The applicant’s store must be located in the U.S. and must be either a brick-and-mortar store whose owner makes a substantial portion of its revenue from in-store comic sales, or a mobile or pop-up store that is an ongoing concern and is staffed and open to the general public for at least 30 hours a week. To be eligible, the applicant must be the owner or a full-time or part-time employee of a comic shop; employees must be currently employed and have at least 90 days of continues employment with the store. The application is online, and the deadline to apply is 5 p.m. ET on October 3, 2022.
Binc will have a table at this year’s summit, and Communications and Project Manager Judey Kalchik will be available to hear feedback from retailers and discuss emergency assistance and scholarships. The foundation distributed over $950,000 to comics retailers during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic (see “Binc Distributing Over $950,000 to Comic Stores”) as well as $1.1 million in “Survive to Thrive” grants to help independent bookstores and comic shops improve their operations for long-term success (see “Binc Awards $1.1 Million in ‘Survive to Thrive’ Grants”).