On Entering the U.S. Market, Acquiring Free Comic Book Day, More
During the ICv2 Insider Talks at New York Comic Con, ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp interviewed Angelo Exarhakos, CEO of Universal Distribution, the Canadian distributor that acquired Diamond’s Alliance Games Distribution in the Diamond bankruptcy auction (see “Universal CEO on Comic Distribution“). In Canada, Universal carries over 90,000 items, including games, comics and graphic novels, trading cards, and merch, and they plan to offer a similar broad array to U.S. retailers. They already carry a full line of DC comics, Exarhakos said, and they will be announcing more publishers toward the end of this year, with plans to be ready to take orders on January 1, 2026.
Universal’s acquisition of Alliance came at the end of a tumultuous bidding process. “We went in with a structure that made all of the vendors that were owed money from Alliance whole,” Exarhakos said. “We’re not going to get into any type of deal through this process without those people getting paid. And that’s what we did. Unfortunately, the estate hasn’t handled the bankruptcy very well, and that’s probably an understatement. We were only able to make whole the [Alliance Game Distributor] debts that were there prior to the bankruptcy filing.”
“There was a debtor in possession financing that happened right after the bankruptcy filing,” Exarhakos explained. “That was money that was set aside from the estate, mandated by the court, to take care of any invoices during the process of the bankruptcy, up until the point where it was sold, which it was sold to us. Now we’re finding out that the professionals have billed $15 million in fees, and they got paid first, and they didn’t pay vendors, which is nothing short of despicable. So we are in the process of trying to see if there’s anything we can do to help some of these vendors out, and that’s ongoing.”
After the acquisition, Universal hired several people from Diamond Comics. “We cherry-picked the best people,” Exarhakos said, pointing out former Diamond Director of Retail Services Nance Romer (see “Diamond Promotes Retailer Services Staff“) and Chief Purchasing Officer Tim Lenaghan (see “Management Tweaks“).
The breadth of its catalog sets Universal apart from the other U.S. comics distributors, Exarhakos noted. “One thing that we that was very different for us in Canada, in terms of comics distribution, from what we saw on the U.S. side is there was a very distinct distributor for comic books and a separate distributor for everything else,” Exarhakos said. “We saw that with Diamond and Alliance. These are two companies that are essentially one company, Alliance was simply a division of Diamond, and yet you really needed two separate account numbers, two separate invoices, two separate websites, two separate everything. It just didn’t make any sense. Whereas in Canada, you’re able to take advantage of a much more diverse and wider range of products. And that’s something that we’re looking to bring to the U.S. side of the business as well.”
Exharakos’ first priority for Alliance is upgrading the IT systems, and he expects the new retailer services to go live at the end of this year. “It’s very, very antiquated technology,” he said, “and it needed to be the first order of business because we could not replicate the way we do business in Canada, the way we engage with our customers, under that type of system. So we are currently in the throes of some pretty deep upgrades.”
What he does not plan to do is revive Previews, or any print catalog. “I think the days of a Previews printed catalog are probably over,” he said. “I think there’s some value there, but it’s simply a very onerous process. It will exist, but it will be online, like we currently do in Canada. It’s all online. It’s specifically set up to make it as efficient as possible, so that not only is it easy to place the order, but it’s important that you’re able to track your order. It’s most important to be able to track what did you order for an equivalent item last time. That should be you know, at your fingertips, if you’re a retailer, you need to be able to see this happening.”
The company has four warehouses, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. “The intention is to be close to the retailer,” Exarhakos said, “and this is going to be something we build to as we take on more business and we build our capacity. The intention is that we will stock product at all four locations. We may not stock all product, but we will stock products at all four locations so we can reach somebody quickly.”
Exarhakos also discussed Free Comic Book Day, which Universal recently acquired from the purchaser of Diamond’s other assets, Sparkle Pop (see “Free Comic Book Day Acquired“). While he couldn’t offer many specifics, he did talk about what he hopes to achieve. “Our vision for this programming category is to bring not just your regular folks into your shops on that day, but we really want to have an outreach to bring some new people into your shops. That is really, for me, the measure of the success of that program: Can we bring some new people into your shops on that day? Hopefully they will have a great experience, and they can be converted into new comic book customers”
In addition to periodical comics, Universal will carry manga and graphic novels, merch, and trading cards. “I believe that if I’m walking into a shop, a comic book shop, my favorite comic book shop, and I’m buying some Marvel comics or DC Comics or Image Comics, I should also be able to buy merchandise of those characters from that same shop,” Exarhakos said. “I shouldn’t have to go to Walmart for that.”
Exarhakos concluded with some reflections on being a distributor. “I still walk into the office sometimes and I look around and I can’t believe that this is what we get to do,” he said, “and I hope that everybody else remembers that if you’re in this industry, it’s a privilege. I never forget the first time I walked into this tiny place that, back then, was Universal, and I go for the lights, and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this!’ And sometimes I’m the last one to leave the office, and it’s a much bigger place now, and I still look around and say, ‘I can’t believe I get to do this!'”
For more on Exarhakos’ plans for Universal distribution in the U.S., check out our interview from July, “ICv2 Interview: Angelo Exarhakos.”
Source: ICv2
