Category Archives: General News

The 2013 Joe Shuster Award Nominating Teams

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Awards Nomination - StockFor Artist, Cartoonist, Cover Artist, Writer: John Babos, Erik Bouchard, Laurent Boutin, Shawn Bryan, Jeff Brown, Amy Chop, Tyler Jirik, Mike Jozic, David Kelly, Patrick Marleau, Conor McCreery, Alice Quinn, Rachel Richey, Andrew Wheeler, Leonard Wong, Sarrah Young with additional input from Bill Code, Kelly Dowd and Andrew Uys.

For Webcomics: Tyrone Biljan, Allison Covey, and Andrew Walsh.

For Hall of Fame: Kevin A. Boyd, Walter Durajlija, Joseph Kilmartin, Ivan Kocmarek, Robert MacMillan, Hope Nicholson, Robert Pincombe, and Rachel Richey.

For the Gene Day Award: Tyrone Biljan, Kevin A. Boyd, Peter DeCourcy, Rachel Richey, and Debra Jane Shelly.

For the Harry Kremer Award: Anthony Falcone and Scott VanderPloeg. With additional input from Robert Haines (research) and the CCBCAA secret shopper team.

For the Dragon Award: Jennifer Haines (coordinator) and a team of her fellow educators: Beth Alexander (BEd – elementary) and Diana Pai (BEd).

The 2013 Joe Shuster Award Nominees / Les nominés pour le prix Joe Shuster 2013

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Full list of 2013 Nominees / La liste complète des nominés 2013

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2013 marks the 75th year since the debut of Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the pages of Action Comics #1. Tom Grummett prepared this portrait of Joe in 2005 that has adorned the Joe Shuster Award plaques ever since. Fun facts: Joe was left handed, the building in the background is the original Toronto Star building that inspired the Daily Star / Daily Planet building in Superman’s Metropolis. On the drawing table behind Joe is an earlier version of ‘The Superman’.

Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens like the Genie Awards for film and television and the Juno Awards for music – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell all kinds of comics, graphic novels and webcomics.

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Joe Shuster in 1975.

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend Jerry Siegel, that electrified the industry 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon.

Nominees were selected this spring from lists of creators including all eligible original works published and distributed during the year 2012. Qualifying creators must be Canadian citizens living at home or abroad, as well as permanent residents in Canada. The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

The awards will be presented at a gala ceremony in Toronto, open to the public, on the evening of Saturday, August 25, 2013. Time and exact location will be announced at a later date.

And the nominees are:

Continue reading →

Award season continues — what of the JSAs? An Update is Provided

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Okay, so the Prix Bedeis Causa were handed out last month, the Doug Wright Awards are being presented this Saturday night, and the Prix Bedelys are going to be presented on June 2nd.

Joe Shuster in 1975

Joe Shuster in 1975

What about the Joe Shuster Awards?

Well, they’ll be handed out in late August, and we’re almost finished with the selection process.

So far we’ve finalized the 2013 nomines for:

- Artist
– Cartoonist
– Cover Artist
– Writer
– The Harry Kremer Award for Comic Book Retailing
– The Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame (aka what I like to call the “Hinterland’s Who’s Who”)

There will be 3 inductees into the Hall of Fame in 2013.

Still pending:

- The Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing
– The  Dragon Award for Comics for Kids/Younger Readers
– Webcomics

The Nominating Committee for the Dragon Prize and for Webcomics have asked for a little extra time, while the Selection Committee for the Gene Day Award will be picking up some final books this weekend at TCAF to enlarge the pool of nominees.

We’ll be announcing the full list of nominees in a press release in late May, unfortunately we missed the Free Comic Book Day deadline I was shooting for.

The awards are going to be presented in Toronto this year, in late August – the specific date and venue will be announced later as well.

Kickstarter: Dracula: Son Of The Dragon

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I’m trying to be sparing about posting kickstarters, but this one’s very close to success and with less than 48 hours to go it needs a few fans to put it over the top. Salgood Sam, author of Shuster Award nominee Dream Life is putting together a new project with writer Mark Sable to tell the origin story of Vlad the Impaler in Dracula: Son Of The Dragon. It’s a very ambitious project, and there’s some really remarkable art available as part of the kickstarter, so take a look and support a cool comic.

Dracula: Son Of The Dragon

New Executive Director’s Opening Remarks

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tyroneI’m very honoured to be selected as the Executive Director for The Joe Shuster Awards.

