Charlie Platt of AnimeMountain in Bend, Oregon saw the coverage of the possible impacts of Musicland's current situation (see 'Musicland Blowback?'), and feels that the impact of a chain disruption would be minimized if there were more support for independent retailers:
I've said it before and I'll say it again. If the production companies and the distributors would give a little more support to the 'little people' they wouldn't need to worry about 'expected impact.'
The article mentions 'That business may migrate' -- well I sure as heck hope it 'migrates' back to those of us who were the earliest pioneers of the retail anime business.
Those of us who run specialty stores know the product better, know the target customer better, and care more about the health of the industry. We've been here the whole time, trying very hard to sell the products. I feel we deserve more respect.
I would be unfair if I did not mention that I have seen better support from certain companies and that is encouraging. I'd still like to see better overall support for those of us here in the trenches in 2006.
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