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^20th March 2020

Hello beloved comic connoisseurs!

Strange Days indeed!

These are super unsettling times for you & your families us & our loved ones and we have been mindful of how best to provide a service to you while conscientiously ‘doing the right thing’.

In my opinion and in my heart ‘doing the right thing’ is all about dissuading people from leaving their homes at this unprecedented moment in time.

Yesterday the Government announced the closing of schools from Friday and helped make the following decision a little easier to make.

We are going to TEMPORARILY close both of our shops on Sydney Street to the general public from 6pm this Friday 20^th March through until the Friday 3^rd of April
As a courtesy to all who miss our social media postings 
We will have a limited opening in Dave's #3  Sydney Street tomorrow Saturday 21st  10 am - 4 pm 
#5 Sydney Street will be closed to the public 
but Standing Order customers will still be able to pick up their comics.
Just pop into #3 (please respect social distancing etiquette) and we will open up #5 for you.

Did I mention TEMPORARILY?

As in for a LITTLE BIT

As in NOT PERMANENTLY

As in BRIEF HIATUS

As in WE OWN ONE OF OUR BUILDINGS WE ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE, EVEN IF YOU SECRETLY WANTED US TO!

COMICS WILL BE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE DURING THIS TIME IN A MYRIAD OF WAYS

  We will cover that separately down below**

I mean we LOVE THEM and YOU that’s never going change but Diamond UK is having its own set of problems to navigate.

That means the next New Comic delivery will be delayed but more on that later.

LET’S ALL TAKE A LONG, DEEP BREATH AND CHILL OUT!

That’s how we all feel and trust me we’ve consulted with the best!

That’s you, our wonderful thoughtful courteous customers and our fantastic staff.

If we open our front doors at 9.30 Saturday morning, we will be undoubtedly be visited by some who will respect social distancing and be exemplary in behaviour and manner.

But we will also be visited by A LOT of young families, groups of kids, exotic tourists, the curious and the like who may not have your health or your loved ones guiding their behaviour.

WE ARE NOT JUST PART OF THE PROBLEM, WE ARE THE PROBLEM!

We have spent Four Decades trying to tempt you incredible people in to browse, touch and fall in love with this medium or buy a toy or a game or a whatever, and we Thank you thank you thank you for it and if I could I would elbow bump the lot of you!

But now is the time NOT to visit us (temporarily) for a bit.

FLATTEN THAT CURVE TOGETHER!

We all have a collection of rapidly increasing images and stories of PANIC! buying and unfortunate examples of undisciplined civic acts, whether in the Supermarkets or on the streets.

Which is why we are responsibly sitting this out until people CHILL OUT and acclimatize to this (temporary) new world.

FINANCIAL SELF-INFLICTED FLESH WOUND!

Yes, it will hurt us a bit, but we’ve saved our pennies for unpredictable rainy days and this certainly fits the bill.

*SO THAT’S ALL NOBLE, BUT WHEN IS NEW COMIC DAY AND HOW DO I GET THEM?

Diamond Comic Distributors in the UK have had to make alternative arrangements in the air freighting of goods into the UK because of the ever tightening restrictions currently being enforced.

The latest news from Diamond came last evening 18^th March and I’ve included part of it below

Dear Retailers,

Our shipment for new product due for release on Wednesday 25th March is now likely to arrive two days later than our normal shipment would have, this will undoubtably have a knock on effect as to when we can get this product shipped and into your hands. We have spoken to our shippers and delivery agents/couriers who are all prepared and ready to make the same pre-booked deliveries on the earliest day possible next week, all being well we can confirm this day to you before the end of this week.

I guess MAYBE THURSDAY 26TH OF FRIDAY 27^TH but MAYBE NOT.

When we have a confirmed fixed date, we will update on DAVESCOMICS.CO.UK and all the social media.

We will be VERY accommodating to your needs regarding the collection of Standing Orders on the designated day of release.

More details to follow.

We have always offered a mail order service, so if you want to go down that route just drop us a line. If you want to pay in advance to speed up the checkout process, we can do that too.

If you are currently not a Standing Order customer, please email us at orders@davescomics.co.uk with your comic requirements from the week’s shipment and we will prepare your order.

DON’T WORRY I’VE ALMOST FINISHED

So in closing

I’m SO SORRY if this seems totally selfish & ludicrous & unfair.

It’s going to certainly be an inconvenience to anyone coming to the front doors and seeing them shuttered come Saturday morning, for sure.

But I hope if that’s you

And you read this after that wasted trip

You understand that’s it’s because we really do care about you and everyone in this city more than we care about profits.

(Although don’t get me wrong we LOVE profit too!)

And what’s the point of being an INDEPENDENT

 If we can’t just once in a while

 Silence the sound of the till

And listen to our dumb deep hearts

&

‘Do the right thing’

‘Nuff said

xxx

Disclaimer!

We are in no way casting shade on any part of the retail community who, lacking our privileged position as freeholders or financial position, HAVE to stay open during these fairly grotty times.

We love you all xxx

Stephen and the Dave’s family

David’s Books & Comics Ltd

^20th March 2020