A Message From Mike

Newbury Comics at Bonnaroo!

Newbury Comics will be representing as the official music store at Bonnarro this year! This 4 day festival in Tennessee - June 14th-17th (Bonnaroo.com) will be the first time we have set up shop at a major festival outside of the Boston area. Tower Records was the host store last year….The Police and Tool are scheduled to headline, along with almost 100 other acts, on a dozen stages. We will be hosting over 40 artist signings - meet and greets. It should be the ultimate road trip, so stop by our “store” there and say hi if you make it down!

Our Results so Far This Year are GOOD…

The first 3 months of the year have been good for Newbury Comics. Last year our profits were down about 30%. That made for a decent level of anxiety for all our staff, especially with the bankruptcy of Tower Records, and Virgin Megastores closing a bunch of stores in the country. Many employees, as well as independent record labels and artists, depend on our sales to support their livelihood.
So far this year, we have been under-performing slightly in sales at our brick and mortar stores, but doing okay for operating margins. I’m not really sure why sales have stopped dropping so fast, but it is indeed a relief. So thank you.
In addition, increasing numbers of you have been buying from us online, whether through newburycomics.com, ebay, lala.com, or our Amazon store offerings.

SXSW

A number of us were able to make it to Austin, TX for this year’s South by Southwest music extravaganza. All I can say is…wow. It’s kinda like going to vegas for 3 days…no sleep, and way, way, way too many things to see and do. Two standouts for me were british near superstar Amy Winehouse (www.amywinehouse.co.uk/) and New York up and comer Nicole Atkins. Amy is coming to Boston shortly, to what will surely be a sold out show.
Nicole Atkins (www.myspace.com/nicoleatkins) is doing a "residency" at the Paradise Club’s front room on Monday’s for the next several weeks. 8 PM tonight, I believe. If you see me at one of ‘em, ask me to buy you a drink!

Thanks for the Feedback…

As always, I very much appreciate all the feedback folks send in. I’m not always able to answer every e-mail personally, but I have answered several hundred. Many of them have at times been shared with staff to effect much needed change!
I am always surprised by how thoughtful and creative our customers are. A different point of view is sometimes very mind opening for me. So please keep letting me know what’s on your mind!

cheers, mike dreese
co-founder - newbury comics

p.s. any comments can be directed to mike@newburycomics.com
(please do not reply to the address this was sent from, as i won't get it)