Are Local Comic Book Shops threatened by efforts to raise the minimum wage?

[Command-D]

First the San Francisco’s renowned science-fiction bookstore Borderlands Books closes because the San Francisco's minimum wage law, now San Francisco's Comix Experience, and its sister store, Comix Experience Outpost are closing. Are we destroying those unique independent stores that make the urban experience attractive?

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...ore-ian-tuttle

[CSTowle]

I'd imagine the cost to rent space is a much larger factor than paying a few extra bucks an hour. San Fran is not a cheap city to live/work in.

[t hedge coke]

I have no "loyalty" to a shop - any shop - that I'd want the employees to be cheated out of something as basic as a living wage just so I can have that store to visit. I'm a little suspicious of anyone who is that in love with a store.

[skyvolt2000]

First the San Francisco’s renowned science-fiction bookstore Borderlands Books closes because the San Francisco's minimum wage law, now San Francisco's Comix Experience, and its sister store, Comix Experience Outpost are closing. Are we destroying those unique independent stores that make the urban experience attractive?

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...ore-ian-tuttle

A wage has nothing to do with a store closing. What gets many of these stores closed including Radio Shack & Blockbuster is the products that they sell. Especially comic book stores who get placed under a different set of rules.

AN employee explained this to me when I saw him buying some Avengers (first film) toys. I asked him about why didn't he buy them from his own store. He told me that they are not allowed to discount them to a certain price like Wal-Mart.

If he had to buy them from his store-he would have had to pay whatever suggested price the store got them for. Instead he got them from Wal-mart at a 70% discount.

Haven't you notice in stores you will see say Miles Morales action figure for $25 at the comic book store but $10 at Wal-Mart. That is what is killing a lot of stores-they have products that everyone else has at lower prices.

How many blockbuster films did you see got overstock and ordered at Blockbuster? Once everyone who wants a copy gets it-no one else is going to buy it at that price and in some case not even at lower prices.

For many of these stores-survival is getting those books and products that I can't get anywhere offline cheaper.

[Mister Mets]

This is an interesting wrinkle to discussons about the minimum wage, as these stores are particularly vulnerable. Comics and books are unique in that the prices are fixed (readers are not going to be happy paying more than cover price for new comics) which makes it difficult for owners to adjust to new costs. Other industries can respond to a minimum wage increase by charging customers more.

I have no "loyalty" to a shop - any shop - that I'd want the employees to be cheated out of something as basic as a living wage just so I can have that store to visit. I'm a little suspicious of anyone who is that in love with a store.

If the store doesn't exist, the workers aren't getting any wage.

I'd imagine the cost to rent space is a much larger factor than paying a few extra bucks an hour. San Fran is not a cheap city to live/work in.

Rent is likely a larger part of the costs, but in an industry with relatively low profit margins, any significant change can be the difference between a modestly successful business and an unprofitable one.

[Overhazard]

The minimum wage went up in seattle, how are the comic shops doing there?

[PwrdOn]

While there is something to be said about that authentic LCS atmosphere and presence, that doesn't come close to justifying the existence of a business that can't stay profitable despite not only charging customers inflated prices for items they could easily get cheaper elsewhere but also paying its own employees sub-living wages. Of course raising the minimum wage is going to result in some job losses, especially for businesses like book stores that were already struggling to begin with, but the long term effect will be more disposable income in people's pockets which means that the businesses that do survive will have more money to expand and hire new workers. People in this country need to have the patience to stick with a policy and see it through instead of just panicking at the first sign of adversity and crying bloody murder.

[CSTowle]

Most shops I've gone to are usually run by one or two guys who own the place (my current store has five guys owning a percentage), and they rotate shifts to accommodate their real jobs. They pay some guys to fill in for store credit from time to time, but usually it's one of the owners behind the counter. It's a passion job, it's not something you do to make a lot of money (the '90s boom is long gone, and digital/online deep discounts makes it hard for mom & pops to compete). And you look at some of the factors comic shop owners have to deal with as laid out by this website's own "Tilting at Windmills" column and it's no wonder shops are closing.

[Mark]

I'm actually a little amazed comic book stores are still holding on. I know that at 3.99 to 5.99 I can't afford more than three comics per week, four tops and I don't see how they make any money on that.

[MadMikeyD]

The shop in the article is Brian Hibbs' shop, the guy who writes "Tilting at Windmills." He did the math and this "small increase" in the minimum wage is going to cost him an additional $80,000 a year. That's not rent. That's wages. Comic shops barely make it as it is, and now he needs to find $80,000 more per year.

By the way - the article does not say he is closing. He came up with a "Graphic Novel of the Month Club" subscription program to try and make up some of the additional cost. He is almost halfway to reaching his subrcriber goal.

Here is a Comics Beat interview where here talks about it in more detail:
http://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-...san-francisco/

[MECHANO]

I love how the store owners explicitly state that the mandatory wage hike is causing them to close and yet many in this thread can't seem to accept that. "It's actually the rent... They must have been struggling anyway"... Do you have an extra 80k per year to dole out?

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archive...8Power+Line%29

[MindofShadow]

I guarantee the employees at these stores would much rather get back 12 bucks an hour than the zero bucks an hour they are about to make when they get laid off...

[bert]

I have no "loyalty" to a shop - any shop - that I'd want the employees to be cheated out of something as basic as a living wage just so I can have that store to visit. I'm a little suspicious of anyone who is that in love with a store.

well said.

[Mister Mets]

While there is something to be said about that authentic LCS atmosphere and presence, that doesn't come close to justifying the existence of a business that can't stay profitable despite not only charging customers inflated prices for items they could easily get cheaper elsewhere but also paying its own employees sub-living wages. Of course raising the minimum wage is going to result in some job losses, especially for businesses like book stores that were already struggling to begin with, but the long term effect will be more disposable income in people's pockets which means that the businesses that do survive will have more money to expand and hire new workers. People in this country need to have the patience to stick with a policy and see it through instead of just panicking at the first sign of adversity and crying bloody murder.

There are several wrinkles to the discussion.

Anyone who thinks raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is a bad idea is going to glom onto this as an example.

But it's also possible that this is something that is particularly damaging to a type of business, but that the tradeoffs are worth it.