While New York City is home to a lineup of great comics shops that make it one of the biggest comics markets in the US, several small bumps have hit the store community of late. There was an ownership change at Cosmic Comics; a fire at St Marks Comics; and Forbidden Planet, long a staple of the busy Union Square retailer district, is looking for a larger space. EV Grieve was the first to spot a real estate listing for FP’s 13th and Broadway location, but manager Jeff Ayers said it was in order to expand:
Actually, we’re just testing the waters, trying to possibly find a new, bigger (yet local!) space for the shop. We need to expand and can no longer do so in this space.
As much as I like this corner we’re just outgrowing this location. Thanks for the support and the interest. We’re stickin’ around.
Local Beat spies report that a “For Rent” sign is up on the store, so a move looks definite. Developing.
Upon our inquiry, Ayers clarified a bit: FP is considering a move, but a new tenant must be found first in order for them to move. So the “For Rent” sign is exploratory.
Scared me half to death. That’s my shop, and Jeff takes care of me!
I remember “back in the day” (late 80’s/early 90’s) when they had all these long boxes of back issues upstairs, they were always a blast to go through whenever I was in the area.
Fast forward a few years back, hadn’t been there in awhile. The upstairs long boxes were all gone, replaced by several tables full of smelly geeks playing Magic/Pokemon/what have you. It smelled like a high school locker room! Nasty. I immediately fled the room, never to return.
Alright! Maybe they’ll bring the mini-comic section back up from the basement! Good luck, Jeff.
Great news! A comics shop has to expand!
Personally, I think it would be cool if they expanded upwards… imagine that entire building full of comics and games and toys and all sorts of cool stuff! Each floor a different genre or category!
I don’t know about the area around Union Square, but there are quite a few empty storefronts on Fifth Avenue, on the Ladies Mile. The New School is just down the street.
Hmmm… the Tower Records store on Fourth and (692) Broadway is still vacant…
http://retail.vno.com/property_home.aspx?propid=151
Empty since Tower’s Liquidation in 2007. On the east side of NYU. Near two different subway lines, and MoCCA. The entire length of the block (Broadway to Lafayette) is available.
“Hmmm… the Tower Records store on Fourth and (692) Broadway is still vacant…”
Since Tower left, the site has only been used twice – as a Toys R Us “pop-up” store one Christmas season, and last Christmas season, as a “pop-up” store for “Wired” magazine.
(There were also signs indicating a “Blink” health club was coming there, but apparently that deal fell through.)
that’s weird, I remember when they shrunk. Maybe I am imagining things, but they used to be twice the size and perhaps one or two blocks south.
Yeah, Ken, back before 1983 when I lived in NYC, Forbidden Planet was located on the northwest corner of Broadway and 12th Street, across from the Strand. That was a great big space, both street level and downstairs (where the long boxes of back issues lived), so it’d be cool if they moved back there.
I don’t know if you count the Bronx as part of New York City :), but in case you do, Magnum Comics has just moved from South Riverdale (where it’s been for at least a decade, probably longer) up to what looks like a slightly larger storefront in North Riverdale, about 3 blocks from where I live. This is run by the fellow who lost his wife on 9/11, in case the name sounds familiar to folks.
I was just walking past the Tower Records spot last night, and that would be an amazing place for Forbidden Planet to move, though I wonder if no longer being located across the street from a successful movie theater would hurt their business.
The health club did open there, but on the second floor. They were just using the window space on the ground levels as advertising.
Anyway, the Tower space is a bit of an odd duck. Aside from the two pop up stores, it’s also been used as an art gallery a few times. But it would be perfect for Forbidden Planet.