Retailer Trans World Entertainment Corp. (TWE) has made a deal with wholesaler Bookazine to develop and manage a manga section in each of its more than 900 stores. TWE has nine store brands in malls and as stand-alone stores, including F.Y.E., Coconuts, Sam Goody, Suncoast, and Planet Music.
Bookazine established its separate pop culture program, Popazine, two years ago and hired John Davis from Central Park Media to run it. In those two year’s, Bookazine’s sales of pop culture-related titles, including manga and graphic novels, have jumped. According to Bookazine Executive Vice President Richard Kallman, pop culture/graphic novels were 5% of the company’s business in 2006. This year he expects the division will grow to 7% or 8%.
Bookazine is finalizing its product mix to complement the TWE brands. It will be supplying manga, science fiction and fantasy titles, and movie, television, and video game tie-ins to some stores. Davis anticipates launching the Popazine selection in all TWE stores by the end of the year.