Welcome to Store Tour, ROBOT 6’s weekly exploration of comics shops, and the people who run them. Each Sunday we feature a different store, and also get to know the person behind the register.

To discover a comic store in your area, visit FindAComicShop.com

This week’s store is Distant Planet Comics & Collectibles, located at 601 Business Loop 70 West, Suite 263 in Columbia, Missouri. We spoke with managing member Brandy Cross.

ROBOT 6: What's the secret origin of your store?

Brandy Cross: My husband and I had discussed owning our own business for a while, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted it to be. I just knew that I didn’t like sitting at a desk all day working for someone else and that my business degrees could be put to better use. We were dissatisfied with the availability of collectibles in our city and knew that we weren’t the only ones. We also knew that there was a desire and need for a different kind of comic shop, one that was more of an “every person” type of shop. We partnered with a friend and former employee of mine from my retail management days.

Deciding on a name took a long time, I filled a notebook with possibilities. Distant Planet came to me one night while I was watching a Queen concert. I had already ruled out Mercury comics (after Freddie Mercury) because of other shops and comics with that name. Distant Planet just popped into my head, and when I asked the guys about it they loved it too.

Location was pure luck. I knew we wanted a visible location, but didn’t want to be in downtown Columbia due to cost of rent and lack of parking. I knew that the owners and property manager at Parkade Center had been working really hard to revitalize the area, and it has great visibility from one of Columbia’s busiest streets close to I-70. They hadn’t advertised the space we’re in at all yet, I just happened to inquire at the perfect time.

Why did you decide to get into comics retailing?



There was a need for a different kind of comic shop in our town, one that recognized the fact that comics were becoming more mainstream and could cater to the fact that not everyone that walks in the door will be a serious collector. My background consists of a decade in retail management, mostly DVDs, collectibles and games. I also have a BS in business administration and an MBA, so I have a lot of the technical skills that many small-business owners have to outsource. Alfonzo Lawhorn, one of the three owners, worked for me in several different roles when I managed a DVD and collectibles store and has been collecting comics all his life. Our third owner, Gabe Halicks (also my husband), has a lot of retail experience and is a natural sales person.

Do you have a philosophy or strategy to retailing? Has it evolved from when you first started?

Our philosophy from the beginning has been that comics (and all things geeky) are for everyone. It doesn’t matter to us what you come in looking for, we’ll help you find it (even if we are not familiar with it ourselves). We wanted to create a judgment-free shopping experience so anyone can come in and feel welcome, collector or casual buyer. We also wanted to be a go-to shop for gifts, making it easy for people to buy for the geek or geeks in their life. Creating an environment for the entire family to shop was a priority for us, so we made an all-ages section for kids to browse safely. We have stuck to this philosophy since we opened earlier this year, and I don’t see it changing. One other important strategy is that we are business owners first, comic and collectibles fans second. We try not to let our personal likes and dislikes cloud our judgment when buying product.

Tell me about the layout of your store. How did you work it out?

We have a narrow and long sales floor with 13-foot ceilings, so we have to make the most of our vertical space. Our slat wall is extremely important, and we try to utilize it not only for collectibles that can be hung on pegs but for comics and graphic novels as well. Before we even found a location we decided that our priority was to have a bright, organized and clean store that is easy to move around in. We wanted to avoid clutter and the “junk shop” feel that can happen in small stores.

What are your current bestsellers? What are your favorites that deserve to sell better at your store?

Obviously the Star Wars comics and all the various tie-ins are our bestselling series. We also do really well with titles from Image and BOOM!, we like to draw attention to the smaller titles that might get overlooked. Marvel and DC pretty much sell themselves and don’t need that much help. We’ve seen a huge uptick in interest for Lumberjanes (BOOM!) and Hero Cats (Action Lab). We’ve also been working with the guys at Valiant to get more people interested in their titles. We are all huge Valiant fans here and would love to see that become one of our bestselling lines. Invader Zim has also been a huge hit here too.

