The odd comic-combo shop you have run across 2 2

[the blob]

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 1:45 AM, punksdropdirtysrh said:

There is a comic shop called Limited Edition in Cedar Falls, IA that doubles as a barber shop. 

That actually makes sense if they really don't have the barbers/customers for a lot of chairs and they want to use the space in the back for $ generating stuff. It would make total sense to have stuff that appeals to kids. One place we'd take our kids to was a barbershop/toy store. the haircuts were expensive and the $30 in toys added up each time. We started taking our kids to a cheaper place with no extra sales pressures..and an open, free, bar while daddy waited! we stopped going there because there were some weird creepy guys who hung out who were a little too chatty with the kids that the owner tolerated a bit too much because they were probably criminals. now we go to a place run by a Russian lady who won't put up with that nonsense.

[Ryan.]

On 1/27/2018 at 8:43 AM, nocutename said:

I know you are looking for a strange vintage shop set up but I have a modern shop set up that was truly odd to me, Newbury Comics.  It was all pop culture toys and memorabilia thorougout the entire front of the store.  In the back was a vinyl record section that was bigger and better placed than the comic section.  Why does this strike me as odd, because the store has the word Comic in it, yet I took me a few minutes to find the dark little alcove it was shove in.  

If you are thinking Forbidden Planet has this set up, you would be mistaken as they have statues and memorabilia upfront but they have a large wall of new comics and many, many shelves of graphic novels.  I guess that was what I was expecting.  Newbury comics is a mall shop so it must appeal to the masses?

Newbury Comics started out, decades ago, as a small comic shop that also sold records and music related apparel, on Newbury Street in Boston. As time went on their record and CD sales vastly overtook the comic sales, and they eventually became a pop culture paraphernalia store. They still dedicate a small space for new comics and TPBs but the "comics" in their name is largely academic. 

[the blob]

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 8:19 PM, the blob said:

My old lcs replaced half the back issue bins with his vintage records. Sold those until all the goid stuff was gone. Right before ebay killed records.

To clarify, Ebay was great for records early in some ways. It killed prices on "good" stuff (Yellow submarine suddenly became easy to find...), but when I was selling records in 2000-2002 it was amazing how I could put just about anything up and it would sell. Usually not for more than $5, sure. I lived in a 600 unit apartment building and neighbors were constantly throwing out records as stuff no longer fit in their apartments (and many were in the music industry, so they got free stuff) so I had a constant flow of stuff I was selling. Now with fees and the tremendous expense in properly shipping a record I don't see much room for $3-$5 record sales.

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by the blob

[shadroch]

 

There used to be a diner/comic shop in Jackson Hole, and a tattoo/comic shop in Vegas.

Does anyone remember the comic shop that was located inside an advertising office on about the 90th floor of the Empire State Building?

[CJ Design]

The first place I could find that sold back issues in NOVA when I started as a kid  was a College used bookstore (George Mason).and the other was a new/used bookstore in Oakton....early 70's. no comic shops at that time until a few years later.. Alwx and FFX. I had to also rely on Passaic and TBG. Great times.

[fullmoon]

On 1/27/2018 at 11:56 AM, SOTIcollector said:

It's likely there was no connection between the IL and GA Wuxtry stores.  I got to know Fred Bozek, who owned the Wuxtry in Illinois.  He named the place for the shouts of a newboy way back in the day.  Billy Batson or other newspaper boys would shout "wuxtry" as an alternative form of "extra".  

Fred sold the place sometime in the early 80's and moved away, I believe to Colorado.  According to their website, the Wuxtry stores in Georgia have been around since 1976.  So I think the name shared by the Illinois and Georgia Wuxtry stores just happens to be coincidence.

 

 

On 1/27/2018 at 1:20 PM, Martin Sinescu said:

Yeah, now that you mention it, I have seen/heard the "Wuxtry! Wuxtry!" since then and realized that must've been where they got the name. Odd coincidence those being the same type shops, but I'm sure you're right that there was no connection. Thanks for the info 

Fred Bozek was the original founder of the very first Wuxtry, in Carbondale. Dan and Mark were his employees there and moved to Georgia and opened their Wuxtry shops. Wuxtry was Fred’s vision.

[comicginger1789]

In Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, there is a place that sells comics and tobacco/marijuana/gag gifts

I went once years ago. Still there to my knowledge...books were all drek, priced all over the map. It was like they lit up before pricing and just went nuts. Dollar bin stuff was $10-20, books worth a bit were priced three times as much. Everything in there was not bagged and stacked leaning next to one another....and reked of all kinds of smoke. Next to the comic bins I recall various sex toys and bongs on a shelf. 

