Fantagraphics Soft Opening
I visited the Fantagraphics store - excuse me, "Mega Mart" (1201 S. Vale St, Seattle, 98108), on its first day of operation this past Saturday. This is the Georgetown neighborhood, and is not only near our house but very near the Fantagraphics warehouse, making restocking a cinch. The area is on the verge of major gentrification, with upgrades proposed for the nearby, long-underused Rainier Beer cold storage warehouses. There are bars and galleries in this neighborhood.
The Mega Mart shares space with a record store. No, not a CD retailer; a classic vinyl vendor. This is classic century-old architecture: high ceilings, narrow stairs, often exposed wiring. The raw wood shelving has a rough and ready look, but does its job of supporting several hundred titles. Part of one wall, about ten feet across and at least that tall, is set aside to display posters and prints, and I expect that to be much more of a showcase before long for local artists.
Larry Reid, Fantagraphics' publicist back in the 90s, has returned to run the store. He's been working on many other projects in the mean time, including curating at a university in San Diego. Understandably, he didn't have a handle on the cash register yet, and there is no credit card machine (also yet).
My shopping was limited to the 'hurt book room' in the back of the store, where treasures await at half price. I picked up a couple of the Peanuts collections, barely blemished, and two other titles. I did give the rest of the store a good look over, and noticed that they had copies of both the 2005 and 2006 Free Comic Day giveaways, which I also picked up. It's hard to beat free.
Pic from the Fantagraphics blog.
The Mega Mart shares space with a record store. No, not a CD retailer; a classic vinyl vendor. This is classic century-old architecture: high ceilings, narrow stairs, often exposed wiring. The raw wood shelving has a rough and ready look, but does its job of supporting several hundred titles. Part of one wall, about ten feet across and at least that tall, is set aside to display posters and prints, and I expect that to be much more of a showcase before long for local artists.
Larry Reid, Fantagraphics' publicist back in the 90s, has returned to run the store. He's been working on many other projects in the mean time, including curating at a university in San Diego. Understandably, he didn't have a handle on the cash register yet, and there is no credit card machine (also yet).
My shopping was limited to the 'hurt book room' in the back of the store, where treasures await at half price. I picked up a couple of the Peanuts collections, barely blemished, and two other titles. I did give the rest of the store a good look over, and noticed that they had copies of both the 2005 and 2006 Free Comic Day giveaways, which I also picked up. It's hard to beat free.
Pic from the Fantagraphics blog.