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arrowThe Borders Effect
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Fixing HeroClix


The Borders Effect
The Le (03/23/2011)
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Borders Bankruptcy EffectBack in February, our friends at ICV2 reported that Borders (Book Stores) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. How does this affect HeroClix and the gaming industry? Quite a bit more than you'd think.

 

The number of Borders shops will certainly shrink as they start shutting down underperforming stores (most of them), which immediately shrinks the number of places you can buy gaming products. This won't affect your local mom and pop shop negatively, but it will definitely hurt the manufacturers and distributors, which is never a good thing.

 

Specifically, Diamond Distributors is taking a huge hit from the bankruptcy, being owed some $3.9 million dollars by Borders. Diamond and others will certainly get some of their money back, but not all of it (probably not even most of it). They’re going to take a hit, that’s for sure.

 

The largest hit of all will certainly come from Anime, an industry who saddled up with Borders many years ago. Local retailers I spoke with described it best – when Anime was still a struggling business in the United States, local comic/game shops took up the mantle and carried it for their customers. When Anime made it big, they moved nearly all their product to Borders and other big chains.

 

A natural part of business? Sure, but it stung the local loyal shops that helped bring Anime into the mainstream. Speaking of loyalty, one retailer told me that Anime fans are the least loyal customers you will ever find – if they can find the same $10.00 dvd or manga up the street for 2% less, they won’t hesitate to leave your store and run to your competitor for that 20 cent discount.

As such, the Anime industry has been trying to get back into the good graces of local comic/game stores the last few years, but store owners aren’t willing to commit this time. The Anime industry is in a whole heap of trouble now, which may take a long timefor them to recover.


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Your Comments:
Diamond is the only supplier in the UK!!!!!!!!! well, the only one that really supplies heroclix!

Posted by: adam on 3/23/2011 6:07:25 PM
The Borders in my area hasn't carried Heroclix since Arkham Asylum. A search for "heroclix" in their online store turns up zero items. I can understand how the bankruptcy might affect distributors but it seems like the relation to Heroclix is indirect. Borders stopped supporting our game years ago.

Posted by: Wombatboy on 3/23/2011 5:10:25 PM
Man...It's finally happening...I remember getting Fantastic Forces, and Icons booster packs there. Ah, the memories...I'll miss you, Borders.

Posted by: Owlman166 on 3/23/2011 12:14:12 PM
Seems we're really talking about the death of print media and this is just one more symptom. Borders is closing one (of several) stores in my neck of the woods - I personally will continue to go to browse their good selection of graphic novels/comic compilations.

Posted by: spudeus on 3/23/2011 11:05:27 AM
hmm...an incentive to release more of the sold out product.......more GSX and 75th please....

Letting anyone get in the hole for so much just asking for trouble, bad business. Good for local stores, my friend has been a book/game store for over 30 years he loves the news.

Posted by: scourge101 on 3/23/2011 11:04:13 AM
100k really is not that big in large scope. NECA has dropped accounts like buckets of water that have been worth over 250k and they don't worry about it.

NECA knows where its brand efectiveness is.. and borders never really was in that line. Small gaming stores and comic book shops (for wixkids at least) is.

Not a big deal.

Posted by: rockman on 3/23/2011 10:51:52 AM