Joe Kilmartin, at the counter for the last day of business.

Yesterday afternoon, Debbie and I headed over to 609 College for the final open hours of John Biernat’s Dragon Lady Comics and Paper Nostalgia.

When we arrived, the first thing we noticed was that the familiar window had been covered by old newspapers. Inside, manager Joe Kilmartin and long-time employee Dave MacPherson were overseeing the packing up of the comic bins, putting them all in long boxes and putting them in the back for when they get picked up to be taken to Kitchener on Saturday and into storage. It was a bittersweet moment — everyone was in good spirits, laughing and joking as things got put away – commenting on this cover or that, looking over a stack of vintage war related magazines and comics, and discussing various items that had been discovered during the month-long process of emptying out the back storage room and the basement. We talked about old employees, and who had been in over the past month or so, and there were a few “whatever happened to?” questions.

Deb was excited by the classic Sgt. Fury comics Joe had near the front. Joe and DL employee Jessica are in the background

We spent some time discussing what of the old bins and racks we would need to move over to the new Comic Book Lounge location (at 587A College) and looking over the remaining graphic novel stock to see what we could use in the new store.

Over the next few days, the staff will be emptying out the remaining bins of old magazines and paper nostalgia, prepping them all for the move to Kitchener. They’ll be clearing out the bookshelves and packing them up to go to Kitchener or to the Lounge. Member files not picked up will be moved over to the Lounge as well.Everything has to be out by this Sunday.

At the end of the day, after Joe had locked the door, a man and his son were peering in through the door and wondering why the window was covered in newspapers. After we told him what was going on he said “I remember when this store opened up here on College… I stopped buying comics long ago, but this is my son and he would have been born shortly after you had opened here (his son looked about 14 or 15), but I’m trying to get him interested in comics, so this is disappointing we can’t go here anymore.” When we told him that the new store would be opening up next week, right next to the Mad Italian restaurant, you could see his son was getting excited. “We’ll be by to check it out next Friday when we’re here for dinner”.  “Can I bring one of my buddies?” his son asked, “he’s also into comics.”

And so it goes… as one door closes, another is about to open.

Deb and Joe after locking up the store. The end of an era.

We received another email the other day:

Hi, my name is Daniel and I would just like to inform you of a new comic store opening in Mississauga, Ontario. The store is called Gotham Central Comics and Collectibles, located at 5170 Dixie Road Unit #102, Mississauga. The phone for the store is 905-212-9992.

I went to the grand opening on Saturday January 21, 2012, they carry new comic, back issue comics, statues, UFC products, and also offer CGC grading services. The Store owners name is Carlos, and he was very helpful, he also is an Exhibitor at Fan Expo every year, so you may know him.

The store is very big, I would estimate it about 2,500 sq. ft., very bright and clean. I am happy to see a new comic store opening rather than closing as I have read about many stores closing in our column at the Joe Shuster webpage, thanks.

The JSAs Robert Haines popped by the location the other day to confirm the opening and had nice things to say about the size of the space and that the store was in a nice location. He said it has “good looking bones” and “lots of potential”.

I’ve known the owner, Carlos Camara, for many years. He has been a fixture on the local comics scene as a dealer for as long as I’ve been around (the early 90′s) and at one point owned another comics shop on Yonge St., North of Bloor St. (this was some time ago, so the name escapes me). The store doesn’t seem to have a website yet, but there is a facebook group that has some information on it.

It’s 2012 and time to start thinking about the Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailer, and begin the process of coming up with potential nominees. This award is open to input from all members of the general public, including retailers, so if you would like your shop of choice to be considered for the award, please send an email to retailers@joeshusterawards.com.

Saskatchewan

In October there was the ‘Best of Saskatoon’ (not Saskatchewan, so Regina wasn’t included) readers poll in Planet S magazine/webzine. The winner?