To me the position is all about collaboration with like minded individuals to promote and celebrate great Canadian talent working in the comic book industry. I’m very proud to contribute to the ongoing celebration of these great creative talents, as well as looking back at our Canadian heritage when comic books were in their infancy.

I’m also very lucky I get to work with Kevin Boyd and the rest of the committee members. Kevin continues to put countless hours and thought into the JSA’s evolution, and I’m glad that he will continue on with us as the Associate Director. He’s weathered the rough seas better than anyone could, and has seen the awards continue to grow year after year. It was his vision and urging that lead me to work with him, James Waley and Dave Darrigo to get the JSA’s off the ground nearly a decade ago.

The number one thing I hope all current and future committee members bring to the table will be a focus on the sustainability of the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association. We need to work on our funding initiatives, period. The awards infrastructure is in place and is a well-oiled machine, but I feel that year to year it’s always been a little too close to the edge with a little reserve for the following year. I’m hoping with all our collective contacts and the community’s continued support that we make inroads in creating something sustainable beyond our time with the JSA’s.

It’s a very exciting time and I look forward to working with all committee members and the community in general as we lead to a very successful 2013 awards program.

Sincerely,
Tyrone Biljan
Executive Director
Joe Shuster Awards

The new Executive Director

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I’d like to take the time to officially welcome the new Executive Director – Mr. Tyrone Biljan. Tyrone was one of the four founders of these awards in 2004, but stepped away from 2007-2010 for personal reasons.

Tyrone Biljan, left, with Gro and Jerry Robinson in 2007.

Tyrone Biljan, left, with Gro and Jerry Robinson in 2007.

I’ll be stepping back a bit as required and I will be resuming my original post of Associate Director, helping Tyrone and the rest of the Executive out.

JSA update and more on Lost Heroes documentary

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So everything is well under way now here at JSA central. We’re once again aiming for a Free Comic Book Day (May 4th) deadline for our nominee announcements.

I must say that it’s been an enthusiastic year for Canadian comics so far, as there’s been a lot going on recently – especially for things related to Canadian comics history. The shooting for the upcoming documentary LOST HEROES has wrapped and the crew is currently in post-production mode, we eagerly await the final product. We’ve been lucky enough to be able to watch some of the interviews filmed at the Comic Book Lounge, and I think people are in for a real treat when the film finally airs on Super Channel later this year. Here’s the official blurb followed by the promotional poster for the film:

Lost Heroes is a feature documentary set to air on Super Channel in 2013. We explore the history of the great Canadian superheroes, from Johnny Canuck to Captain Canuck. Currently in post-production.

Lost Heroes explores the past of the Canadian superhero, from the golden age when millions of children read the tales of Inuit goddess Nelvana of the Northern Lights, to the thrilling days when Canadian superheroes returned to the newstands with Captain Canuck and Cerebus. Lost Heroes celebrates the unique Canadian talent behind these characters and asks why can’t Canada keep their heroes?

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Mister Monster by Fred Kelly, Captain Canuck by George Freeman, Fleur-de-Lys by Ken Steacy, with Adrian Dingle’s Nelvana and other characters in the background.

In what I’ve seen of it, this is a top-notch, professional production and I think it will be a great chance to expose a lot of people to Canada’s comics past, as well as it’s present and future.

With the completion of the eligible English and French list I’ve spent some time perusing the lists to play my guessing game of who I think the nominating committees will be selecting for the 2013 Joe Shuster Awards, and I think that this year’s list is strong, but seems to working from a smaller pool than in previous years. That certainly means that a lot of projects by people absent this year are on the horizon, but I’m eager to see who the nomcoms select.

Currently we have 19 individuals participating in the Nominating Committee for  Artist, Cartoonist, Cover Artist and Writer. They come from across the country, but as per protocol we won’t be publishing their names until after they have finished their selections in case anyone drops out before the end.

Our Hall of Fame selection committee has expanded quite considerably this year, to make up for last year’s year off. Of the seven members, only three have participated in previous HOF nomcoms. Maybe I can convince them finally to rename the HOF “Hinterland’s Who’s Who”.

Ivan Kocmarek on the War Exchange Conservation Act (WECA) and the 1st Age of Canadian Comics

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Ivan’s latest column at Comic Book Daily digs into just what WECA was and how it led to the first great age of Canadian comic books. Ivan wants us to start referring to the comics published during this time period as “WECA Comics” (or books), instead of the more traditional term “Canadian Whites”.

