GameStop Will Start Selling Comic Books
The gaming store GameStop is known for just selling video games but it looks like it could be selling Marvel and DC comic books soon.
As Bleeding Cool reports, GameStop will start offering comic books directly in certain locations. The leaked photos reveal comic titles already in the chain store's system, which mostly consist of Marvel and DC comics but there are also Oni Press titles there.
James Parker, who previously started the comics and collectibles initiative at Hastings, inspired this move. His part of the store chain was successful but the rest of the store couldn't keep up, so the chain closed its doors but now Parker has moved to GameStop and will initiate the trial form in 20 GameStop and 20 ThinkGeek stores but remember that there are around six thousand branches of GameStop, so this could become revolutionary if the program is successful.
James told Bleeding Cool:
"We are indeed getting into comics, as a retail test forum. Comics are often a part of our promotional entertainment industry environment, including video games β we can learn from this tribal knowledge. We have indeed partnered with Diamond to carry a small selection of comics in 40 stores utilizing their new spinner rack. The comics are mostly from Marvel and DC with a focus on key series and titles. This is just a small launch to bring comics to some of our collectibles stores as they fit with the current trend of Collectibles that are performing in the market. Should this prove successful, we may consider rolling out to additional stores in the future but plan to keep it limited to the spinner rack for the foreseeable future. Of course, you can expect to see some exclusive variants from us in the future."
If this program turns out to be successful, local comic book shops could potentially lose business. Hopefully, it won't come to that.
Would you buy comic book titles in GameStop stores?