CBG‘s monthly visit to a comics shop takes us to New York City in CBG #1670.
Jim Hanley’s Universe
4 West 33rd St.
New York, New York
(opposite The Empire State Building)
(212) 268-7088
299B New Dorp Lane
Staten Island, NY
(718) 351-6299
http://jhuniverse.blogspot.com/
Jim Hanley has been severely damaged by his lifelong love of comic books. He is the founder and figurehead of a two-store comics retailing business, which he immodestly named after himself.
Please provide a timeline of your store’s history.
May 9, 1985 — First store opens in the town of Eltingville, Staten Island.
November 1988 — What was then our second store opens at The Staten Island Mall, followed by a larger store in the mall in February 1989, at which time the Eltingville location closed. In 1990, this store was moved to the town of New Dorp, where it recently relocated to new, larger quarters.
November 1989 — Opened first Manhattan location, in a vertical mall in Manhattan’s Herald Square neighborhood. This store was later moved to its current location at 4 West 33rd Street, opposite the Empire State Building.
A third store in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan operated between September 1992 and June 1996.
A fourth store, in Fords, N.J., operated between August 1993 and March 1996.
The word that best describes your business philosophy?
Customer-oriented.
Describe the neighborhood where your store is located. Why did you choose this location? What do you do to be part of that neighborhood?
Our Manhattan store is located in what, in New York terms, is a non-residential neighborhood. Most of our clientele is made up of commuters from other parts of the city and the suburbs in Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Our Staten Island store is on an old main street in a leafy, suburban neighborhood, surrounded by one- and two-family homes and townhouse condominiums.
What will customers see when they come to your store? What should catch their eye the moment they walk in the door?
An overwhelming selection of comics. We have always carried one of the widest selections in the field, and that’s the thing our new visitors most often comment on.
How many employees do you have?
Currently, 17.
Who’s the most unusual employee?
It depends on whom you ask. The most frequent vote among the staff would likely be for me. I think I’m perfectly normal, though.
Are you a chain of stores and, if so, how does that business model differ from an individual store?
We only have two stores, but, even when we had four, we wouldn’t strictly qualify as a chain, since we never had the management systems that mark a true chain. A chain, of necessity, has far more central control of purchasing, merchandising, and human resources than we ever achieved. This, in large part, is why we scaled back to two stores in 1996.
How would a new customer describe your store? How about a longtime customer?
In exactly the same way a blind person would describe an elephant. Each customer has his or her own perceptions of us. For some, we are the be-all and end-all of comics stores. For others, we are the guys who once failed to deliver on something that we either promised or implied a promise about and consequently we will always be that failure.
In the main, it seems new customers find our selection and service similarly remarkable.
How do you cater to/attract families to your store?
By having a wide selection of comics for all ages, by being open in areas they frequent, by having convenient store hours, and by providing a clean, comfortable space for them to visit.
What makes your store a destination?
The same thing that makes any place a destination: We offer customers a level of service and selection that meets their needs and desires.
How do you promote your store?
Mostly, by our longstanding locations and reputation. We set up at the New York Comic Con every year, where we have a miniature store that displays some of our selection. We’ve been associated with the MoCCA Art Festival, including sponsoring the show’s T-shirts. And we are increasingly using social networking sites.
In the past, we have used all sorts of advertising media, with mixed results. We haven’t done much TV, owing to the high cost of the New York media market, and we never figured out a way to use radio, though we’ve discussed it a bit. Our print advertising is in a fallow period, at the moment.
What has been your best sales day to date?
Most likely the day “The Death of Superman” was released, which I believe was November 18, 1992. As my late partner said then, “We had a great week today.”
Do you participate in Free Comic Book Day?
Yes, we do. As I said before the first one, in 2002, we were taking part strictly out of self-defense. I had no confidence that it would work, but it turned out to be extremely successful for us and we’ve always taken part since. This year was our best yet, with multiple creator appearances and a large turnout.
What do you do on new comics day?
I try to stay out of the way.
Who has been your most popular creator at a store signing?
Most likely Jim Lee for the day of release of WildC.A.T.s #1, in 1993. We’ve had big events since then (including several more with Jim Lee) and had big crowds for Ron Perlman for Hellboy, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and the cast of Grindhouse, and Guillermo del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth.
That WildC.A.T.s #1 signing, though, was a spectacular event. We partnered with Gary Colobuono’s Moondog’s in the Chicago area and Bill Liebowitz’ Golden Apple in Hollywood on a one-day, cross-country tour for Jim. He started at our store at 9 p.m., flew overnight to Chicago to sign at Moondog’s, then flew to Los Angeles to sign at Golden Apple.
Who would you most like to have appear at your store?
Jules Feiffer, whose book The Great Comic Book Heroes I’ve read literally hundreds of times since it came out. I still remember my excitement seeing Jack Lescoulie interviewing Feiffer about the book on The Today Show when I was 9.
What makes your store cool? Why should people come to your store?
We’ve always tried to be the old, reliable comics store, where we have what you want, when you want it. It’s when we don’t do that, that we fail.
If your store were gone tomorrow, what would your customers miss?
A place to get in out of the rain.
The Magazine
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