Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk is a weekly column by Kendall Swafford of Up Up Away! in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This week, Kendall looks at the implications of day-early delivery of comic shipments (and comments on the comments on his comments on DC's sales calls).

Let’s start this week’s column by thanking Mitch Cutler (again), and Kathy Bottarini for taking the time to respond to last week’s column.  There’s been a little bit of late summer malaise ‘round these parts lately, and the debate is always healthy.

I have to take exception with something Kathy said, however.  Kathy felt like I did damage to “every retailer who benefits from a weekly call from DC Comics,” and suggested I ask to be taken of the call list.  Giving up is always the past of least resistance, isn’t it?  Like Kathy, I LOVE the fact that DC makes the effort to have a positive influence on our business, but she (and Mitch) seem to be missing the point of last week’s column!  I’ll say if for the final time, I LIKE Pat O’Connell!!  And in my mind, Pat is my point-of-contact at DC Entertainment.  He is my go-to guy, if for no other reason than I speak to him regularly.  It is not a failing of Pat’s that I question the benefit of the POSITION he holds in the company.  If I think DC is missing an opportunity here, not just with the visit to Cincinnati, but ALL the cities he visits, and if I think the sales department could and should be able to help me SELL more Superman comics, I see nothing wrong with questioning how that position could be better leveraged to help me sell more Superman comics.  If Superman were stopping by Rohnert Park, California, I’m sure Kathy would want DC to put some energy into making Superman’s walking tour of America a success in every city featured in the comic book.

****

While my comments on Pat O’Connell seem to have gotten all the attention last week, no one seems to be a bit concerned with Diamond’s deafening silence on the shift in delivery method and/or delivery day, which to me is far more important than Kendall Swafford vs. Pat O’Connell: “The Bloodening.”  Changes to our delivery day/method carry with them seismic repercussions, and that’s what I was hoping to spark a debate about.  If the rumors are to be believed, an announcement from Diamond may be imminent.  This has me dreaming about the possibilities the changes will bring, the most important of which may very well be the chance to be more informed about the comics that just went on sale.

How many times do you hear “have you read this?” during the day on Wednesday, usually beginning five minutes after you’ve opened?  I realize no one has any intent to make me angry, but given how hard I’ve been busting my butt that morning just to get the product on the shelf so they can ask that question, it ALWAYS drives me bonkers!  My reply is usually “no, have you?” or “no, I’ve been at work all day,” which seems to surprise the ones that truly believe that my singular function as the owner of a comic book store is to spend my entire work day... reading comic books.

Day-early delivery changes all that, doesn’t it?  Despite my occasionally snarky replies, I’m almost always in a great mood on Wednesday, despite the challenges I’ve faced that morning.  The two biggest challenges are UPS holding me up at the hub waiting, and Diamond-related errors.  Even if UPS holds me up on Tuesday, it’ll be no big deal anymore.  Currently, EVERY minute counts leading up to 11am, and even a few extra minutes waiting at UPS for that last box can really screw things up.  Now, thanks to MOBY™, our point-of-sale system, checking in product is a very streamlined process, which allows us to verify prices, quantities and barcodes VERY efficiently.  I spend a lot of prep time on Tuesday merchandising the new comics section in anticipation of what’s arriving, so the product moves from the box, past the scanner, straight to the shelf. I don’t even notice covers at that point, I only see barcodes!

But wait!  Now it’s Tuesday, and I can breathe again!  I can merchandise better, I can pull more accurately, I can spend my Wednesday selling instead of sweating!!  Wow, flowers smell sweeter, the sky’s a little bluer, I can see it all now.

The Diamond challenge still remains of course, but day-early delivery gives us a chance to still fix problems BEFORE Wednesday.  As an aside, I have to give props to Diamond overall for what has been a (mostly) problem-free year so far.  Since things have settled down at the Olive Branch warehouse, things have been much, much better on Wednesday.  Far from perfect, but much, much better.  I’ve been a very vocal critic of Diamond over the years, so I gotta give ‘em props for making the effort.

Tuesday evenings will probably be filled with homework; sampling the wares about to go on sale, so when someone asks, “have you read this yet?,” I can actually give them a reason to buy it or not.  Or I can point out to Matt there’s a Kaluta story in the back of The Spirit, because I know he’s a fan.  Or I can...  you get the idea.  Sales go up when I have time to sell.  And I know of retailers that are unhappy about this.  Stores that are closed on Tuesday and don’t want to work that day.  Stores that take their time receiving product on Wednesday, not racking it until sometime Wednesday afternoon.  Stores that are lazy.  I LOVE lazy stores.  Just makes my job a little easier.

Day-early delivery.  It’s a shame and a sin that it’s taken this long.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely  those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.