“WECA” is an acronym for the War Exchange Conservation Act brought into being by the parliament of Canada on Dec. 6, 1940 prohibiting the importation of “non-essential” materials into the country including magazines and comics from the U.S.

General Update

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Back in early November a diverse group of individuals met with the standing Executive (Allison Covey, Andrew Walsh, Tyrone Biljan, Peter DeCourcy and myself) and we decided on a basic framework for 2013.

The plan is to present the 2013 Awards in Toronto in late August 2013 at a venue to be determined, with a ceremony coinciding with the largest Canadian comics convention: Fan Expo Canada — as an off-site, after hours event.

In recent years we’ve presented the awards in Calgary and Montreal, and hope to revisit those and other cities in the future – ideally we are looking at comic related events scheduled between May and September as possible sites with which to coincide the awards ceremony. This year Toronto seemed to meet the proper requirements. Where possible we try to work in coordination with the host convention, but we remain an autonomous, national, not-for-profit organization and are not festival/convention prizes.

On that note, we should have a larger update for you soon, as the eligible creators/books list should be ready shortly. At that time we’ll introduce our expanded 2013 Awards Committee.

Welcome to 2013!

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A new year is well underway and we are getting back to business here at JSA central!

Unfortunately, I was not able to run a wrap survey for 2012 as I normally do, work on the store and various events (such as the 24 Hour Comic Challenge we ran in-store this past Saturday at the Comic Book Lounge) have been keeping me pretty busy.

Currently being assembled for a late January release will be the LIST OF ELIGIBLE CREATORS AND 2012 PUBLICATIONS list, and if you want to be proactive and make sure your comics projects are recognized you can email me at kevin@joeshusterawards.com and I’ll update the list.

Current plans are for the nomination process to begin in earnest on February 1, so if you are interested in participating in nominating the 2012 award categories, you can email me at the same address listed in this article.

A later start for the process does seem indicative of an awards ceremony for later in 2013, and that is once again the case — as we have a weekend in mind, an event and a city in which to hold the ceremony, just not an official venue yet. Current plans are for the ceremony to take place in late summer at a venue that will be announced in March when the nominations are announced.

December Update

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As the year begins winding down, we begin the finalizing of the list of eligible publications and creators for the 2013 nominating committee to make their selections from.

In early November we had some meetings to discuss the direction the awards will take in 2013, the positions needing to be filled, and a number of new folks have joined the CCBCAA team.

We’ll have some news on the various fronts in early 2013 as well as the city, date and convention that we plan to coincide the award presentations with.

As we near the holidays, now is a great time to consider buying comics or graphic novels for your friends and loved ones as Christmas gifts. We hope you’ll consider the many great works by Canadian creators… some recent arrivals that would make great gifts: The Flash New 52 Vol. 1 hardcover (by Francis Manapul), Parker – The Hunter softcover edition (by Darwyn Cooke), and the X-O Manowar Vol. 1 trade paperback (art by Cary Nord). Recently, All New X-Men 1-3 (4 is out next week) has been a bona fide smash hit (art by Stuart Immonen).

Congratulations also to Jim Zubkavich and Ray Fawkes for their recently announced gigs writing for DC Comics (Birds of Prey and Batgirl respectively), and Jeff Lemire will be moving over to write Green Arrow in February, and as Sweet Tooth concludes in early January comes word that he will have a new Vertigo series to be released sometime in 2013. J. Bone will be drawing a new Rocketeer mini-series in February, and Kill Shakespeare will be returning that month as well, as the original creative team reunites to continue the tale.

Canadian Comic Anthology TRUE PATRIOT needs your help!

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Some amazing Canadian comic talent has assembled to create TRUE PATRIOT, an anthology of unmistakably Canadian content. Amongst the fellowship are:

Adrian Alphona (Runaways), Andy B. (Kill Shakespeare), J. Bone (Super Friends), Jack Briglio (Scooby Doo), Scott Chantler (Two Generals), Tom Fowler (Hulk: Season One), Agnes Garbowska (Girl Comics), Faith Erin Hicks (Adventure Time), Tim Levins (Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes), Ramon Perez (A Tale of Sand), Ron Salas (28 Days Later), Jay Stephens (Secret Saturdays), J. Torres (Teen Titans Go), Howard Wong (After the Cape).

They need your help! There’s a campaign running at Indiegogo to get financing, and there’s only four days left to get them to their goal! It looks like it’ll be a fantastic book, so get on board and help this get made.

Halloween ComicsFest, 2013 Awards and another change for Kevin

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So we need to start planning for 2013 — interested parties should contact me at kevin@joeshusterawards.com with their ideas and suggestions for next year.

