ITEM!: Vote for the best!
The Coast’s “best of Halifax” poll is on now. You can win a shopping spree just for filling out ten entries. Sure, we hope you’ll vote for us as best comics store, but more importantly, vote for the places you really think are the best in Halifax. Vote at the Coast website here: http://posting.thecoast.ca/halifax/Survey?survey=1747801

ITEM!: September sale!
Our annual back-issue comic book sale will be starting up in September. Stay tuned for details and dates.

…and Dave Sim will be in Halifax at the end of September, too!

ITEM!: Fanexpo in T’ronna
The 16th annual FanExpo is wrapping up today in Toronto’s convention centre. There’s a quick look at the show via CTV which includes a quick interview with former Strange Adventurer Sean Jordan, now working at the Silver Snail in Toronto: http://watch.ctv.ca/news/top-picks/fanexpo/#clip341721

ITEM!: Sale almost over!
The 20% off send-off to summer sale is ending Tuesday! You’ve got a couple of days left to take advantage!

ITEM!: We really do try our best, but….
…sometimes, we do not please everyone as you may have seen from this person’s posting on the Coast website, our own website, and on the shop’s facebook page:

(the background is her boyfriend dropped in to get her comics, and was informed that the account had been closed due to not being picked up for several months. He mentioned that they had been out of town for a while. He used his cellphone to let his girlfriend know this and she was not happy.)

“I have been an account holder at this store for 8 years and sunk thousands of dollars quenching my comic obsession. I lost my job two months ago and therefore missed one month of picking up my comics. Not only did they close my account without notification, but the manager, of all people, hung up on me when I called to question why they closed my account without notification. Therefore this place has some of the worst management and customer service I’ve ever experienced. Choose Quantum Frontiers on Robie Street.”

Dave was the person who dealt with this instance and he responded on the shop facebook page:

First of all, it had been FOUR months since your account had been cleaned out, not one. There were at least three or four copies of each of the books in your account, which means that it hadn’t been picked up since before summer began. Second, Calum tried to reach you to see if you still wanted your comics, but was unable to get ahold of you. This call is merely a courtesy, since we ask everyone to pick up their comics at least once a month or they run
the risk of having their account closed down. Third, you did not so much call to question why the account was closed, so much as proceed to immediately yell at me over a cellphone while I was trying to serve customers. Fourth, I did NOT hang up on you, I handed the phone back to your boyfriend so I could continue to serve those customers, and refused to take it back when he offered it to me again because a) I still had a lineup of customers to serve, and b) I felt I had explained our subscription policy clearly and therefore had nothing more to say on the subject.

We have hundreds of monthly subscribers, and their comics have to picked up in a timely fashion because a) we pay for the comics when we receive them, and therefore have to see a return on that investment if we want to continue to do business, and b) we have limited space to hold onto these comics already, and it becomes even more limited when subscribers don’t pick up their books on a regular basis. If our subscribers don’t pick up their comics, then we find ourselves sitting on unsold merchandise. It has been our experience that, the longer a subscriber does not pick up their books, the more likely the possibility becomes that they won’t EVER return to pick them up, or if they do, they won’t want to still buy everything that has been on hold for them, leaving us stuck with the comics. Unlike most book and magazine outlets, we don’t have the option of returning unsold merchandise to the distributor–if we buy it, it’s up to us to sell it. I’m sorry to hear that you lost your job, but if we don’t find a way to eventually make money on that merchandise, we lose sales and then we run the risk of losing OUR jobs.

I hope you were able to find new employment, and I hope that Quantum Frontier works out better for you. They’re good folks, and I’m sure they will serve you to the
best of their ability.

– Dave Howlett
Manager, Strange Adventures Halifax

ITEM!: in other news….
we have bought a couple of large comic collections over the past couple of weeks. It will be a few more weeks til they make their way into the bins. If you have any want lists, send them in soon. Loads of Uncanny X-men, Spider-man (Web, Spectacular and Amazing), etc. Mostly stuff from the eighties with a few seventies issues here and there like this gem from Defenders #89:

<<<<< Hulk loves his beans

and our quote of the week comes to us from our Dartmouth store….
TOTALLY INCREDULOUS DUDE: “you know, there’s ALREADY a store called Strange Adventures!”

and last, but not least, to our Fredericton customers – take a look in the Brunswickan newspaper for a $$$-saving coupon!