A manga shop ? Can such a concept exist? You bet it can!
Thalia Bücher GmbH shows how it works. In addition to the normal Thalia shop in the NOVA shopping centre, the Manga Shop opened yesterday in a separate area. From Japanese comics to merchandise and artist supplies, there was everything to thrill the nerd heart. Together with Carlsen Verlag GmbH, we had some heroes from famous IPs like My Hero Academia or Naruto on site as cosplayers and entertained the visitors with Action Points and great participatory activities.
But why is that business booming? During Corona there has been a considerable increase in sales of 75%. Before that, however, the market was already booming and market leader CARLSEN shows a turnover of 19.5 million only in the segment and has a market share of 35% in 2021. (https://lnkd.in/eyemV_bQ)
There are many explanations for this phenomenon, but in the end the winning factors are the stories, characters and the extraordinary way fans identify with it all and want to have printed versions on their shelves. It is a collector's hobby.
In spite of digitalisation, so to speak. Compared to gaming, it is part of the customer journey for manga readers to go "offline" to the bookstore they trust and pick up the latest volume, whereas in gaming digital copies of games are often very well established. And Thalia's new concept is very popular and has a huge market.