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Diamond Comic Distributors is holding previously-scheduled payments to its
vendors this week, attributing their decision to cash flow difficulties due to
coronavirus' impact on the supply chain.
Stan Heidmann, the president of Diamond's parent company Geppi Family
Enterprises, sent a letter to it’s vendors explaining that the distributor is
"no longer receiving consistent payment from our customers" and that as a
result, they will "hold payments to vendors previously scheduled to release this
week." In the comic business “customers are Direct Market retail stores like
Alternate Reality. “Vendors” are the comic book publishers and manufacturers of
games, toys, collectibles, etc., who depend on Diamond to distribute those
products to retail stores.
Here is full letter from Geppi Family Enterprises' President Stan Heidmann:
“Dear Diamond Vendor:
As the world responds to the outbreak of COVID-19, our focus is on protecting
employees, understanding the risks to our business, evaluating the risks to our
industry and examining the Federal Government resources available. While the
full impact of this epidemic is still unknown, one thing is certain: supply
chain disruptions have cash flow implications across the extended industry that
can’t be underestimated.
While we work to understand the current industry landscape, the unfortunate
truth is that we are no longer receiving consistent payments from our customers.
This requires that at this time, we hold payments to vendors previously
scheduled to release this week. This is a difficult decision and not one we make
lightly. As this situation continues to evolve, we are committed to building out
a plan for payment and will have more information to share later this week.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times.
Stan Heidmann
President, Geppi Family Enterprises”
So not only is Diamond not sending out any comics to shops, they also aren't
accepting any new product from their vendors. And now the comics industry comes
to a full stop up and down the line
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