BEST COMIC BOOK STORE: AMAZING STORIES

Holy competition, Batman! This category saw an extremely close race, with Amazing Stories narrowly — and I mean by one single blue-black, helmeted hair — kapow-ing its way to top spot. Hardly sidekicks are 8th Street Books & Comics and Unreal City.

By my reading, that’s as close to a three-way tie as you can get, with Amazing Stories beating 8th Street and Unreal City by one vote. Three great shops that service the community in various ways.

In the same Planet S poll, Amazing Stories employee Donny Sparrow took home BEST ARTIST (TRADITIONAL MEDIA) and BEST ARTIST (NEW MEDIA). Congrats to Amazing Stories for getting their customers to vote enmasse.

Unreal City hosted Riley Rossmo and Elaine Will for a signing and art jam event in August.

In September Unreal City hosted an event ‘The Art of “Binky the Space Cat” by Ashley Spires’, in which the original art was on display for the month.

Each page of Binkey art is hand painted.

Amazing Stories hosted Ethan Van Sciver for their 18th Anniversary event.

8th Street Books & Comics took part in a Saskatchewan fundraiser called ‘Drop Zone’ to raise money for Easter Seals. The 8th Street Comics team raised $3,753 for this charity. Congratulations!

Tally: shops in Saskatchewan

Stores at start of 2011 – 8

Opened in 2011 – 0

Closed in 2011 – 0 (though 2 were removed from the listing due to lack of comic related material)

Manitoba

No news in Manitoba, other than the fact that Wizard purchased the rights to the Central Canada Comic Con, and then promptly cancelled and abandoned the convention. Yet the convention rolled on, under the stewardship of Michael Paille, who owns Raven Toys Comics & Games in Winnipeg. The event went on with minimal hiccups, and is scheduled to occur again November 2nd – 4th, 2012.

Tally: shops in Manitoba

Stores at start of 2011 – 11

Opened in 2011 – 0

Closed in 2011 – 0

Territories

No news from the Territories. Still 1 comic book shop in Whitehorse and 1 games/hobby store in Yellowknife.

Tally: shops in Territories

Stores at start of 2011 – 2

Opened in 2011 – 0

Closed in 2011 – 0

Photo by Aaron Lynett/The National Post * The Silver Snail comic book store on Queen Street West in Toronto.

Victor Ferreira of the Toronto Standard suggests strongly in his December 8th article that it will be. Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

442 Bloor Street West – Google Maps. Located at the NW corner of Bloor St. West and Howland Ave. Home of “The Futon Store”.

If this is the case, and Victor is correct – then the Silver Snail would be moving into what is  likely the most comics-centric neighbourhood in the country:

* as it will be 1.5 blocks west of The Labyrinth at 386 Bloor St. West

* and directly across the street from the Labyrinth is BMV Books (which has a devoted 3rd floor for comics) at 471 Bloor Street West

* it will be one block north and two blocks east of Little Island Comics at 742 Bathurst Street.

* and finally, will be one block north and three blocks east of The Beguiling at 601 Markham Street

*** UPDATE *** Sunday, January 8th.

A quick visit to the location and the Futon Store looks about the same as it always has. No indication that it will be closing or relocating. It’s a nice corner lot with large loading bays, but if it’s moving out so the Snail can move in, it certainly doesn’t look like it will be happening any time soon.

LINK ROUND-UP:
The End of an Era: Toronto’s Dragon Lady Comics to Close in Early 2012
Igor Bonifacic, for BlogTO
Laura Godfrey, for the Torontoist
David Graham, for The Toronto Star
Bryan Munn, for Sequential Spiltink
Sue Carter Flinn, for Quill and Quire
Rich Johnston, for Bleeding Cool

UPDATE: Official closing date is February 1st (although manager Joe Kilmartin reports that the pull file customers should be able to get the product they ordered until Sunday, February 5th and they’ll be informed about how and where they can pick the items up directly for later that month.

