Meet Rick Parman of Rick’s Comic City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick Parman.

Hi Rick, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I was selling comics at local comic shows in the late 1990s, I was doing pretty well at them and making decent money to supplement my slightly out-of-control comic book addiction (100+ long boxes).

After a few years of doing the comic book show circuit, I began thinking about the idea of opening a brick-and-mortar store. I had been working on finding a good spot away from competitors that would still have good foot traffic where I could afford to pay the rent. The rent portion of the equation was the only part I got right in the beginning. I found a 300-square-foot shop behind a futon store in the Donelson area of Nashville. Being from the Hermitage area I was familiar with Donelson.

The location I found was close to where one of my favorite comic book stores growing up had been located. The location was sketchy–I’m not going to lie–with plywood signs–dimly lit and located behind the main building. It still amazes me that people found us at all but they did.

I started out selling my collection–those same 100-long boxes–and my show stock in the store. Every sale we made bought new products and we started to grow. After about a year and a half the futon store closed and we took over their spot. A few months later we added another suite in the plaza and cut a hole in the wall to add to the space. When we first started Magic the Gathering and Pokemon paid my bills, comics were a sideline.

But after a few years, Magic and Pokemon started to slow down and comics started growing for us. Comics just kept growing for us until it just took over the store. We went through lots of ups and downs in the business and the first few years were the hardest but we kept changing and adapting to what we thought our customers wanted and what they wanted was comic books.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We constantly have to change and that’s been the hardest part as I get older. The staff at the store has changed several times over the years so that has been a challenge as well. Long-term staff become a sort of family and it is always hard to see them move on to other things.

Right now, we have a great staff and I am pleased with the direction the store is heading in. Coming out of the pandemic things were just so uncertain. The pandemic was challenging. As a primarily brick-and-mortar store, the shift to more online sales was very difficult. We had to pivot quickly and thankfully our customers were willing to work with us. We did carside pick-up while everything was completely closed down and that is what saved us but honestly, even four years later we are still recovering from 2020. The landscape of the pandemic has completely changed our business model due to the prevalence of online shopping.

I am not sure we will ever go back to a solely brick-and-mortar model after that. We are slowly adapting to the changes–our eBay store is a continuing work in progress and our online store gets more and more added to it every day. But with thousands of books in stock and more arriving all the time, it is a challenge to keep up in a company with less than ten full-time employees.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We specialize in the sale of comic books, comic-related items, toys, and collectibles. We are known throughout the greater Nashville area for our wide selection of new-release comic books–brands like Marvel, DC, Boom, Dark Horse, Image, and IDW, and our large selection of indie comics. We pride ourselves on having the largest selection of trade paperbacks and hardcover collections in the area.

Additionally, we carry a large stock of back issues–comics primarily from the last 10 years. We do buy collections so we have older comics, like Silver (1950-1970) or Bronze Age (1970-1985), come in at various times but they usually do not stay very long in our stores as we do not view ourselves as a museum, but as a place for people to add to their collections and talk comics.

We also carry a nice selection of toys, statues, posters, Funko POPs! and comic book supplies. If it is comic book-related you can find it at Rick’s. We have been in business in Nashville since 2000 and we expanded to Clarksville in 2015. We have been in the Donelson Plaza for almost the entire time–15 years. Our original location was where Ugly Duck Vintage is located today, so we haven’t moved very far.

We are a Donelson OG.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
We were more of a card and game store when we first opened and comics were a small sideline. The comic folks didn’t like the game folks and vice versa. As the gaming aspect of the store was slowly fazed out due to being less profitable, the comic book side of the store began to grow and grow. One lesson I learned after I attended a ComicPro event was how to cycle count my orders and it made all the difference in how my business grew–it allowed me to finally go full-time in the business. Before that, I had been running the business part-time and still had another full-time job.

The other major lesson I have learned along the way is that being flexible and adapting to change makes all the difference in the way you run your business. I have had to reinvent the business several times since that first reinvention and each time I think maybe we won’t survive the change. And then we do. It is surprising to me every time. Some of my customers have been with me from the beginning, when we were behind the futon store and my mom was afraid I was going to get mugged going to my car. Some of my customers are new and come in after buying cookies tacos or sandwiches in the Plaza. The one constant is change. And comic books.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rick-s-comic-city.myshopify.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rickscomiccity2 https://www.instagram.com/rickscomiccity
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rickscomiccitytn
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/comic_rick
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXYoF6fdK4DmQ1hxlIO6rnw
• Other: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&_ssn=rcctn&_sop=1

Image Credits
Rick Parman, Paul Scheer, and James Hughey