What is your customer base like?

Our customer base is extremely diverse, across age and gender. We have people who come in just for collectibles, MTG cards & gaming supplies or just comics. We also have some that cross all three categories. Lots of families come in to pick out titles together. We love it when female customers come in and let us know that even though they were nervous at first we made them feel welcome immediately. That was one of our goals: creating a comfortable place for female shoppers in an industry that historically hasn’t been that friendly.

How do you reach out to new customers? How do you advertise? And then how do you keep them as returning customers?

We rely on word of mouth quite a bit and use Facebook extensively. For special events we take out radio ads or sponsorships of radio segments. We do some cross-promoting with two local groups to make our events special: DoDeca Events and Firehawk Productions. They do some amazing cosplays. Our customers love seeing them in costume, it makes their store visit really special.

Our customers know that we will do everything possible to take care of them and we manage our pull system with extreme care. I also look for special things for customers once I get to know them. This could be simply finding titles to suggest that they may not know about or tracking down special variants and promotional items to surprise them with.

How do you feel your online presence, such as Facebook, supports or supplements your store?

Facebook is extremely useful to us in getting information out about sales, new releases and events to our customers. A decent portion of our regulars live in the smaller towns surrounding Columbia, so they make sure to keep up with our posts so they don’t miss anything awesome. More people go to our Facebook page than our actual website.

Do you have events or any kind of programming, such as signings? How is it coordinating those?

We participate in all the national comic events: Free Comic Book Day, Halloween ComicFest, Batman Day and Local Comic Shop Day. We have had two artist/writer signings so far; we would love to have more but since we are in the middle of Missouri we don’t get as much exposure to creators as stores in bigger cities and on the coasts. I’ll take this opportunity to say officially to all the creators living in St. Louis and Kansas City: you guys are only a short drive away! We would love to have you as guests in our store!

Does your store attend conventions? Does it benefit from them?

So far we have attended one convention, put on locally by DoDeca Events. We had a great time and it was well worth it. Since there are only the four of us (3 owners and one part-time employee) attending conventions in other areas would mean seriously shorting the store so we aren’t able to branch out much yet.

What do you see as the biggest challenge in the comics industry today that particularly impacts your store?

Right now we are less than a year old, so we are still learning the ropes. Our biggest challenge so far has been figuring out the right mix of product and finding distributors that fit our needs. We have guessed incorrectly on some product lines resulting in both not ordering enough and ordering way too much. Industry-wide what impacts us the most is the volatility of the industry and release dates. It’s hard to make estimates too far into the future since release dates change a lot, especially for the collectibles side.

What is the industry's biggest asset that is helping you be successful?

The online communities that I’ve joined for other people in the retail side of the industry have been a great asset. The store is a member of ComcsPRO and I am a member of The Valkyries. Without the support of these two wonderful groups I probably would have lost my mind by now!

With all of the people that come through your store, I imagine you must have some great stories. What is the funniest or most memorable moment you've seen in your store?

The best moments are when you find the perfect item for a little kid. The joy and excitement that overcomes them makes your day. It can range anywhere from a shy smile to parading around the store holding their comic up for the world to see! My personal favorite is when I was able to give one of our regulars (who was with us before we even opened the door the first day) a special variant of Bloodshot Reborn #1 thanks to the guys at Valiant. He had no idea it was coming thanks to the help of another regular who conspired with me to get him to shop the day it was delivered. Making geeks and nerds happy is what we do!

Anything coming up at Distant Planet that's a good excuse for someone to stop by?

The first annual Local Comic Shop Day is coming up on Nov. 28; we are planning some great sales for that. We also are experimenting with different themed Mystery Boxes for those customers who love surprises. A graphic novel club is in the works as well for next year. Mostly we are looking forward to our first holiday shopping season and getting lots of new people in the door!

If you’d like to see your store featured here on Robot 6, email us.