The first comic shop I was a "regular" at was North County Comics near College Blvd. Oceanside, CA (right near a Ralphs or Vons grocery store if my memory serves me correct).
I was around 8 years old when I first went there to get some comics, I picked up some X-Men Classics or Early Years (reprints of older books). My friend and I would compare comics or trade/borrow books, sometimes our folks would bring us together to get comics. His favorite was Spider-Man books with Venom or Carnage and I loved the X-Men (mostly Wolverine stuff, but I also had a great appreciation for comics history).
We also were big into those Fleer trading cards, we had tons of them, most bought at North County Comics. The store didn't have much for back issues, mostly new comics and lots of War Hammer & dice games. There was an early ASM (#5?) hanging on the wall above the register, I don't think it was not for sale. The owner was an older gentleman, he wore glasses and was pretty quiet. When paying him for my books or cards he would make change with big roll of cash from his pocket instead of using the register. His store was always kept neat and organized, the last time I visited was probably 1997. I do not believe they are open anymore, google did not give me any results.
Did anyone from the boards ever go to this store?