“When I say I’ve got people who come in and we talk for hours, that’s not an exaggeration,” Krazzy Comics proprietor Allen Harrington says. “There’s a couch in the store for a reason! I love interacting with my customers. For example, two brothers and their friend who come in on Thursdays. They live across the street from another comic store, but they travel across the city to come here. They buy their comics, then we sit and talk about Marvel and DC runs, the movies, and characters.”
“We try to be all-inclusive, whether you’re a new reader or you’ve been reading for thirty years. We also consider ourselves a place of learning, so if you’re a new reader there’s no stigma with teaching you what’s going on in books you might like,” he said. Krazzy Comics’ educational component doesn’t stop there. They offer a kids’ summer reading program. “A lot of parents don’t realize their kids don’t want to read certain books or don’t want to learn how to read. A lot of times comics are the gateway to that. We’ve even had a couple of kids get interested in STEM through comics,” Harrington said.
ECDI helped Harrington with loans to open the store. “They also guided me in the steps after the loan. My lender would come in once a month and check on me and talk to me. if I need anything, they always reach out to see if they can help me. They’ve helped me a lot,” he said.
Despite the industry-wide hit from COVID-19, when comic production and distribution shut down for months, Krazzy Comics is thriving. They’ve re-opened their doors, not just for business, but as a community hangout. Harrington said, “A lot of guys and girls come in and know ‘I’m gonna pay for my stuff and I’m gonna sit on this couch and we’re just gonna talk.’”
