CBGXtra Says FM International Closed

I heard about their site going off-line and their phone being disconnected from a number of people via e-mail this morning, but I'm on the road and couldn't follow-up in proper fashion. I still can't! Anyway, at the very least one news source has gone on the record: CBGXtra is reporting that the distributor FM International has finally shut its doors. They've built their report around the site, the phone line, and corresponding testimony by a few closer to the company.

I hope this turns out to be true not because I want to see FM going out of business, but I'd like for something to actually happen one way or the other.

The problem in dealing with a story that develops over time like this one has is that when a business holds few measurable assets of its own, their continuing to function depends largely on the intent of the owners. Having the option to continue demands there be some credibility maintained by that business in the eyes of its suppliers and clients. Intent and credibility are stone cold bitches to accurately read. They're hidden, they fluctuate, and they have different values for different entities.

And let's be honest: Businesses that depend on maintaining their credibility as viable, active entities have every reason to conceal bad news -- a distributor confirmed to be going out of business will be shut off that much more quickly. That doesn't automatically mean that anyone's lied or misled in FM's case if things proceed forward as CBGXtra thinks they will. It simply means everything such a business has to say in its own defense must be taken with a saltlick-sized grain of salt. That's just the way it has to be from now on. Heck, I'd distrust one of those fancy, truth-telling robots. It's entirely possible for someone in such a business to simply and honestly change their minds, starting a day intending to stay in business and ending it with a thrown-in towel. The motivation isn't as important as the inability for outsiders to discern the truth.

So in general, these are delicate stories with a lot of conflicting elements, stories that demand to be told in part because to not tell them provides businesses with credibility they haven't earned, assurances that can come back and bite a lot of people in the pocketbook. I don't have any problem letting you know about a rumor and then reminding you it's a rumor, the same way I'm pointing out a more proper news report, as in this post, even admitting I don't have the ability or inclination to independentl confirm. I trust most of you to read blog entries and recognize their ambiguity when ambiguity becomes part of the point.

Anyway... If the good folks at CBG are right, some things to watch now are (1) how much stock was returned to individual publishers, which we know has been happening, (2) if a Capital-like turnover of stock to Diamond or another agent was negotiated and (3) forgetting the symbolic effect of Diamond gaining further sole control of its market, pay attention to how many stores feel an impact in terms of serving customers, stores that used FM in a specific fulfillment role. There are some fundamental things that are either fragile or broken when it comes to DM stores serving their clientele -- I mean things on the level of a movieplex not having the movies it promised or not getting a certain kind of movie shipped or unable to get something in a projector on time -- and any further weakening of comic shops' ability to serve clientele at this point in history has to be considered a systemic dysfunction, not a personality quirk.
 
posted 11:58 am PST | Permalink
 

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