Got the e-mail yesterday and today the news is starting to splash across the internet that one of the last independent distribution companies is shutting down at the end of the month. For my store I was a rabid Haven Distribution fan, actually they were one of the companies that helped get me started in the comic book business. Unfortunately, like many comic shops we have had our share of difficulty over the last year, and we have stopped buying a lot of stuff in favor of more targeted purchasing, which in the longer run has its influence on smaller distribution companies like Haven.
I am personally going to miss Haven Distro, because it means that I will need to use my Diamond account a lot more than I have been using it. It also means I will have a much harder time getting back catalog comics that sell well and have retained their value. This is going to be a lot like missing a uniquely valuable old friend, and I am hoping that in some case that over time there will be another company. I know we made a go of it and failed badly, distribution is a tough business, and one of the reasons we have had to hunker down as a store is that we spent a lot of money on setting up a distribution company, but even with marketing no one came.
We have lost a valuable voice in the community, we surely lost a decent way for people to get comics that are not in the Diamond Distribution channel, and independent comic book publishers have lost one of their ways to market. There is of course always Tony Shenton, and I have my own “it’s complicated” relationship with him. The sad part is that this really is like losing an old friend who helped me grow my company. What ever happens next, comics forge and my own comic book company alternating reality wishes all the employees the best of luck, and if you ever come back into comics distribution, make sure you look us up.
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