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Retailing | Full Service Comics is a comic shop for those who don’t have time to go to the comic shop: They take customers’ orders, get the comics from Diamond, and deliver them to the customer. There’s no brick-and-mortar store yet, but founder Keith Finch says he hopes to have one eventually. [Nooga.com]
nooga.com/173920/full-service-comics-offers-escapism-to-busy-professionals/
Full-Service Comics offers escapism to busy professionals
By CHLOÉ MORRISON - Published on August 29, 2016
Sometimes, you need a departure from the real world, and that's what the relatively new business Full-Service Comics aims to offer.
"I’ve spent nearly two decades in positions that, quite often, kept me so busy that the thought of making it to a comic shop was the last thing on my mind," founder Keith Finch, a lifelong comic lover, said via email. "Full-Service Comics is the bridge to escapism for the busy professional."
In a nutshell, the business is a comic delivery service.
The business aims to eliminate the hassle and time commitment it takes to drive to a comic shop, and Keith said his company provides a personal touch that ordering online often lacks.
Keith and his wife, Lisa, set up the LLC in July 2015, but really got it going at the beginning of 2016.
Fast facts
—Keith has always loved comics, even "way before comic books were considered cool."
—His dad bought, read and collected "Conan the Barbarian," "Savage Sword of Conan" and the original "Swamp Thing" series.
—Having that experience with his father "made it clear that, even at a young age, comics were a completely valid form of escapism for people of any age."
—The comics helped improve his reading skills, and "thanks in no small part to my lifelong interest in comics and visual storytelling, I earned a degree in graphic design [from UTC] and have been fortunate enough to spend my adult life working in my chosen field."
"Having a comic shop has always been one of those things that I wanted to do, but never really felt like was attainable," Keith said.
But a friend of his mentioned Project: PopUp, which was River City Co.'s business incubator project that aimed to get businesses on Chestnut Street.
Keith did some research and found out that a college classmate of his had gotten one of the Project: PopUp spots. He talked to her about business and nothing she said scared him off, he said.
So he went through the Co.Starters business class, where he "received a pretty solid basis for starting a business."
"Then I continued the planning process, re-evaluating what was needed in the market, what I wanted to do, etc., several times," he said. "Some things in my personal life happened that kinda acted as a wake-up call to start making things happen, so here we are ... making things happen!"
So far, the Finches have funded the business out of pocket, and the investment has been "relatively minor."
Keith orders based on customer requests, and he's also working to build up a solid trade paperback/graphic novel inventory for an eventual brick-and-mortar location.
He gets most of the comic books from Diamond Comics Distributors.
"We place orders on customers' behalf (typically a few months prior to a book’s publication), and when the book is released, Diamond sends us a package of goodies that we, in turn, hand-deliver to our customers," Keith said.
Eventually, the Finches will broaden their supplier network for a retail store, where there will be some vintage comics available.
"But the primary focus will be on more current comics and trade paperbacks/graphic novels," he also said. "We are more interested in attracting people who want to read their books than see them as a financial investment."
The business is currently serving downtown and Chattanooga, as well as select parts of Northwest Georgia.