***********

Rising rent and renovations (i.e. public works and street repairs).

That’s what hurt Dragon Lady in the long run, and it’s a problem facing many independent businesses in Toronto.

Renovations: for many years College Street was ripped up while repairs were made to to the streetcar line — that meant fewer cars driving by, no parking for them, and very little street traffic. Many businesses along the College Street West stretch were impacted negatively, including Dragon Lady.

Rent: recent changes in legislation have increased property taxes in the downtown core and those dramatic increases have resulted in building owners introducing unreasonable rent hikes. Dragon Lady’s rent was raised a whopping 25% last July, and the increase ate dramatically into their profit margin, ultimately it was this that was the deciding factor for owner John Biernat.

Rent increases only affected a few of the major GTA comic retailer storefronts. Stores like Silver Snail and Paradise Comics have benefited from also owning the buildings they operate out of, so their rents are not an issue (just the property tax hikes), although when Silver Snail moves to a new location this spring it will probably be renting space (unless they get financing to buy a building up front), but any arrangement they negotiate will take into account the rent and property tax increases.

The Beguiling is located in Mirvisch Village, and some of the rent is subsidized.

The only downtown Toronto store I can think of in a similar situation as Dragon Lady is One Million Comics, but they have a strong and diversified business (not only new comics, back issues and books, but also Anime/Manga and a large assortment of collectible statues and toys), and are also located on the subway line and right on Yonge Street. They have a regular, uninterrupted flow of automobile and foot traffic. One Million has not been mentioned by the various reports on the scene that have been popping up in the wake of the story we broke here at the JSA blog, but they are a successful comics retailer with a rental store front.

It’s really unfortunate, as College Street West is really quite a strong hub for Toronto’s creative community. The Royal Academy of Illustration and Design studio (which includes Andy Belanger, Francis Manapul, Ramon Perez, Scott Hepburn, Willow Dawson, Marcus To, Ian Herring and joining in 2012 – Ken Lashley), as well as the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop (who feature Ty Templeton, Leonard Kirk, Eric Kim, Dave Ross, Dave Lapp and other creators as teachers) are both located within spitting distance of the Dragon Lady Comics location.

Today, there’s a Toronto Star article (link above) about the Dragon Lady (and Book Mart) closings with some quotes from me in it, but for the sake of clarity, here’s the full statement I gave reporter David Graham:

Comic book shops, like independent book and music stores, are outlets for members of our community to congregate and wax poetic, but they are also businesses that require our frequent support and a regular turnover of merchandise. Dragon Lady’s closing definitely affects most of us in the Toronto comics community because the store and the people that work there have had an impact on collectors, readers, creators and even other retailers for over 30 years.

I fondly remember going to the Queen Street location a lot when I was a teenager collecting back issues in the 1980′s, and it was just a few weeks ago that I was there chatting about industry changes with manager Joe Kilmartin, but Dragon Lady is representative of the type of retailer that has been most affected by the changes in comics reading and purchasing habits. Stores don’t sell back issues like they once did, and at Dragon Lady back issues were their main selling point. It looked like a store from 1982, not 2012.

Dragon Lady’s owner is a great guy and someone I’ve always respected, but he resisted adapting the store over the years to meet the needs of the customers and the recommendations of his staff, something that other Toronto comics retail outlets like the Silver Snail and The Beguiling continue to do successfully.

Kevin Boyd is the current director and a co-founder of the Joe Shuster Awards for Canadian Comic Book Creators. He is also the Canadian Comic Book Guest and Comics Programming Coordinator for Fan Expo Canada, Fan Expo Vancouver and the Toronto ComiCon, and is an Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide Adviser.

The preoccupations of life, mainly the arrival of my first child, resulted in a break from the day-to-day duties of running the Joe Shuster Awards (big thanks to Kevin for picking up the slack!).

