Posted in: Comics | Tagged: christmas, comic shop, Comics, diamond

Diamond Comics Warns Of Delays To Comic Book Stores This Christmas

Published Fri, 04 Dec 2020 09:30:44 -0600

Diamond Comic Distributors has informed comic book retailers that, in meetings with our freight carriers, the Operations teams at Diamond and Alliance have been cautioned about potential delays throughout the freight networks in December and early January. They tell retailers that "while we are in constant communication with the carriers, please bear in mind that, once freight has been handed over to them, we have no further control over the process."

Diamond Comics Warns Of Delays To Comic Book Stores This Christmas

"We know that UPS, FedEx, and the trucking companies are doing their best, but they're warning that the system will experience record volumes all through December," said Geppi Family Enterprises Chief Logistics Officer Shawn Hamrick, "so we are taking extra steps to help retailers be better prepared to meet their customers' needs this holiday season."

Diamond states that through December, Diamond will ship weekly shipments as early as possible each week to provide some additional protection against delays. That this means that some shipments may arrive earlier than usual, so we encourage retailers to monitor the tracking numbers for their weekly shipments and plan accordingly. Which retailers using UCS and Lunar may be used to a bit of late. Just Lunar going forward now though. Diamond does however emphasis that retailers must still honour the stated street dates for products, something that has been a challenge for stores stocking DC Comics recently.

Retailers are encouraged to use the Shipment Tracking function on Diamond's Retailer Services Website to follow the progress of your shipment, and that as Diamond becomes aware of any issues, affected retailers will be contacted via email and through the "Urgent Notification" address provided.

They also state that the deadline for placing reorders for reship and freight forwarding for arrival in store for sale on December 30th will be noon on Friday, December 18th. That Diamond's Olive Branch and Plattsburgh Distribution Centers will invoice customers on Monday, December 21st for product on sale December 30th.

The cut-off for Replenishment Orders will be 24 hours early — Tuesday, December 22nd. There's no guarantee on same-day Direct Ship Reorders placed on Monday, December 28. The January 2021 issue of Previews will arrive in stores with product on sale Wednesday, December 30th, but the Marvel Previews will arrive a week later. December manual Previews Order Forms are due Monday, December 21st and December online Initial Orders are due by Monday, December 28th at 4:59 AM ET.

While the deadline for placing reorders for reship and freight forwarding for arrival for January 6th sale will be noon on Thursday, December 24th. Diamond's Olive Branch and Plattsburgh Distribution Centers will invoice customers on Monday, December 28th for product on sale January 6th. The cut-off for Replenishment Orders will be 24 hours early — Tuesday, December 29th. The deadline for placing reorders for reship and freight forwarding for arrival in store January 13th release will be noon on Thursday, December 31st.

While for Canadian Customers, product for release the week between Christmas and New Year's Day will be available for pick-up from Diamond's Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg Drop Points on Thursday, December 31st between 8:00 AM– 11:30 AM. Diamond states they will make every effort to tender courier shipments from Edmonton and Vancouver the evening of Wednesday, December 30th. Customers will be updated if there are any further delays. And information for Canpar and Montreal drop point shipments will be released as soon as it becomes available.

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