Some of the things that need to be discussed are: coordinators, location, categories and fundraising.

Possible locations: Fan Expo Vancouver, Calgary Comic & Toy Expo, Fan Expo Canada, Ottawa Comic Con, Montreal Comic Con. Generally we would like to continue moving around, and with recent ceremonies in Calgary and Montreal, we would like to consider a new location/event with which to coincide so Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto are all strong possibilities. Given the timing involved we are looking at 2-4 day comic book conventions scheduled between late April and September. Picking a location will allow us to establish a working timeline between now and then for coordinating.

Speaking of coordinating, we are currently looking for coordinators for the Gene Day Award and the Harry Kremer Retailer Award. If you are interested, please contact me as above.

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Diamond has engineered a second free comic book day called HALLOWEEN COMICSFEST that is scheduled to coincide with Halloween. Instead of picking a day for everyone to hold it on, they are letting retailers pick which day on which to hold their Halloween ComicsFest activities, and so you should check with your local retailer to see what they have planned and on which day.  Chances are it will be either on Saturday, October 27 or on Halloween itself, October 31st. There is a shop locator service on the ComicsFest website (click on the link above to visit).

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About three weeks ago, upon completion of my 2011-12 contract, I decided not to pursue renewal of my position as a coordinator for Hobbystar Marketing, so I will no longer be involved in Fan Expo Canada/Fan Expo Vancouver/Toronto ComiCON on any kind of organizational level. I do plan to have my store The Comic Book Lounge exhibit at the Toronto events, but the combined workload of the store, a full time job in medical research, as well as other activities (such as the JSAs) requires me to unload some peripheral responsibilities, so this was one of those I’ve decided to cut.

This now ends a complete decade of coordinating aspects of Toronto scene comic book conventions. My first major multi-day convention was back in November 2003, although the first one day event was in March of that same year.

Making a Graphic Novel? Get a Grant!

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Are you crafting your masterpiece? Have you made yours already, and are looking for some money to get you through your next? You should probably apply for a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Here’s the program description from the site:

The Grants for Professional Writers program covers subsistence, project and travel expenses. The Creative Writing Grants component gives Canadian authors (emerging, mid-career and established) time to write new literary works, including novels, short stories, poetry, children’s and young adults’ literature, graphic novels, exploratory writing and literary non-fiction.

Exploratory writing is writing that uses technology to present literature in an innovative manner and (or) explores forms of literature outside the conventions of the novel, short story or poem.

Can’t hurt to apply! Grants range from $3,000 to $25,000. Deadline is coming up on October 1, so get your pens a-wagglin’. Head to the Canada Council for the Arts website for more info.

2012 Joe Shuster Awards – Credits / Les Prix Joe Shuster 2012 – Crédits

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SECTION A

Outstanding Comic Book Cover Artist / Dessinateur de couverture de bande dessinée exceptionnel
Outstanding Comic Book Writer / Scénariste de bande dessinée exceptionnel
Outstanding Comic Book Artist / Dessinateur de bande dessinée exceptionnel
Outstanding Comic Book Cartoonist / Auteur de bande dessinée exceptionnel

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures :
Laurent Boutin (Montreal, QC)
Eric Bouchard (Montreal, QC)
Jeff Brown (Toronto, ON)
Lloyd Chesney (Victoria, BC)
Amy Chop (Guelph, ON)
Jamie Coville (Kingston, ON)
Gareth Gaudin (Victoria, BC)
Tyler Jirik (Guelph, ON)
Mike Jozik (Saskatoon, SK)
David Kelly (Montreal, QC)
Jonathan Kuehlein (Toronto, ON)
Andrew Uys (Toronto, ON
Leonard Wong (Vancouver, BC)
Sarrah Young (Toronto, ON)

- Outstanding Web Comics Creator / Créateur de bande dessinée web exceptionnel

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures :
Tyrone Biljan
Kevin Boyd
Allison Covey
Robert Haines
Andrew Walsh

Art Jury (Artist / Cover Artist / Webcomics)

- Cliff Caporale (Montreal, QC)
– Amy Chop (Guelph, ON)
– Calum Johnston (Halifax, NS)
– Hope Nicholson (Toronto, ON)
– Ethan Peacock (Vancouver, BC)

Story Jury (Cartoonist / Writer)

- Cliff Caporale (Montreal, QC)
– Robin Fisher (Montreal, QC)
– Robin McConnell (Vancouver, BC)
– Rachel Richey (Ottawa, ON)
– Salgood Sam (Montreal, QC)