Harry Kremer

But it’s now 2012 and time to start thinking about the Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailer, and begin the process of coming up with potential nominees. This award is open to input from all members of the general public, including retailers, so if you would like your shop of choice to be considered for the award, please send an email to retailers@joeshusterawards.com.

(Note: please see yesterday’s note re: eligibility)

We’ve updated with a few new stores, updated links, and added some twitter feeds.

Now, on with our show.

Newfoundland

Time Masters had a cute promotion called Show Us Your Geek where customers submitted photos of their geek rooms. In October there was a Customer Costume Contest.

Tally: 5 shops in Newfoundland

Opened in 2011 – 0

Closed in 2011 – 0

Nova Scotia

The Coast held their annual Best Of Halifax poll, and in the Best Comics Store category:
1st – Strange Adventures, Halifax
2nd – Quantum Frontier, Halifax
3rd – Giant Robot Comics, Dartmouth

Strange Adventures held a number of signings the last few months:

• In December it was Darwyn Cooke for the Martini Edition, with custom made martini glasses
• Kagan Mcleod appeared signing Infinite Kung-Fu graphic novel
• Kate Beaton had a big, busy, buzzy night for her new book Hark! A Vagrant!
• Rebecca Kraatz, in support of Snaps!, and Temple Bates, with Hermoddities, signed at the shop in August, both books published by Conundrum Press, located in Wolfville, NS.

Tally: 9 shops in Nova Scotia

Opened in 2011 – Giant Robot Comics

Closed in 2011 – Role Initiative, in Yarmouth, has been declared closed.

Prince Edward Island

No news to report the last 6 months.

Tally: 2 shops in PEI

Opened in 2011 – 0

Closed in 2011 – 0

New Brunswick

Mad City has a new website

Strange Adventures put out their own comic, available throughout the SA empire at a cost of FREE!

Enigma Comics and Games is closed. When I visited in March 2011, things were clearly on the way down. Telephone disconnected. Facebook page down. Sackville is a very small town, population 5,400. Mount Allison University is located there, but it’s a small school with a student base of 2,300. It was a risky experiment, to open a shop in such a small town.

Tally: 9 shops in New Brunswick

Opened in 2011 – 0

Closed in 2011 – Enigma Comics and Games

Harry Kremer

A few people have been sending us recommendations for the Harry Kremer Canadian Comic Book Retailer Award, so it should be noted that in order to qualify for the award a store must meet two very specific criteria:

• the retailer must be in business for at least two years to be considered eligible
• previous winners are not eligible for nomination (this includes the specific shop as well as franchises or other stores held by owners who have previously won)

Blue Beetle Comics, for example, is a store that is also owned by Walter and Marc of Hamilton’s Big B Comics, who won the award in 2008. Another example is Little Island Comics (which opened in 2011) which is owned by Peter and Shane of the Beguiling, who won the award in 2010.

It’s not the best story to start 2012 off here on the blog, but it’s an important one:

Back in early December I paid a visit to the 609 College Street West location of Dragon Lady Comics in Toronto, where it has been located since the mid-90′s (Prior to that it was based on Queen Street West, having opened there in the spring of 1979). In the window was a very prominent “for lease” sign. My inquiry re: the fate of the store brought an uncertain response from the store employee working that Friday night. He said that rent was going up, while profits were down and the owner felt it was too much to take on, and that the store would remain open in the current location only until the building’s owner could find a new tenant and when that happens a decision would be made whether or not to relocate or close up permanently.

Just before Christmas, I ran into a long time Dragon Lady employee who told me that a decision had been made — that original owner and store founder John Biernat would not be relocating the business but closing up the shop permanently. A tentative closing date of late January was mentioned. This has subsequently been confirmed by store manager Joe Kilmartin on Facebook as February 1st, although pull file customers will be able to get the product they ordered on February 5th.

Dragon Lady Comics & Paper Nostalgia, opened in 1979 - closing in 2012

Follow-up and link round-up