Capital City Distributors
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Comic book distributor, Comic book publisher |
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| Industry | Comics |
| Fate | acquisition by Diamond Comic Distributors |
| Founded | 1980 in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Founder | Milton Griepp, John Davis |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Madison, Wisconsin |
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Key people
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Griepp, Davis, Richard Bruning |
| Subsidiaries | Capital Comics |
Capital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comic Distributors. Under the name Capital Comics, they also published comics from 1981 to 1984.
During most of its years of operation, Capital City introduced many supply chain innovations and controlled much of the American Midwest's comics distribution market. More so than their rivals Diamond and Heroes World Distribution, Capital City supported independent publishers as much as big mainstream companies like DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
Capital City also published over 400 pages of printed material a month, including Internal Correspondence, which provided sales figures to their clients; and Advance Comics, their monthly catalog showcasing upcoming comic books, toys, and other pop-culture related items it distributed to comic book specialty shops.
In the 1970s, Milton Griepp and John Davis were running a small Madison-based distributor called Wisconsin Independent News Distributors (WIND). Forced to sell their assets to Big Rapids Distribution, Griepp and Davis later turned the tables in 1980 when they took over much of Big Rapids' bankrupt business to form Capital City.
One of Capital City's first acts was to utilize the personnel of another former Big Rapids' acquisition, Well News Co. of Columbus, Ohio, to become the nucleus of an early distribution branch. In 1982, Capital City acquired the Berkeley, California-based Common Ground Distributors, which had been started by Robert Beerbohm in the late 1970s (and had been initially supplied by Big Rapids).
Capital City's Wisconsin location was relatively near World Color Press's main printing plant in Sparta, Illinois. (During that period World Color printed most American comic books, including those of the two industry giants Marvel and DC.) By 1982, Capital City operated out of a large warehouse in Madison that they shared with their largest account, mail-order retailer Westfield Comics.
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Wikipedia