Market Analysis
Main Street in Durango Colorado is home to a large variety of shops targeted at many different customers. Despite this diverse selection of industries, there is no establishment that caters to the comic book fans. Colossal Comics will also be buying and reselling used merchandise to our customers, which is a growing industry in the current economic situation. To gain a better understanding of the local economy, demographics and preferences of our target customers we used data from the U.S. census as well as other sources to compile information on the subjects. A short survey was also used to get first hand information on how the community of Durango feels about comic books, used merchandise and the other services we offer. The following sections describe many details on La Plata County, Colorado, and explain why Colossal Comics has a high success rate. Although the economy is not at it’s best, Colossal Comics has a niche that no other shop has quite captured.
Local Economy
Population
The population for La Plata County has been increasing over the years. According to the US Census Bureau, the countie's population has been slowly, but steadily increasing at 1% annually (2012, para. 4). La Plata County's ever-growing population creates an ideal environment for a new business. The birthrate is also on the rise, growing 44% from 2000-2007 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007, para. 7). The graph below (see figure 1) shows the changes in birthrate from 2000-2007. Rising population and birthrates indicate that more people are moving to and settling down in Durango. This can be seen from the sale of Durango country homes rising an immense 60% in 2012 (Setka, 2012, para. 8). Overall, La Plata County's population is doing well, and doesn’t seem to be dropping anytime soon.
Figure 1
Local Trends
Durango's economy is mainly composed of mining, construction, retail, transportation and health care. Colossal Comics will fall under the retail...