Posted in : funnies , Current News| Tagged : AENT , bankruptcy , diamond
Alliance Entertainment boss Bruce Ogilvie spill about why they grease one’s palms Diamond Comic Distributors and his plans for the direct comics market .
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Last weekI was the special guest on the Beyond Wednesdays podcastwith comic storage ownersJesse James , Dennis BargerandBryan McClay . And it plow out someone rather interesting was watching us . OneBruce Ogilvie , Chairmanof Alliance Entertainment who , a few days subsequently , with his partnerJeff Walker(who was physically at the vendue ) would buyDiamond Comic Distributors at auctionas part of their Chapter 11 failure proceedings . Andyesterday he was on the podcast as this week ’s special guest . First , the guys give way down the tidings of the sale and then quiz Bruce Ogilvie about what had gone down .
We find out that Bruce Ogilvie begin selling music at swop assemble in 1978 , later launch Abbey Road electrical distributor in 1980 after convince record companies to work with him . He also said that he grew this ship’s company to $ 94 million in revenue by 1994 . As a ego - taught programmer , Ogilvie developed a storage warehouse order - picking system of rules in the eighties to meliorate efficiency , actuate by a desire to turn down cost and increase profitability . This arrangement help computerize seven other music distributors . After selling Abbey Road Distributors in 1994 , Ogilvie joinedJeff Walkerin 2001 at Alliance Entertainment , which evolve from a retail merchant in 1991 ( CD Listening Bar ) to a distributor ( one stop ) called Super D. They grew the troupe from $ 18 million to $ 1.4 billion in revenue by 2020 through acquisition and diversification . Alliance flourish beyond music into movies , television games , and import , acquiring companies to leverage existing relationships and branch out receipts stream , peculiarly as digital music impacted physical sales .
Alliance Entertainment has grown through skill over the years , and the Diamond learning is part of a new five - year plan to spring up faster as a public company . Bruce Ogilvie take on a lack of knowledge of the comic book marketplace and learned of Diamond ’s potential failure from an industry point at an investor conference . It was Alliance who get through the house Raymond James Financial and tried to grease one’s palms Diamond outright without give to go through the expensive failure process and to stave off price and creditor losses , but to no service , the wheels were in movement . And above the defrayment to cover debts , a guessing plot in the chat saw Ogilvie admit they will have compensate closer to $ 40 million than $ 50 million …
There is a big learnedness curve do , but he emphatically seems open to learning more about what his caller has bought . Alliance is employee - owned , and Ogilvie plans to keep back Diamond ’s faculty for their trafficker and client relationship , to learn from their institutional knowledge , and to plow operational issue to make the line profitable . Ogilvie and Walker also aim to mix Diamond ’s inventory into Alliance ’s system for efficiency , avoiding multiple platforms .
The price point of comic books is going to be an issue
Bruce Ogilvie emphasizes lucrativeness over being an " expensive hobby , " direct higher price points . They cited that it was pointless selling $ 5 CDs , they would rather distribute $ 20 CDs and front for a minimal profit on item as 95 cents . That may well be an issue . presently , Diamond makes much less on their comics , usually between 2 % and 5 % of the cover price on most comics , depending on their muckle . Maybe 20 cents on a $ 3.99 comic ? If that ? Would the cheapest comic that Alliance Entertainment be unforced to distribute around $ 20 , netting them a dollar ? Will they be crowd up the gain margins on floppy strip ? Or will they just switch the insurance for comic record ? There are likely to be changes in the long term but for now , Diamond will continue as usual .
Ogilvie admit there was pressing to corrupt more of the Diamond assets in one fell slide . He was surprised to learn Diamond ’s San Diego Comic Con cubicle was part of the plus purchase and still has to talk about the future tense of the comic price guide Overstreet with his squad . But for Alliance Entertainment , this is all about diversity . Ogilvie reference Ingram Entertainment ’s bankruptcy to diversify as a cautionary tarradiddle . And sees this as twelvemonth one , aiming to leverage public condition despite the high cost and complexness of run public .
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