monday afternoon have not been getting through to individual customer service representatives.  Retailers can contact Diamond by phone or using the service@diamondcomics.com or reorders@diamondcomics.com addresses, which will be forwarded to individual reps.  The e-mail issues are unrelated to Sandy.

 

Next week is looking good.  Asked about inter-warehouse shipments and the shipments to retailers for next week’s deliveries, Fletcher said, "Shipments will leave our buildings on schedule."