7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1. Comic shop in Oviedo, Florida
2. The city of Oviedo, Florida, is on the rise, but there is no comic book store within city limits. The closest stores are 20 minutes away or further. 
1. The who: Oviedo citizens (potentially neighbor city Winter Springs citizens as well).
2. The what: People who are part of comic culture have no close place to gather or fulfill their comic related needs.
3. The why: Oviedo does not have any comic stores.
3. Testing the...
1. who: Everyone in my "who" shares the need, because that is who my "who" is targeting. Confusing language, but I will elaborate. Comic book fans, as a whole, enjoy the experience of going to comic shops. One of the foundations of the comic book culture is going to your Local Comic Shop, commonly abbreviated to LCS. Going to an LCS is about more than picking up that week's issues and leaving; it's about having someplace where you know you can always find like-minded peers, have healthy debates, or just shoot the breeze with friends.
2. what: Do all comic fans necessarily want to go somewhere, even close by? What about people who shop solely online? Not all comic fans need a real life place to gather, considering the prevalence of online forums. Also, not as many people read comics as used to.
3. why: Maybe there's a good reason there isn't an LCS in my hometown. Did previous attempts at one fail? Has there ever been an LCS in Oviedo? Was it successful? The demographics of Oviedo may just not be the same ones that make a successful comic store. 
4. Many comic fans these days want the experience of a comic shop. I expected this. However, many bypass the physical comics altogether, and just read digital. I found that people who only got into comics by reading digital do not have as much of an interest in a brick and mortar shop compared to people who got into the hobby with physical issues. There are some who have never been to an LCS, or have only been sparingly, that would like to have an actual close location to go to. Additionally, I surveyed UF's Comics club, and although this does not pertain specifically to my hometown, many of the members actually do take extra steps to get their comics in person and hang out in the LCS environment. 
5. I did not think about the fact that there are a lot of comic fans who only read online. Many of those fans read by pirating content, which I understood and expected, but I thought that was only for convenience. As seen in the music industry, the more convenient a method of content retrieval is, the more it is used, even it costs money (streaming music vs pirating). I thought this would be true for the comic industry, and it is in some cases, but not nearly to the extent I expected. 
1. I may have to amend my idea to make it less niche.