Twilight Book & Game closure
I realize I'm responding to a 10 year old post, but I figured I'd correct the misinformation on Twilight Book & Game. I was the owner, and we were in business for nearly 18 years. We had the majority of the comic book and gaming market for most of those 18 years, and "slow sales" had absolutely NOTHING to do with why I ultimately decided to close.
Indeed, I DID have "personal problems," just like every adult in the universe. But the reason I closed had to do more with the crash of the comic book and sports card market after I had opened up our 4th store. It was a bad business decision, but the market crashed hard and I didn't see it coming. Add to that my personal problems in going through a divorce, and you had the formula for disaster. It had nothing to do with me losing interest in the store. If I could go back with 20/20 hindsight, the mistakes I made that contributed to the closing would have been different. But none of us has a crystal ball.
I've seen some other posts regarding the "seedy" part of town being a contributing cause. When I opened there, the area was not nearly as bad as when we finally closed. That had not affected our business, although had we stayed open, the condition the neighborhood is in now, might have. "Looker's" opposite our store was "The Red Snapper" a neighborhood bar/restaurant when we opened. There were a couple strip joints down the street, but they did not seem to affect anything, as we closed by 8pm.
There is someone who has posted here that they worked at my store for three years. I do not know who it is, and they may well have. But his/her expertise about why I closed is derived from absolutely nothing other than conjecture. I made many mistakes, including hiring some very BAD employees who used Twilight as their own bank and place to get free comics (of course, without my knowledge), expansion that was too quick without proper inventory controls, and the crashing market that I was heavily invested in. All of these mistakes could have been avoided, but no MBA would have predicted the series of events or helped me to deal with them any better than I did. Much of it was personal that had pushed me to my limits.
I know when I closed that a lot of my customers were very upset. I am most regretful of the disappointment I caused them, as well as the many employees I had that were laid off. There is nothing I would like more than to give it another shot, do things differently, but I do not have the finances that would be required today to do it right.
Most of the people that I hear from who used to be customers have told me that they loved my employees, they loved our inventory selection, and that was what separated us from our competition. The industry has changed tremendously since even these posts were originally made. No doubt, Twilight would look much different today than it did in 2000 when I closed.
Thank you to everyone who shopped at my stores, thank you for the kind words, and I hope your hobbies are being met by the stores that are still in business. I strongly urge all of you to shop at the brick and mortar stores that still exist instead of ordering everything online.
Bob Gray