Trust me, I went desperate for comics. But it was so bad I have not gone back and its only 20 minutes away from me. 

[waaaghboss]

A local shop in my town is a pawn shop with a lot of comics.  Comics and guns.  Lots of guns.

[slym2none]

On 4/14/2020 at 5:09 AM, waaaghboss said:

A local shop in my town is a pawn shop with a lot of comics.  Comics and guns.  Lots of guns.

Is that a problem?



-slym

[Semicentennial]

Mine isn't as extreme as some of the shops posted but I used to go to a place in Alameda, CA back in the early to mid 80s called Cards, Comics, and Candy.  It was run out of someone's converted garage.  When you walked in through the sliding glass door, you were greeted with a counter filled with candy and somewhere in the corner was some comics.  The guy that worked there worked with his grandparents, I think.  They used to have a booth over at the flea market at the drive in theater in Alameda where I would sell them a stack of comic books at 50% off guide, nothing really good of course.   That's the shop that started my comic book obsession.  The dude used to make my friends and I green with envy with his limited edition Dark Knight hard cover book.  That was one of my grails growing up.  

Edited April 16, 2020 by 50 Fiddy

[FlyingDonut]

I believe nothing in the world comes close to this place. It might be closed by now but it was WITHOUT QUESTION the worst comic store I've ever been to.

Card and Comic Collectorama

[Semicentennial]

12 minutes ago, FlyingDonut said:

I believe nothing in the world comes close to this place. It might be closed by now but it was WITHOUT QUESTION the worst comic store I've ever been to.

Card and Comic Collectorama

Wow that is a weird combination.   It looks absolutely filthy. 

[awakeintheashes]

48 minutes ago, FlyingDonut said:

I believe nothing in the world comes close to this place. It might be closed by now but it was WITHOUT QUESTION the worst comic store I've ever been to.

Card and Comic Collectorama

You beat me to it by 40 minutes. I just read through the three pages to see if this place had been mentioned. Weirdest and worst comic shop I’ve ever been to. Hot as hell in there as well.

I went a couple times between 2015-2017 because I was living in Potomac Yard, so I was in Del Ray a lot. It was still open in October 2017 when I moved away but had really strange hours.

Edited April 16, 2020 by awakeintheashes

[awakeintheashes]

31 minutes ago, 50 Fiddy said:

Wow that is a weird combination.   It looks absolutely filthy. 

It is. Honestly thought the upstairs floors were going to fall on me as I moved long boxes that were in no order and randomly placed throughout the shop.

[oldbsturgeon]

Okay so I live in WV and about 45 min from me in Ashland KY is a place called superhero creamery.

it’s a comic store/ice cream parlor. Now I have never been but I am told it gets lots of traffic 

[lighthouse]

This place stank of dog . Owner and his dog slept on the floor. No air conditioning. Had a sign on the front door with a marijuana leaf that said “because of my medication this store sometimes doesn’t open until later than posted”. 

Had about 4,000 console games. Every single disc, even games he was selling for $3, was kept in old filing cabinets behind the counter.

But the sign at checkout calling customers was my favorite part.

i spent twenty minutes trying to look through the comic boxes in a 100° store and gave up. 

 

[october]

The train station in Hinsdale, Illinois used to have a few small stores in it. When I was a kid it was a combination train station, comic shop, sports card and coin shop. It was pretty awesome actually. 

[the blob]

15 hours ago, FlyingDonut said:

I believe nothing in the world comes close to this place. It might be closed by now but it was WITHOUT QUESTION the worst comic store I've ever been to.

Card and Comic Collectorama

That looks like a fun place to rummage around, but inevitably those kinds of places see what you have rummaged and then decide everything is $20 a pop or some nonsense because they have no prices on anything.

[the blob]

5 hours ago, oldbsturgeon said:

Okay so I live in WV and about 45 min from me in Ashland KY is a place called superhero creamery.

it’s a comic store/ice cream parlor. Now I have never been but I am told it gets lots of traffic 

That is also a good idea, although it can be a bit seasonal depending on location. just keep the ice cream up front.

 

[thunsicker]

I mentioned it before in other threads, but my first back issue comic shop was the local head shop in the town I grew up in (Iowa City).  Z's Joint had gotten into comics through underground comix.  Over the years the back issues took over more and more space until, years later, it became Daydreams Comics and dropped the paraphernalia entirely.  But those early days sneaking down the alley to the Head Shop to buy comics always felt so adult and risky.