![]() ![]() Bureau of Labor Statistics and Google Trends, they determined bookstores to have survived quite well in hard times.Īt 43%, bookstores saw the biggest increase in the number of businesses during the latter part of the pandemic. It turns out that bookstores are one of the most “recession proof” businesses, according to a Forbes Advisor Analysis. It’s one of the defining characteristics of the comics industry that it always thinks its dying, but it hasn’t been true yet. Is 2023 going to be a bloodbath?Įconomists are mixed on just where we’re going with the recent bank failures, inflation and other troubling signs of an oncoming recession. Of course comics sales and reading surged during the pandemic, a surge which has come to an end, especially for periodical comics. It’s down from the estimated 8,000-10,000 comics shops that existed in the 90s, but during those speculator times that included card shops, which were another huge source of speculation in those times.ĭespite all the social media claims, according to those who sell to comics shops, it does seem that the number of stores remained stable in 2022. This ballpark number has remained pretty steady for the years I’ve been tracking it. The best “industry estimate” is that there are around 2500 comics shops in the US, according to a piece in Games Radar. ![]() ![]() Not all of these accounts are comics shops – some are online retailers or even “buying clubs” – although my understanding is that it’s harder to start this kind of account these days. In 2013 Diamond released the figure of 2638 accounts, noting it was up 3% from the previous period. The date of this number isn’t stated but its in line with other information they’ve shared. Looking at the bigger picture, according to Diamond’s website they have currently 3500 accounts. I asked Christina Merkler, co-owner of Lunar and DCBS if she had the number and while she didn’t have it at hand, she characterized it as “a few.” I haven’t had a chance to reach to get an exact number, but it’s on my to do list. Of course this doesn’t tell us how many shops closed. Extensive search capability.But at ComicsPRO, Diamond announced that the number of retailer accounts remained stable, with a less than 1% decrease in total accounts ordering from them in 2022.Ī second source for this investigation was a breakfast for retailers held by Lunar Distribution at the recent Emerald City Comic Con, which included this slide:Īccording to Lunar’s report, they had 177 new stores/accounts in 2022, with 116 of them being brick and mortar shops.Create Wish Lists for quick reference or to share with others. ![]()
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