Rogues Gallery Comics is making a profit and expanding their store

By Sean Frame

 

A little over nine years ago Shawn Cousineau and two of his friends opened up Rogues Gallery

comic book shop, at 327 Chatham St. W., with a start-up fund of around $30,000.

With help from a self employment assistance program, Cousineau put

$10,000 towards the company, and  two others put up $20,000 collectively. According to an

article written by Chuck Kosanski, owner of Mile High comics online store a smaller comic shop

costs roughly $50,000 to start up with $10,000 for fixtures, such as racks and shelves, $30,000

for basic inventory, $5,000 for advertising and a safety reserve of $5,000. In the article Kosanski

also said most comic shops end up buying their fixtures secondhand due to the high cost for

new equipment and the labour involved in putting the fixtures together.

A basic breakdown of the monthly cost for Rogues Gallery Comics is $21,600. This includes

rent for the month at $1,600 and the cost for stock each week being  $5,000 on average. Based

on those overheads, Cousineau would have started off in the negatives.

“My biggest struggle upon starting up was money,” said Cousineau. ” Having enough money

each week to make my stock orders was a bit of a struggle.”

For a new store owner, Diamond Distributors, where most comic shops get their stock, offers a

40 per cent discount for stock and as the store gains momentum the discount may raise as well.

For 500 trades, which would be a startup in order to stock the store, and each trade paperback

on average costing $19.95, cost for trades would be $9,975 at full retail. With the discount,

owners would still owe $5,985 to the distributors and 500 comic trades is roughly only one copy

of each popular comic title. A single issue comic cost roughly $2.99, and on average a store

stocks more than 200 issues a week. According to Kosanki’s article, a successful comic shop

won’t only stock books but collectibles as well to bring in a wider demographic of customers,

adding to the cost of an already expensive stock.

Currently, Cousineau is the sole owner of Rogues Gallery and spends most of his time at the

store, which has cut labour costs for him. Every month Cousineau makes a profit, but it took

almost four years for him to start earning a profit. Now, Rogues is one of Windsor’s most popular

spots for comic books, in a prime location close to downtown and right across from the bus

station.