PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Fat Jack’s Comicrypt, the city’s oldest comic book store, is closing next week Wednesday, and longtime fans flocked to the Center City shop for a final weekend.
“We’re running a sale right now, 70% off everything in the store, except the new books so … it’s just been super, super busy, super slammed,” said store manager Olias. “But customers are making less stuff for us to move so that’s nice.”
Olias first joined Fat Jack’s as a manager a little more than a year ago. He came from the music world, but comics are a close second among his passions.
“The best part about working here has definitely been the customers,” he says.
Fat Jack’s, at 20th and Sansom streets, has been a part of John Melbourne’s life for 40 years.
“I would just come in every week, asking for a job, and eventually they gave in,” Melbourne said. “That manager said, ‘Well, I can only pay you in comic books.’ And I said, ‘That’s what I’d spend all my money on anyway.’”
After graduating from high school, Melbourne was hired at the Fat Jack’s City Avenue location and would eventually become general manager of its five locations in the city.
“Fat Jack’s has been here before superheroes were cool. It was kind of the heart of geek culture. There was this, there was the roleplaying Dungeons and Dragons shop that was around the corner. It’s kind of like when Tower Records closed on South Street, it’s an icon that’s gone.”
Across town, Brian Johnson, manager of Brave New Worlds on North Second Street in Old City, says Fat Jack’s has been an institution.
“It’s a very unique and classic kind of space,” Johnson said. “Everyone has sort of built on that and done something a little bit different to set a different identity to their store and their space. But these guys started it all.”
With the Center City location closing, the only Fat Jack’s location left is in Oaklyn, New Jersey. Olias encourages people to go there to still get their comic fix, but said the Center City closure may only be temporary.
“For now, we are. But there are plans to relocate somewhere nearby in Center City. We have a couple places we’re looking at.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: The location of Brave New Worlds was misidentified in a previous version of this article.