Food distribution is a process in which a general population is supplied with food. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) considers food distribution as a subset of the food system. The process and methodology behind food distribution varies by location. Food distribution has been a defining characteristic of human behavior in all societies, and recordings of food distribution date back for thousands of years. Most governments and societies are highly shaped by the systems created to support food distribution.
The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant group. In specific recent Asian, American and Western European context, the term "underground press" has most frequently been employed to refer to the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in India and Bangladesh in Asia, in the United States and Canada in North America, and the United Kingdom and other western nations. It can also refer to the newspapers produced independently in repressive regimes. In German occupied Europe, for example, a thriving underground press operated, usually in association with the Resistance. Other notable examples include the samizdat and bibuła, which operated in the Soviet Union and Poland respectively, during the Cold War.
Wizard Entertainment Inc., formerly known as GoEnergy and Wizard World, is a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across North America. The company started as the holding company for Strato Malmas' interests in the energy business.
Pacific Comics (PC) was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981–1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes. Along with competitors like First Comics and Eclipse Comics, PC took early advantage of the growing direct market, attracting a number of writers and artists from DC and Marvel to produce creator-owned titles, which were not subject to the Comics Code, and thus were free to feature more mature content.
Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. Now an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia.
British small press comics, once known as stripzines, are comic books self-published by amateur cartoonists and comic book creators, usually in short print runs, in the UK. They're comparable to similar movements internationally, such as American minicomics and Japanese doujinshi. A "small press comic" is essentially a zine composed predominantly of comic strips. The term emerged in the early 1980s to distinguish them from zines about comics. Notable artists who have had their start in British small press comics include Eddie Campbell, Paul Grist, Rian Hughes, Jamie Hewlett, Alan Martin, Philip Bond and Andi Watson.
Microcosm Publishing is an independent publisher and distributor based in Portland, Oregon. Microcosm describes itself as having "a reputation for teaching self-empowerment, showing hidden histories, and fostering creativity through challenging conventional publishing wisdom, influencing other publishers large and small with books and bookettes about DIY skills, food, zines, and art."
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. It currently consists of Diamond Comic Distributors, which has monopolized such distribution, and the majority of comics specialty stores, as well as other retailers of comic books and related merchandise.
Genuine Parts Company (GPC) is an American service organization engaged in the distribution of automotive replacement parts, industrial replacement parts, office products and electrical/electronic materials. GPC serves numerous customers from more than 2,600 operations around the world, and has approximately 48,000 employees. It owns the NAPA Auto Parts brand.
Big Rapids Distribution was a Detroit-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comix. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when they could be found in most full-service newsstands there. At its height, shortly before it went bankrupt in 1980, Big Rapids was functioning as an alternative independent distributor in the central and southern Michigan areas, selling a full line of magazines and paperbacks, as well as mainstream 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.
New Media Distribution/Irjax Enterprises was a comic book distributor and publisher active from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.
New Hogtown Press was a Canadian left-wing publisher active during the 1970s and 1980s.
Heroes World Distribution Co., originally named Superhero Enterprises, was an American comic book distributor. It was founded by Ivan Snyder, active from 1975 to 1997, during the growth and consolidation of the direct market. Heroes World was acquired by Marvel Comics in late 1994 to act as the publisher's sole distributor. This ill-fated move, combined with other marketplace factors of the time, resulted in the financial failure of many other comics distributors and retailers — and the near collapse of the entire North American comic book market.
Robert Lee Beerbohm is an American comic book historian and retailer who has been intimately involved with the rise of comics fandom since 1966. Beginning as a teenager in the late 60s, he became a fixture in the growing comic convention scene, while in the 1970s and 1980s he was heavily involved in Bay Area comic book retailing and distribution.
Substream Magazine is an American bi-monthly, print and digital publication based in Cleveland, Ohio that focuses on sharing selected music, film, pop culture and entertainment, and is especially targeted towards the college community.
Readerlink Distribution Services, is a publisher and distributor of books based in Oak Brook, Illinois. Readerlink is the largest distributor of books to mass merchandisers in United States, and the largest distributor of hardcover, trade and paperback books to non-trade channel booksellers in North America. Servicing approximately 66,000 storefronts in the United States, Readerlink distributes approximately one out of every three consumer trade books sold in the country. As of 2016, the company has distribution centers in Clearfield, Utah; Denton, Texas; Romeoville, Illinois; Salem, Virginia; and Winder, Georgia. Dennis E. Abboud serves as Readerlink's President and CEO.
ICv2 is an online trade magazine that covers geek culture for retailers. ICv2's main areas of focus are comic books, anime, gaming, and show business products. The site offers news, reviews, analysis, and sales information for retailers and librarians. ICv2 holds an annual trade conference in conjunction with the New York Comic Con; the company also periodically publishes ICv2 Retailer Guides in hard copy format.
Milton Griepp is an American businessman who has spent the bulk of his career involved with American comic books. He was the co-founder and CEO of Capital City Distribution, a distributor of comic books and related material, from 1980 to 1996. In 2001, he founded the online trade magazine ICv2 and acts as its CEO.
