I finally saw what happens when a shop gets too big for its own good

There's a comic shop near me that's been around since the 90s. Back then, the owner knew everybody's name and what books they pulled. Last 18 months, they moved to a bigger space and hired a bunch of part-timers who don't care. I went in last week to grab my pull list and none of my books were set aside. The kid at the counter just shrugged and said 'check the new arrivals wall.' Has anyone else watched a shop go from solid to frustrating like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulm952mo ago

Oh man, "check the new arrivals wall" is practically a Declaration of War to any regular customer. I walked into my old LCS a few months back and they'd moved the back issue bins to some distant corner that smelled like mildew and sadness. The new kid ringing me up tried to upsell me on a Funko Pop I didn't ask for. It's like they forgot that the whole POINT of a local shop is that you're not just some random wallet walking through the door.

jessica_miller2mo ago

Is it just me or does everything feel like it's slowly turning into a data point instead of a personal connection? Feels like everywhere you go these days, they're optimizing for the sale instead of the relationship.

the_jordan18d ago

jessica, you said "optimizing for the sale instead of the relationship" and man, that's exactly it. I've been watching this happen in my own circles and it's like companies forgot that people aren't just walking wallets with email addresses attached. So let me ask you this: when was the last time you actually felt like a shop or service gave a damn about you as a person, not just your money? Because honestly, I can barely remember the last time I didn't feel like a data point in someone's CRM system.