After 21 years in business,
Earth-2 Comics of Sherman Oaks, California, is closing its brick-and-mortar operation, owner Carr D’Angelo announced on the store’s
Facebook, but it will continue to do online sales, eBay, and live sales via Whatnot and Facebook. D’Angelo cited a number of reasons for the closing, including the general drop in retail sales, changes in the once-vibrant neighborhood, and the end of his lease, as well as the factors that are affecting many retailers: “Wholesale discounts are smaller. Shipping is higher. The distribution system has fractured and because each vendor processes data differently, it takes longer to order and restock product. We’re making less on each comic sold than we did ten years ago. Further, publishers are also feeling the pinch. They have cut back incentive programs that helped us grow readership, and tightened print runs to the point they can’t meet demand when a title is a hit.”
As D’Angelo explained in a 2016 interview (see “
Business 3x3”), he started Earth-2 in 2003 as a comic shop with a bookstore model, carrying graphic novels as well as new and back-issue comics. The store won the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award in 2007 (see “
Earth-2 Wins Eisner Retailing Awards”).
Chuck Rozanski, owner of
Mile High Comics in Denver, Colorado, was injured in a traffic accident in Vail Pass on April 15, according to the store newsletter. Rozanski, a longtime retailer (see “
ICv2 Interview: Chuck Rozanski”), broke his left ulna, radius, and wrist and also suffered a compression fracture of his L1 vertebra. The store will update his condition in upcoming newsletters.
Two Michigan truck drivers have been charged with robbing
Comic Collection in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and severely beating the owner, Dave Schwartz, in September 2022 (see “
Two Sought in Savage Beating of Comic Shop Owner”). According to
PhillyBurbs, Zakery Maximus Tucker, 22, was arraigned on April 15 on charges that included robbery, aggravated assault, and unlawful restraint and is being held on $300,000 bail. Caleb James-Lorenze Simpson, 35, who was also charged, is currently in custody in Michigan and will be extradited to Pennsylvania.
When a masked man came into the Colton, California, game store
Into the Retroverse, employees tackled him, but when he pulled a gun, they had to back off. The robber then filled his bag with merchandise and escaped with about $3-5,000 worth of Pokemon cards, owner Jovanne Bernal told
KTLA5. This is the third time the store has been robbed since it opened seven months ago.
The burglar who threw a rock through the front door of
Nostalgia, Ink, in Jackson, Michigan, didn’t fare as well; store employee Joshua Kelly told
Fox 47 News that the man appeared to be disoriented and grabbed a few things before leaving with some free comics, discounted mystery bundles, and comic books.
Let’s wind this up on a happier note: “I’m doing something I love, so I wake up every day with a smile on my face,” Mike Gladney told
Startland News. Gladney and his wife, Vania, own
Comic Coffeehouse, of Olathe, Kansas, a store that brings together their mutual interests by offering both comics and comics-themed coffee drinks such as Poison Ivy (honey lavender matcha) and Groot (white chocolate and brown sugar latte), as well as a video game corner, regular game and trivia nights, and pop-ups for local comics artists.
Short Takes
- The Daily News profiles Wizard’s Keep Game and Hobby Store of Muncie, Indiana, which has been serving customers since it opened in 1984 on the campus of Ball State University; the store has moved since then, and David Barnette, who took over in 2005, is its second owner.
- Goblin Bros. Games & Gear of Petaluma, California, has opened a second location in nearby Santa Rosa, the Press Democrat reports. The new store has twice the space of the first one and has been remodeled with a steampunk feel.
- The police in Opelika, Alabama, are looking for a man who underpaid by $600 for two comic books at Almost Anything after he switched out the price tags, according to AL.com.
