Tuesday
Aug312010
Diamond to Change Weekly Delivery Date
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 4:41PM | Matt Sager 
Starting in January 2011, accounts serviced by Diamond Comics Distributors will be able to get comics and graphic novels delivered to stores on Tuesday for a Wednesday on sale date, in line with other industries that have street dates.
Comics shops have traditionally received their weekly deliveries on Wednesday, which is also the on-sale day. The new policy means that comics shops will no longer have to scramble to get shipments ready for sale on Wednesday mornings as customers stream in for their weekly comics haul, a practice that was exhausting and chaotic for many retailers. Retailers who wish to continue to receive their shipments on Wednesday can do so.
This "street dates" idea had been resisted by Diamond and publishers for many years because of fears that retailers would jump the gun and sell the comics available early. But larger stores with multiple outlets had already been getting Tuesday deliveries. And experiments with streets dates for such hot ticket items as Blackest Night #6 and Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour showed that retailers were overwhelmingly sticking to the rules.via publishersweekly.com
To the comics retailing community: I know that the rise of digital comics has you concerned. However there are many upsides, the first of which is that you're gonna start noticing very quickly that Diamond is actually treating you like a business partner, rather than an employee.
Because while you, if you choose, can participate in the digital revolution and use it to grow your business, Diamond is no longer the undisputed ruler of all things comics related, and that makes them pee-pee pants scared.
tagged Digital Comics
Digital Comics
Reader Comments (1)
This is good news and sad news all at the same time. A very good friend of mine - who fought with Diamond for years - just recently gave up, and sold his business.
Personally, I Long for the days when comics were sold at your local corner drug store. This business of Driving 20 miles just to get to some "elite" book store, is for the birds.