I’ve been a part of our industry my entire life. First as a fan, then as a retailer, and now as the owner of the largest distributor in comics and pop culture, I live and breathe comics, just as many of you do. Over the years, we have weathered hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, fires, and even terrorist attacks together. Today, with the spread of the Coronavirus around the world, we face one of the largest challenges any of us has ever faced, but I am confident we can get through this by working together.
I and my Leadership Team at Geppi Family Enterprises have been working day and night since the impact of this event started to become apparent. We have been in contact with publishers and retailers from both the comics and collectibles side of our business at Diamond Comic Distributors and the tabletop gaming side at Alliance Game Distributors, evaluating the impacts on every part of our supply chain. What I’ve seen so far is a resilience and creativity on the part of our retailers that any industry would be proud of, and an incredible desire to help on the part of publishers and vendors of every size. Between those groups, I see our teams at Diamond and Alliance, coordinating efforts to make sure product gets where it needs to go on as reliable a schedule as possible.
We have been in contact with our industry’s many publishers, coordinating a response that will provide meaningful support to our retailers while ensuring that we are able to continue serving the needs of our customers in the future.
As I said, I couldn’t be prouder of our industry and the herculean efforts already undertaken to ensure its long-term health. When you’re worried about your family and your business in times like this, it’s easy to think that a lack of information being ready to present means that nothing is happening. In those times, it’s important to hear that there are a lot of people standing beside you. You may not always be able to see what efforts are being undertaken, but I want you to know that you and your businesses are our future, and we are doing all that we can to help you. Our efforts are supported by amazing teams throughout our offices and distribution centers and by our publisher and supplier partners who put their faith in us each day to support them and our retailers. Coordinating with those many partners takes time, but is necessary for our response to be comprehensive end effective. In the coming days, I am confident that we will be finalizing and presenting a comprehensive plan that addresses as many of your concerns as we can.
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