Another beloved comics shop is closing….but it’s opening up again a few blocks away! Yay!
Anyone Comics in Brooklyn opened in 2017 and has become one of New York City’s most progressive retailers under owner Dimitrios Fragiskatos. It’s also become a community hub thanks to an event space in its basement that became a clubhouse for the local comics contingent.
It also spun off into a Queens sister shop, Everyone Comics, co-owned by Fragiskatos and Alex Rae.
Alas, the high rents that have been plaguing small business everywhere have necessitated a move for Anyone Comics, but it’s moving literally around the corner, from Union Street to Nostrand Blvd.
The new space lacks a clubhouse but will have bigger floor space and be more economical.
Fragiskatos sent a statement about the move – if you’re in the hood now stop by for the goodbye party. And make sure to check out Anyone when it reopens…and Everyone right now.
After nearly 7 years, Anyone Comics calls it quits at Union Street
When Dimitrios Fragiskatos founded Anyone in 2017, the dream was to create a hub, a space where comics and art can be created, as well as sold.
The thinking was that if more people would be encouraged to make art, they could grow an appreciation for the comics around them. Due to no small part by it’s finished basement, Anyone Comics offered a unique experience as it became the place you can pick up your comics upstairs, and join Drink N Draw, or join Magic the Gathering, or play a session of Dungeons and Dragons, or drop off your kids for an art class, or pick up your free comics on FCBD and visit a miniature conventions with local comic artists downstairs!
The gamble paid off and the business reached new heights in 2021, leading into an investment in a second store in Queens called Everyone Comics and Collectibles!
But 2022 proved to not be a good year to expand. The growth of sales and event attendance in 2021 was overestimated, and business decreased while costs and rents have gone up, and while Everyone continues to grow (albeit slowly), Anyone was losing money.
Anyone Comics grew because of the community it was a part of. The late cartoonist, John Curtis Jennison was frequently associated with the store having hosted numerous events and inspiring other people to follow their creative paths. The role playing game groups that played here spawned friendships and relationships that a corporate poster promoting diversity would dream of! The store published the Access Guide to the Black Comic Book Community in 2021, a book that can serve as a portal to supporting small Black businesses and indie creators in comics.
Anyone Comics is relocating around the corner to 831 Nostrand Ave with an expected reopening date on Wednesday December 13 (although subscribers will be allowed to pick up their pull lists before then). Although the overall square footage of the space will downgrade, the sales floor itself will expand, with a strong possibility of maintaining at least some of the events hosted including gaming. The move reduces their costs by 43% with a new lease signed for 10 years.
Anyone Comics is located on 831 Nostrand Ave Brooklyn, NY 11225 in the Crown Heights area in Brooklyn.
For more information, email [email protected] or call (347)350-8422
