Friday, October 27, 2006
Now and Then to Close?
:: Posted by Bryan @ 10/27/2006 12:29:00 AM Oldest Canadian Comic Shop
Cartoonist Dave Sim writes in his blog that the venerable Kitchener, Ontario comic book shop Now and Then Books is on the verge of closing its doors.
According to Sim, owner Dave Kostis has been experiencing financial difficulties for some time, despite loans from Sim, Sim's assistant Gerhard, and others.
Now and Then is the oldest surviving comic book specialty store in Canada. It was founded in 1971 by Harry Kremer and Bill Johnson who were inspired by the example of Captain George Henerson's Memory Lane store in Toronto. Kremer was a comic art patron and early adopter of the direct market system of comics distribution. As a comics fan and historian of the medium (including Canadian comics history), he published zines, sponsored writers and artists and, perhaps most famously, was an early employer of Dave Sim and a supporter of Sim's various publishing enterprises, most notably Cerebus.
(I remember as a young teen during the 1980s buying the first issues of Sergio Aragones' Groo, Jack Kirby's creator-owned titles, Yummy Fur & issues of the Comics Journal, as well as many Cerebus issues, from the racks at Now and Then. Over the years I've unearthed classic comics with art by Boody Rogers, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Curt Swan, Ernie Bushmiller, John Stanley, and countless others, as well as the occasional underground, zines, old sci-fi paperbacks, etc. The store is really responsible for a large part of my comics education. I suspect it is central to the comic book memories of thousands of others.)
After Kremer's death, the store went through a transition phase before being purchased by Kostis four years ago.
The relevant parts of Sim's message:
Dave Kostis at Now & Then Books phoned and left a message with Gerhard at the office on Tuesday while I was running around getting as many
last-minute things done as possible before the trip that Now & Then
Books is closing its doors. I wasn't able to get him on the phone
that evening, there was just the store's answering machine so I hope
it isn't true but I have an awful feeling that this really might be
it. He along with a lot of downtown Kitchener merchants have been
struggling in recent years and this summer was particularly bad.
It's particularly sad because this month marks the thirty-fifth
anniversary of the store's opening in 1971. So far as we know, the
longest run of any comic book store (pre-dating the Direct Market itself
by several years) still in continuous operation. Ger and I had given
Dave several loans to help float the store over the last couple of years
and I know John Balge with whom I worked on Comic Art News & Reviews
kicked in as well. There's not much I can do from two time zones
away (which is why I had been really hoping someone might have come out
to Pearson Airport with a laptop so that I could have at least started
circulating the word yesterday). At this point all I can do is encourage
anyone who thinks they can help in whatever way -- either by
donations or buying some store stock or maybe offering to buy a part
ownership or full ownership or even just phoning to offer some words of
encouragement and to let Dave know that his prodigious efforts to keep
Harry Kremer's legacy alive for these last four and a half years are
not unappreciated -- to give a call and leave a message at 519-744-5571. Just a couple of weeks ago, I had asked Dave's permission to use his office to be interviewed by Matthew Ingram of Cameron Heights Collegiate for their high school newspaper and it was very gratifying to sit for the first time in Harry's old command central chair surrounded by all of the store's photographic and illustration
memories including the framed full front page of the entertainment
section of the K-W Record of Harry and then-partner Bill Johnson back in
1971. If worst comes to worst we'll certainly be working closely
with Dave to preserve as much of the material as he thinks appropriate
as part of the Cerebus Archive. There are a lot of folks out there with
memories of the store that go way back, so please get in touch with Dave
if you've got a spare minute or two over the next couple of days.
Thanks. Labels: comics retailers, comicshoptalk, shop profiles
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