I Think I Can Manage is a weekly column by retailer Steven Bates, who runs Bookery Fantasy, a million dollar retail operation in Fairborn, Ohio.  This week, Bates looks at movie tie-ins and their upside and downside potential:

If you've been involved in entertainment retailing for more than, say, three months, you've seen it happen.  Hollywood rolls out another comics- or games-to-film adaptation, and they come out of the woodwork: the curious, the converted, the collectors, and the completists.  Some just want to read more adventures of the character they saw up on the big screen; others are looking to fill in the gaps left by the screenwriter, director, editor, and star.  A few simply buy it, bag it, and box it up, speculating on potential 'investability' for the future.  Savvy retailers will build displays, promoting the trade paperbacks; spotlighting games, action figures, tee-shirts, and statues; highlighting key back issues; and hawking those point-of-purchase gems, the non-sports cards. 

The truly ambitious will cross-promote with their local movie houses, offering character-related items for door prizes, setting up a table in the lobby, or something even more creative.  Whatever level the retailer takes it to, when Tinseltown gets involved, the potential for profitability is high.

But what about the flip side?  Can big budget movies (and even small screen projects) actually hurt your business?  What do retailers need to consider before jumping on the Hollywood bandwagon?

First, before ordering a boatload of movie-related material, consider what your chances are of selling it without the benefit of a cinematic tie-in.  Will your normal customer base eventually clear your shelves if the movie fans don't find you?  Before Elektra was released, we stocked-up on trade paperbacks, building a display at the checkout months before the movie debuted.  As the trailers hit the screen and Internet, and buzz about the movie began to circulate, we sold a respectable quantity of the trades.  After reviews of the movie came in and audiences started kvetching about the film, we rotated off the Elektra display (replacing it with the Fantastic Four).  Do I feel 'stuck' with unsold Elektra merchandise?  Nah, not at all.  The trades stand on their own, without Jennifer Garner's help-and the movie will not hurt the long-term saleability of those books.

Another thing retailers should consider is whether an in-store movie cross-promotion is feasible, based on your customers' sensibilities and local community standards.  Two good cases-in-point are the movies based on Hellblazer and Sin City.  Both of these adaptations will hit theaters soon, and are already generating requests for back issues and trade paperbacks (Sin City more-so than the questionably-retitled Constantine).  Our quandary is how best to capitalize on the films.  Normally, we make large displays, filled with merchandise peripheral to the movie (comics, books, toys, etc), often in our window box or huge walk-in windows.  This catches the attention not only of our regulars, but also of civilians passing by the store, potential customers who haven't yet discovered how cool comics and games really are.  Unfortunately, being in a small Midwestern town, we could very well drive away families, grandparents, and young ladies with some of the violent and sexual imagery prevalent in Sin City, or offend more conservative Christian customers just on the basis of the name (a snag presented by both the title and themes of Hellblazer, as well).  Though the sheer quantity and superb quality of these two properties make for powerful potential profits, promoting them aggressively is risky.  In a larger metropolitan market, such concerns might seem ridiculous, but to anyone keeping shop in the heartland, it's a retailing reality we must face.

Finally, a word to the wise on ordering tie-in material too far in advance.  Diamond customers know from experience that Previews only operates on suggested shipping dates; counting on getting those toys, statues, or trading cards early enough to actually sell them can be a crap-shoot.  However, Diamond's Reorders On-Line is a great resource for tracking down in-stock and ready-to-ship merchandise.  I frequently use Reorders On-Line to restock trade paperbacks, action figures, etc., for displays and cross-promotions.  Of course, Diamond customer service reps can also assist you in putting together a batch of goodies to tie-in with Hollywood's next huge comic-inspired hit.  Just don't put those out-of-stock items on backorder-in case the film's a flop!