Sad news around the iFanboy offices today as The Beat reported that one of the best comic book stores in New York City, Rocketship, has (at least temporarily) closed. Reached for comment by The Beat, Rocketship's owner Alex Cox said:
“We’ve come to the end of a five year lease, and are deciding what to do now. Five years went by fast, and my partner and I are suddenly making some large life decisions about what comes next. We love the shop, and as fun as it is, we have to figure out what makes sense for us on a practical level."
Boy, that doesn't sound good.
(You can check out The Beat for more from Alex.)
If this progressive comic shop is indeed closed for good, we'll always have our memories. You see, Rocketship holds a special place in the collective iFanboy heart. It's the place we had our very first video shoot. We shot our secone episode there, which happened the night before we actually shot our first episode. I also met my ex-girlfriend Rachel there. Fun times.
For old time's sake, and in honor of Rocketship, let's rewatch iFanboy: Episode #2 – BKV.
Behold how much thinner we were three years ago!
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Did they already close????
Never been there but the place just. looked. cool. Sad to hear that a place like this is (potentially) going away.
And those Lost subliminal drop-ins made me cry with laughter. And "Fuckin’ fuck fuck."
Awww
The thing that’s a shame is that it wasn’t the business plan that hurt the shop… but rather the real estate costs did it in. Hrumph!
I hope the keep on keeping on in a location that has a decent rent. The community needs good people like them.
the Tiki
That is a cool episode. Sad to see businesses closing down. I hope that they end up doing ok financially.
On a lighter note: I have always wanted to know.
Did Conor get Rachel’s number?
@AmirCat Here’s your answer
@AmirCat: "I also met my ex-girlfriend Rachel there."
Hunh. I’ve gotten better at this since then, but then the guy in the video only has one chin.
So it’s a give and take kind of thing.
that sucks. that’s a great store.
I was just there a few weeks ago, it was a nice small store but I guess the neighborhoods just getting too expensive. (I hope its that and not that they dont want to do it anymore b/c stores like that are just too rare)
@Josh
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Josh, how did you get Wolverine’s jacket? You’re wearing it at the end. Are you the kind old couple’s son?
I love this store. They have great selections, great sections of kids comics and international comics (asterix, lucky luke, etc.). Fun during FCBDs and comic creators hang outs.
Def. will be missed
Dang, I’ve never been but I remember hearing about it when it opened on Indie Spinner Rack. Sad day
I hate seeing great shops close. I always try to visit the local stores when I travel. That podcast is s a great one, I remember watching it while riding to work on the LIRR…three years later we’re living in NC and I too have found another chin. The part with Conor and Rachel cracked me and my wife up.
Awesome stuff, guys. Although I’ve never been there it sounds like a really cool store. How can such a great store close down?
One person in that vid looks EXACTLY the same as he does now. I won’t say who to keep the suspense.
Sad to hear any comic shop close. I hope for the best with the owners.
Because comics are on the same economic trajectory as music.
im very afriad that the IPAD is going make all comic book shops close down for good.
I think people need to read the quotes from the owner.
I read his comment about making practical decisions about keeping a shop open despite enjoying running shop.
I’m pretty good at reading between the lines.
Or I could just believe the endless comic book creators/insiders who adamantly claim that you cannot compare digital comics to the digital music situation yet they never explain why not.
They are like the people who bought real estate in 2006 and were trying to claim that THEIR home prices were higher than they bought it for. Living in fantasy land.
Actually I’d love to see an iFanboy article that argues that diigital music and digital comics are nothing alike.
I can think of only one valid argument why they aren’t and it isn’t so much why they aren’t but why digital comics will not kill the print industry.
@ScorpionMasada: Reading between the lines I got:
– Their five year lease is up and seeing as how their store is in a very expensive/trendy neighborhood they would probably see a substantial increase in rent.
– They don’t picture themselves running a comic book store for the rest of their lives and they are trying to decide if they want to continue to do so or move on to something else.
Neither of which have anything to do with music or digital comics.
@ScorpionMasada
In the city, one of my favorite places to get fried chicken had to close it’s doors because the rent was increasing too much and they couldn’t keep up. I’m not blaming digital chicken for this happening.
@comicBooKchris I’m not blaming digital chicken for this happening.
Hilarious!
Let’s not be simple.
Selling product is supposed to outweigh the cost of providing the product.
Piracy is and will continue to hurt the selling of certain products.
Because comics can be digital, piracy can occur.
I’ll assume the neighborhood they opened their store in was trendy and expensive before they started the shop. (If not, I will admit I’m wrong).
I’ll assume they did some research before they opened the shop in a trendy and expensive neighborhood.
If they didn’t, they were not very good businesspeple.
Point one comes down to money. The store wasn’t generating enough money to stay open.
Point two comes down to money. If the store was profitable, I really doubt anyone would walk away from a source of money when they could hire someone to run the store for them.
I’ve read enough of these business statements to understand the "PC" nature of them.
I’ve had three of my comic shops close on me.
@ScorpionMasada: The person being simple here is the one applying a universal standards to all business, regardless of variations in place, time, and the people running them.
If this store is changing hands, the press release will not state the truth. The fact that the store is not profitable.
So I’ll assume you believe the store is profitable.
I’ll also assume that you don’t think in an economic recession piracy affects the sales of nonessentials like comics.
@ScorpionMasada: You’re assuming a lot.
You can change that by clearing up my assumptions.
I tried making my point in a clever way, but now I’ll be blunt. You can blame piracy all you want for the store closing down, but where can you place the blame on stores that are closing that cannot be affected by piracy? Like clothing stores, giant electronic outlets like Circuit City, or many restuarants? Like those of the fried chicken serving variety.
Naw, your original point was funny. I was just too mad to acknowledge it until now.
You have the dreadful statistic of launching a successful business.
You have the coming of the Great Depression Part 2.
You have stores like WalMart and Target eating into the clothing stores.
You have places like Amazon that have substantial discounts on electronics.
Obviously, the recession is a huge factor. It isn’t just piracy. My argument is that the comic industry will follow the same path as the music industry.
I was at that signing and at the time had no idea who iFanboy was. Go figure. Great party!
We were the ones carrying the eqipment with the uncomfortable looks on our faces about what we were doing there. Behind the scenes of that show is that we talked to Brian ahead of time, and just before the party got started, we were about to go outside to do the interview, and he said "Let me just go get my coat," and then people talked to him non-stop for the next 5 hours. After they were done, we got the chance to talk with him. After all that, we did 7 minutes, and then stopped. We’ve gotten better, but only slightly.
it sucks that I never got a chance to visit the shop. It seems like stores that can stay up are mostly in Manhattan. I don’t see many LCS in Queens or Brooklyn at all.
@ifanboys as we can see from this episode, you guys have hone you skills really well. Just like Bryan O’Malley’s art. LOL.
@comicbookchris digital chicken tastes just as good as regular chicken. eventually, it will replace all fried chicken places all over the city. Including the two right across from my workplace. =p
Good news guys!
The store is open again.