Coordiinator/Coordinateur - Kevin Boyd, Executive Director

SECTION B

The Gene Day Award for Self-Publishers / Le Prix Gene Day de l’auto-édition

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures::
Robert Haines, with input from Kevin Boyd

Day Jury:
– Calum Johnston
– Jesse Jacobs
– Diana Schutz

The Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Comic Book Retailer / Le Prix Harry Kremer du libraire de bandes dessinées exceptionnel

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures :
Robert Haines

Kremer Jury:
Tyrone Biljan
Kevin Boyd
Allison Covey
Peter DeCourcy
Andrew Walsh

Coordinator/Coordinateur - Robert Haines, Associate Director

SECTION C

The Dragon Award – Comics for Kids / Le Prix Dragon – Bande dessinée jeunesse

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures :
– Jennifer Stewart (BEd)
– Beth Alexander (BEd – elementary)
– Diana Pai (BEd)

Comics for Kids Jury:
– Douglas Davey (Halton Hills librarian)
– Graham Purcell (BEd – elementary)
– Renee Jackson (BEd, MFA)
– Kate McEvenue (BEd)
– Scott Robins (Toronto librarian)

Coordinator/Coordinateur – Jennifer Haines

ADDITIONAL THANKS TO:

Webcomics Coordinator – Andrew Walsh

Publisher Liason - Allison Covey

Graphics and Audio Visual Presentation – Tyrone Biljan

Awards Ceremony Hosts: Jason Rockman, Catherine Smith-Desbiens

Host Convention: Montreal Comic Con – contacts: Oscar Yazedjian, Elizabeth Jutras, Cliff Caporale

Awards manufactured by ACE Awards, Toronto, ON

Hall of Fame Committee – Joe Kilmartin, Robert Pincombe

The Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association would also like to thank the following publishers for their assistance in providing book for our juries to review:
Éditions Alto
Éditions Pow Pow
Éditions Soleil
IDW
Image Comics
Kids Can Press
La Pasteque
Les 400 Coups
Oni Press
Presses Aventure
Puffin Books
Katie and Steven Shanahan.

Additional books published by Archaia Press, Éditions Delcourt, Drawn & Quarterly, DC Comics, some additional IDW  and Marvel Comics were provided by:
The Comic Book Lounge + Gallery, (Toronto, ON)

Finally, the CCBCAA would like to thank and acknowledge the financial contributions of our private donours, and the support of the Canadian comics community across our great nation.

THE CCBCAA 2011-2012:
Kevin Boyd, Director
Robert Haines, Associate Director
Tyrone Biljan
Allison Covey
Peter DeCourcy
Andrew Walsh

The 2012 Joe Shuster Award winners

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Montreal, QC – In a ceremony presided by JASON ROCKMAN and CATHERINE SMITH-DESBIENS at the MONTREAL COMIC-CON, the 8th Annual Joe Shuster Awards for Canadian Comic Book Creators and Retailers were presented to an enthusiastic crowd of nominees, friends and fans of the medium. Continue reading →

Back to school and work JSA update for Sept. 4

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Welcome back! Hope your summer was as eventful as ours was.

We’re now a mere 11 days away from the presentation of the 8th annual Joe Shuster Awards and we’ll be posting some updates as we near the event.

JURY DECISIONS

The Art Jury (Artist, Cover Artist and Webcomics) have finished their selections, as have the ones selecting the Dragon Prize and the Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing. That leaves the Retailer Jury and the Story Jury (Cartoonist and Writer), and we hope to have those wrapped up later today or early tomorrow.

HARRY KREMER RETAILER AWARD FINALISTS

The 10 stores have been narrowed down to a final five – watch for a release here shortly.

POSTER

Our promotional image is ready, just waiting for some final approvals.

HALL OF FAME

Our Hall of Fame committee has opted to pass on inducting a new member in 2012.

FINAL AWARDS LIST FOR 2012 (8 awards to be given out in Montreal on September 15):

- Artist / Dessinateur
- Cartoonist / Créateur
- Writer / Écrivain
- Cover Artist / Dessinateur Couvertures
- Webcomics Creator / Créateur de Bandes Dessinées Web
- The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids) / Prix Dragon (Bandes Dessinées Jeunesse)
- Gene Day Award (Self-Publishers) / Prix Gene Day (Auto-éditeurs)
- Harry Kremer Award (Retailers) / Prix Harry Kremer (Détaillants)