Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, lansing, michigan

Why Summit Comics And Games Of Lansing, Michigan, Is Expanding In 2021

It's been a tough year for a lot of comic book stores in 2020. But many have weathered the storm better than predictions. And Summit Comics and Games of Lansing, Michigan, has been doing even better, now expanding their downtown Lansing store.

I asked owner Regan Clem about the current plans – and where they were coming from. He told me "We were a comic shop with games on the side, definitely not giving either the justice they deserve in our 1,525 square foot store with a 1,000-foot game room in the back. After the renovations, we are hoping that our square footage for the front of the store will be nearly triple that. We're still in the architect/design phase and working on what is possible."

"But expanding the physical space of the store will allow us to have a spacious and well-stocked game and comic store operating in separate spaces connected with an archway in between. You will be able to come in from outside and go into the comic shop or the game store. The advantage here is going to be that we get a larger space without relocating to a bigger space because moving locations always comes with a separate set of issues including customers possibly losing track of where you are. And this model will allow game players to have a space dedicated to them and comic fans a space dedicated to them. There is a lot of crossover between the two, but this will give each the space they deserve."

"We've always strived to be the best brick and mortar comic shop around. This will just help us push more into that. The undertaking is going to be time-consuming and massive. Knocking out two walls. Electrical work. Flooring. And then fixtures on top of that."

As to the big issue of the moment, Clem addressed this directly. "The current pandemic has been strange for our store. Obviously, we were shutdown for a while during the initial lockdown. Then we adjusted doing curbside, appointment shopping before hours for those who really want to minimize exposure but also come into the store, and just being flexible with whatever new health orders have come our way. There is still a limit placed on us on how many customers can come in the store."

"We, in our effort to focus our energy solely on being the best brick and mortar store that we can be, have never invested the time and energy in developing a web presence. Many of my retail friends think that is insane. Probably some of your readers will too, but this is deliberate because we want to focus solely on meeting the needs of physical customers in our physical space. This makes us different than many who were able to just transition to online sales during the pandemic. That wasn't an option for us without really shifting our focus, so we have been figuring out how we can be even better at what we are. This transition is a result of that."

"Our neighborhood restaurants have been harder hit by health orders so we have ran a promotion for four of them so far where we buy our customers a meal there when they make a purchase in our store double the order amount. This has been a good way to help our community out."

"And, I think, helping our community out over the years through ideas like that one has helped us also beloved by the community. Something that I am humbled and amazed by. I will never take that for granted and greatly appreciate it. That love and support during the pandemic has allowed us to have record selling months this year despite the trying times. So the pandemic has brought its own set of issues. There were weeks where we would rethink how we are doing things to turn around and do it again. Stressful days not knowing what the future would hold, but the wonderful support of the friends of Summit has allowed us to weather this storm and be positioned to come out of these time bigger and better than we have ever been, being able to serve our customers even more effectively through having a better stocked and larger space."

He also talked more about the local neighbourhood in which he operates, and how the store has been changing in terms of product. "The neighborhood we are in is the downtown government district. We're a block and a half from the capital building of Michigan. Many of the workers in our area have still not come back to work from working at home.

As for changes, we have new lines like puzzles that are selling. But generally, it's the tried and true things selling most. Monthly comic books are our bread and butter. We are a new comic shop first and foremost. We have been able to buy a few nice collections during these times, so back issue sales are growing, but that is totally dependent upon collections coming in. Graphic novels are selling well. Staying home and reading a good tale is something great to do right now.  Our shop has sort of become the comic book hub for the Lansing area. People come from all over to the center of the state to shop at our store."

"Like any store, we've had some big hits with Last Ronin, DC sales are surprisingly up for us, and we are seeing a lot of demand for books like Crossover and Department of Truth. It doesn't hurt with Crossover that Jason Howard is a local artist and we had him do an exclusive cover. We also had another local artist, Ryan Holmes, do an exclusive cover on Kaiju Score #1. One thing we're trying to focus on is to give some of our local artists exclusive cover opportunities."

"Another thing that is booming right now, albeit on the gaming side, is Dungeons and Dragons, roleplaying games in general, and their related miniatures and pain. That area has seen a lot of growth. That may be a Covid specific item. More time means taking up a hobby like painting. You can play D&D with friends over Zoom."

"As for 2021, we are looking forward to further growth. The only obstacle we see in our path our two things that may be outside of our control – a potential future lockdown or some comic book publisher collapsing. We have really been promoting publishers that seem to really support the direct market- Boom, Image, Vault, and the like. There are so many great books being made right now. People are just enjoying collecting. And speculators, although despised by many, cause some books to get eyes on it that wouldn't have seen them before."

"I have dreams of opening up more stores surrounding the area. We'll see. One step at a time. But we are thankful to be positioned here to take advantage of our landlord selling our building and look forward to improving both our stores this year so that the friends of Summit will have an even better shopping experience."

Bleeding Cool is interesting in covering all manner of comic book store experience of 2020, going into 2021. If you would like to talk to us, contact richjohnston@bleedingcool.com.

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