Although Regina is not the largest city in Saskatchewan, its comic scene is by no means small.
"[Regina] has a huge comic scene. It has a huge board game scene. It's a challenge just to stay on top of pop culture," sad Shane Hnetka, manager of the south Comic Readers.
“Geek culture isn't just for geeks anymore. All things geek-related are enjoying a renaissance right now and that includes comics," said Chad Boudreau, manager and part-owner of the downtown Comic Readers.
With two locations in Regina, and both are helping feed the growing comic industry in Saskatchewan. The store specializes in anything pop culture, from comics to Adventure Time to Game of Thrones. The only competition is Tramps.
Both the downtown and south locations are full of novelty items such as wallets, lanyards, candy, and plushies, among other items. Hnetka’s store focuses on comic books while Boudreau said his store has speciality gaming products that Hnetka doesn’t carry.
“If you've got two stores in town, you want to give people a reason to visit both stores and I think that works for us,” said Boudreau.
Right now, the two locations are doing well in terms of sales. Even with the dollar as it is, Hnetka said they are able to stay competitive. Hnetka’s biggest sellers are statues of pop culture figures such as the Hulk. There have been statues for as much as $1000, but currently the Hulk is the most expensive item in stock. Comics are priced at around $4.60 each.
“Ten or 12 years ago that's what the Canadian price in comics were back then. Some of them were a little bit higher because the dollar was worse. It hasn't really changed a lot,” Hnetka said.
Limited edition statues do well at Boudreau’s store, but the price of some collectable cards is astounding. He carries individual cards that can be priced at a couple hundred dollars. The novelty candy and gum, roughly $2, is the cheapest product in stock.
November through mid-January, said Boudreau, is a busy season for the store. Wednesdays, also known as Comic Book Day, provide an increase in sales for both stores. Hnetka has noticed that their usually slow days (Monday and Tuesday) and slow months (January and February) aren’t as slow as they used to be.
“We're pretty busy right now. With the dollar declining right now, it's a bit of a challenge to keep the store full and maintain a competitive pricing point without totally gouging people,” said Hnetka.
The challenge of running a small business mainly involves not enough hands to juggle all the work.
“It's almost too much for one person some days. You get staff in but it's a challenge just to stay on top of orders, reorders, and trying to keep everybody happy,” said Hnetka.
Staffing was a big challenge for Boudreau. After buying into the store three years ago, his main concern was finding reliable staff. His goal was to find a few employees within a year of him taking over, but within four months Boudreau had found dependable staff.
“The only thing that is bad about a retail job is dealing with theft. It's horribly stressful. It's disheartening. I take it as a personal injury every time I catch or find something,” Boudreau said.
Although there are difficulties, both managers are happy to work at Comic Readers. Boudreau mentioned how important small businesses are to communities. Although people can go shop on Amazon and find comics for a discount, there are a lot of things Comic Readers offers that Amazon doesn’t.
“Does Amazon employ a dozen employees in your community? Does Amazon help support local charities? Does Amazon run board game nights within your community?” said Boudreau.
Another way Comic Readers supported the community was with the Regina Fan Expo last year. The store had a booth set up where they sold products and introduced new stock that hadn’t previously been held in the store.
“If we don’t get out and support them, they won't come back. The only way they're going to get big is if they keep doing better and better every year … Regina came out and showed Fan Expo that we want a show like them in our city,” said Boudreau.
This year, Regina Fan Expo will be on April 25-26, featuring guests such as Jonathan Frakes from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lawrence Gillard from The Walking Dead.
“This being year two, at least we have year one to compare it to so we can make adjustments and improvements for our plans in the coming years,” said James Armstrong, Event Coordinator for Fan Expo.
If the comic industry continues to grow, Comic Readers will continue to feed the demand as best they can.
