Help Philly’s Oldest Comic Shop Stay Open
by Hannah Means Shannon
We’ve talked about Fat Jack’s Comicrypt on Comicon.com before, including their signing events and displays of original comic art in the shop. They are more than an institution as the oldest continuously operated comic shop in Philadelphia, but also one of the oldest shops in the nation, running since the mid 1970’s.
The store, like many retail shops, is having a financial struggle to keep its doors open, and a GoFundMe page has been set up in the hopes of keeping the shop in operation.
With a hefty $50,000 as the goal, the shop could really use your help via donation of money or of comic art for auction, and it would be equally helpful if you could spread the word throughout the comics community and beyond to keep those donations rolling in.
Eric Patridge is running the GoFundMe campaign and he has this to say:
I’m writing this letter because my boss, and friend, needs help and is too proud to ask for it. I’m also writing on behalf of everyone at Fat Jack’s Comicrypt – the employees and the customers who love our store…The last few years have been really tough for us, not only because sales in the industry have been softer as the industry has shrunk a little, but because many costs have gone up. Collection sales have fallen due to the ability of individuals to sell on Ebay and Amazon selling some collections even at below wholesale. We’ve all worked hard, and no one harder than Mike. He’s been in the industry well over 40 years as the oldest comic store in Philadelphia, and one of the first and oldest in the country.
Mike has made many sacrifices for everyone at the store and for our customers who are family. He’s gone without pay for stretches of time to ensure we’ve all been paid and had our health insurance taken care of and ensuring the fans have gotten their comics on time each and every week. …We’ve fallen behind on bills to a few vendors, and we’re trying to get out from under. Our long-term relationships with suppliers and our landlord have helped us through some tough times, but they are running businesses too. We appreciate all of the leeway that they have been able to give us, and we’ve come through, but again, need more help to get past this.
You can find more of Eric’s discussion of the shop’s needs on their GoFundMe page right here.
It would make a great gesture for the holiday season if we could all help support keeping the shop afloat into the new year!
