Comic Book Seller Hopes New Site Will Boost Sales

Selling comic books sometimes requires superhuman determination.

Comic Book Shop owner Craig Barnett wasn’t discouraged when comic sales entered a recent slump. Instead, he moved to a busier site.

“It’s cyclical, (but) you have to grow or die,” Barnett said. He recently closed his store at 9827 E. Sprague and moved to University City Shopping Center.

He said he’ll be able to keep the usual customer base; and thanks to heavier foot traffic, attract new ones as well. To that end, he started carrying role-playing games, sports cards and Star Trek and Star Wars items as well as comics.

“We’re trying to attract a full-entertainment market,” Barnett said.

That diversity of product is something that will help him keep revenue steady despite comic trends, he said.

Barnett observed that the comic business boomed when the first Batman film debuted. Then, it swooned. Then Superman was killed off by DC Comics. Sales soared. Now, despite a new Batman film, sales are slow.

That hasn’t kept Barnett from expanding. His first store opened at Division and Boone in 1988. Since then, he’s added two more plus a warehouse.

He said his Valley store should do well in its new spot, but he’s always watching growth patterns just in case.

“The Valley’s a hard nut to crack, because there’s no center,” he said.

It’s all worth it, though, come new shipment day.

“I get to see everything when it first comes in,” Barnett said. “I can still be a kid.”

Paint store opens

Spokane Paint Supply recently opened at 110 S. Pines Road. The store is the former site of Wahl Paint Center.

Spokane Paint Supply specializes in Benjamin Moore indoor and outdoor paint products, said owner Tim Adair.

Adair said that line of paint is a “high end, very durable product.”

The business will also provide home consultations.

Adair said he was “looking to get back to Spokane ever since I left.” Adair had lived in Spokane and worked for Pay ‘n Pak. The company moved him to Seattle before going out of business.

Since then, he worked at a West Side plumbing and electrical company. When Wahl’s Valley store went up for sale, he said he knew his time to move back had come.

Adair said his choice of a Valley site had less to do with the area’s growth and more to do with lifestyle.

“I like the Valley,” he said. ‘You’re close to everything, but there’s a small-town atmosphere.”

Hobby store planned

A new hobby store is scheduled to open in September.

The store, called Hands-On Hobbies, will be at University City. Owner Tim Taylor said he will carry model trains, radio-controlled boats, cars and planes, plastic models, rockets, and games.

The store will be just across from Percy’s restaurant, next to Evangel Book Center.

, DataTimes