Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Apr 3, 2015 20:02:11 GMT -6
ACME Comics in Sioux City, Iowa, celebrates its 20th anniversary weekend. The store won the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing award in 2004, and co-owner Kevin McGarry said their knack for anticipating the latest trend has given them an edge.
siouxcityjournal.com/weekender/community/acme-comics-celebrates-years/article_3ce45a68-6a3f-5b76-8182-b197d7192d93.html
For Fran and Kevin McGarry, it really doesn’t seem like it has been 20 years since they first opened ACME Comics & Collectibles in Siouxland.
“It seems like yesterday,” said Kevin, vice president of the comic book and game store on Pierce Street. “I still remember painting the fixtures.”
“I remember staying up all night putting price tags on stuff, frantically, before we opened,” added Fran, president.
The store first opened on April Fool’s Day and Fran and Kevin were receiving phone calls at 3 a.m. asking if it was all a joke or if they were actually opening. They hired an actor from Marvel Comics to play Spider-Man for the store’s grand premiere. They also took him to a hospital to visit kids.
“I was petrified because, at that time, you could not get these characters as easy as you can today,” said Fran. “We had to fly in the actor from Marvel out of New York. So I was terrified we were going to have a grand opening and have nobody there after we had spent all this money getting this actor.”
Their efforts paid off — and worries quelled — when the store had a 45-minute waiting line just to see Spider-Man and another 45-minute line for the cash register. Customers could hardly get a spot in the parking lot.
ACME Comics has since prospered in Siouxland, selling comic books, figurines, posters, trading cards, novelty items, games and much more. The business set a standard for comic book stores around the world, Kevin said, especially after the store won the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award in 2004. The trophy is proudly displayed in a glass cabinet in the store.
“Back when we opened, comic stores were all these dark, dingy holes that you walked into and there was kind of a creepy guy behind the counter,” said Kevin. “It wasn’t a really family friendly place to go into. We changed all that.”
Twenty years is a long time for a comic book store to prosper. Fran and Kevin said they’ve been lucky.
“The scary statistic is the No. 1 most opened business is a hobby retail store,” said Fran. “The No. 1 most closed business? A hobby retail store.”
Kevin believes one reason ACME Comics has been able to succeed is because the store was willing to adapt to the current and always changing trends. In the mid ’90s, when the Pokemon video games were introduced in the United States, ACME Comics was already selling the first generation of the franchise’s trading cards.
Even now the store is adapting to the newest crazes by selling the latest “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead” products. ACME Comics shelves now have more “Star Wars” figurines since the newest film will be released in December.
“We got a guy from New York that comes probably every four months and hits town to buy ‘Godzilla’ from us,” said Fran.
“At our old location [near Hamilton Boulevard], we had a group from Japan that would come over,” said Kevin. “They had a store kind of like ours in Japan but it was cheaper for them to fly over, buy the stuff from us and just take it back than it was to have stuff shipped to them.”
What’s next for ACME Comics? Fran and Kevin said they’re going to continue adapting to the latest trends and traveling to comic book conventions. The store is one of largest ‘Doctor Who’ vendors in North America. In true ACME Comics fashion, a homemade TARDIS will likely be constructed outside the store.
Fran and Kevin admit ACME Comics isn’t going to be make them rich, but then again, that’s not why they’re in the business.
“You don’t do it for the money,” said Fran. “You do it because you love it, pure and simple. If you do it right, it is a business and you can survive the good times and bad times.”
The details
WHAT: ACME Comics & Collectibles 20th Anniversary Party
WHEN: Noon-4 p.m. Saturday (April 4)
WHERE: ACME Comics & Collectibles, 1622 Pierce St
EVENTS: Meet and take pictures with your favorite superheroes, win hourly prizes, receive free superhero sketches from comic book artist Carter Allen and watch the official Sioux City premiere of the documentary "The Midwest in Panels" featuring ACME Comics (starts at 2 p.m.).
siouxcityjournal.com/weekender/community/acme-comics-celebrates-years/article_3ce45a68-6a3f-5b76-8182-b197d7192d93.html
For Fran and Kevin McGarry, it really doesn’t seem like it has been 20 years since they first opened ACME Comics & Collectibles in Siouxland.
“It seems like yesterday,” said Kevin, vice president of the comic book and game store on Pierce Street. “I still remember painting the fixtures.”
“I remember staying up all night putting price tags on stuff, frantically, before we opened,” added Fran, president.
The store first opened on April Fool’s Day and Fran and Kevin were receiving phone calls at 3 a.m. asking if it was all a joke or if they were actually opening. They hired an actor from Marvel Comics to play Spider-Man for the store’s grand premiere. They also took him to a hospital to visit kids.
“I was petrified because, at that time, you could not get these characters as easy as you can today,” said Fran. “We had to fly in the actor from Marvel out of New York. So I was terrified we were going to have a grand opening and have nobody there after we had spent all this money getting this actor.”
Their efforts paid off — and worries quelled — when the store had a 45-minute waiting line just to see Spider-Man and another 45-minute line for the cash register. Customers could hardly get a spot in the parking lot.
ACME Comics has since prospered in Siouxland, selling comic books, figurines, posters, trading cards, novelty items, games and much more. The business set a standard for comic book stores around the world, Kevin said, especially after the store won the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award in 2004. The trophy is proudly displayed in a glass cabinet in the store.
“Back when we opened, comic stores were all these dark, dingy holes that you walked into and there was kind of a creepy guy behind the counter,” said Kevin. “It wasn’t a really family friendly place to go into. We changed all that.”
Twenty years is a long time for a comic book store to prosper. Fran and Kevin said they’ve been lucky.
“The scary statistic is the No. 1 most opened business is a hobby retail store,” said Fran. “The No. 1 most closed business? A hobby retail store.”
Kevin believes one reason ACME Comics has been able to succeed is because the store was willing to adapt to the current and always changing trends. In the mid ’90s, when the Pokemon video games were introduced in the United States, ACME Comics was already selling the first generation of the franchise’s trading cards.
Even now the store is adapting to the newest crazes by selling the latest “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead” products. ACME Comics shelves now have more “Star Wars” figurines since the newest film will be released in December.
“We got a guy from New York that comes probably every four months and hits town to buy ‘Godzilla’ from us,” said Fran.
“At our old location [near Hamilton Boulevard], we had a group from Japan that would come over,” said Kevin. “They had a store kind of like ours in Japan but it was cheaper for them to fly over, buy the stuff from us and just take it back than it was to have stuff shipped to them.”
What’s next for ACME Comics? Fran and Kevin said they’re going to continue adapting to the latest trends and traveling to comic book conventions. The store is one of largest ‘Doctor Who’ vendors in North America. In true ACME Comics fashion, a homemade TARDIS will likely be constructed outside the store.
Fran and Kevin admit ACME Comics isn’t going to be make them rich, but then again, that’s not why they’re in the business.
“You don’t do it for the money,” said Fran. “You do it because you love it, pure and simple. If you do it right, it is a business and you can survive the good times and bad times.”
The details
WHAT: ACME Comics & Collectibles 20th Anniversary Party
WHEN: Noon-4 p.m. Saturday (April 4)
WHERE: ACME Comics & Collectibles, 1622 Pierce St
EVENTS: Meet and take pictures with your favorite superheroes, win hourly prizes, receive free superhero sketches from comic book artist Carter Allen and watch the official Sioux City premiere of the documentary "The Midwest in Panels" featuring ACME Comics (starts at 2 p.m.).