Posted in: Comics | Tagged: dc comics, diamond, idw, marvel, prh, steve geppi

Sales Are Up On 2019 As Diamond Prepares For 40th Anniversary

It has been quite a couple of years for Diamond Comic Distributors. The pandemic shutdown, albeit only for a few weeks while Diamond instigated safer working practices for staff, saw DC Comics take advantage of the situation. Because Diamond was not distributing DC Comics titles for that time, this broke DC's exclusive contract with them, allowing DC to find other comic book store distribution solutions, setting up their two largest customers, DCBS and Midtown Comics, to become two new comic book distributors, Lunar and UCS respectively. Diamond soon returned and began distributing DC Comics again, but DC Comics then shut them out. And when UCS stepped back, Lunar remained the exclusive distributor to comic books stores. However, despite this massive blow to Diamond's marketshare, an industry booming out of lockdown saw their business hardly affected at all. But that wasn't the case when Marvel Comics switched from Diamond exclusivity to Penguin Random House instead. Marvel is still sub-distributed by Diamond but on much worse terms for retailers. And now IDW has done the same. Diamond is still distributing Marvel and DC comic books internationally, exclusively, as they can amortise the international costs far more effectively than their new rivals, but for how long?

Well, it's been the Diamond Retailer Summit last weekend, with retailers taking roundtables, promotions and social interaction over the current comic book industry. Just without DC Comics or Marvel and with IDW on the way out. But it's all in the spotlight of Diamond Comic Distributors celebrating their fortieth year of business this February 1st. And Steve Geppi wanted to emphasis how business has been growing for them, with sales up this year based on 2019, despite losing much of DC Comics, and with Marvel and IDW to come. Sales by Diamond Comic Distributors were up 18%, including comic sales up 19.5%, graphic novels sales up 45%, collector supplies up 18% and cards sales were up 135%. While for Alliance Game Distributors, sales were up 23.4% despite losing the exclusive on Asmodee USA lines.

That this was true of all of Geppi Family Enterprises during the pandemic and lockdowns, looking at new measures Diamond has been bringing in, and celebrating the growth of the market overall and Diamond in particular, thanking all those who have worked with him over four decades. He was also careful to underline the prominence of the banks and accountants behind Diamond and Geppi Family Enterprises, a sense of stability even in unstable times like these. How they will celebrate their fortieth anniversary is yet to be announced…

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