{"id":4973,"date":"2017-05-26T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T18:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=4973"},"modified":"2017-05-26T12:23:26","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T16:23:26","slug":"after-three-decades-astro-books-faces-dire-financial-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=4973","title":{"rendered":"After three decades, Astro Books faces dire financial challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
Comic Book store at 1844 Ste.Catherine St.W<\/span>, near Guy, in danger of closing.\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/astrolib.com\/<\/a><\/h5>\n

Astro Books is one of the largest retailers of new, used and collectible comics in Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n

Montreal Gazette,
\n

\"\"
DAVE SIDAWAY Astro Books has launched a crowdfunding campaign in the hope that its loyal clientele can help offset a $20,000-plus tax bill. \u201cIf we can get through this year, I think we can make it,\u201d says 71-year-old co-owner Betty Stock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Love, comic books and addiction have colluded to keep Astro Books alive for more than three decades. But of late, Montreal\u2019s rising commercial tax rates, construction and the indignities of age are conspiring against it.<\/p>\n

After 33 years mainly in Notre-Dame-de-Gr\u00e2ce on Sherbrooke St., and downtown on Ste-Catherine St. a bit west of Guy, one of the largest comic-book retailers in the country is appealing to its local community with a crowdfunding campaign to help cover its $20,000-plus share of the landlord\u2019s tax bill.<\/p>\n

After a slow winter in which drivers who fear construction detours were reluctant to venture downtown while other customers chose cocooning over browsing, owners Paul and Betty Stock were unable to save for the tax hit. The financial situation for the siblings, for whom the store is both a lifeline and a way of life, is tight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the money doesn\u2019t come in, I think we will have to close. I think so,\u201d says Betty, 71, who deals with customers and staff with a seasoned grumpiness offset by the twinkle in her eye. \u201cAnd that\u2019s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

On top of the tax bill, Astro Books (or Librairie Astro, as the awning reads) has to deal with rent north of $3,500 a month, rising hydro and water meter bills and salaries for four employees.<\/p>\n

The store\u2019s dog-eared appearance and a window display featuring used books ranging from Shakespeare\u2019s Othello to a dated copy of Lonely Planet\u2019s guide to India belies a well-organized enterprise that sells in the range of 100,000 comic books a year, as well as CDs, videos, graphic novels, collectible cards and used books of the popular fiction variety.<\/p>\n

Key to the comics sales is a reserve system for 400 clients (it used to be 600) for whom Astro puts aside new orders as deliveries come in each week. Most customers pick them up, while some orders are mailed out as far as Taiwan. Some clients order dozens of titles \u2014 one pays $125 a week for his comic fix \u2014 but most are in the $10-to-$15-a-week range.<\/p>\n

It has made Astro one of the largest retailers of new, used and collectible comics in Canada, with loyal customers dating back more than 20 years. They shifted their focus to comics and closed their N.D.G. store about 15 years ago when the book market slumped.<\/p>\n

Stock says she\u2019s seeing a shift back toward print, both for books and comics, that is also evidenced in growing sales of printed books worldwide as the popularity of Kindle and other e-readers declines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can get through this year, I think we can make it,\u201d she said. \u201cBook sales are getting better, and comic book sales, which had bottomed out, are climbing. People are seeking that tactile experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

As customers who grew up on superhero fare have matured and evolved, so have comic books, branching out to a wide variety of genres that include murder mysteries and romantic comedies. Ms. Marvel, about a New Jersey high school girl of Pakistani descent who suddenly attains superhero powers, is the first comic to have a Muslim headliner; it was a smash hit, indicative of publishers\u2019 willingness to reflect a more diverse society, noted store clerk David Villeneuve. Acclaimed writers like Margaret Atwood and Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk have entered the graphic-novel genre.<\/p>\n

For customers like Sean Gallagher, it\u2019s the ambience and the availability of new genres, many chosen for him by store employees, that have kept him coming back for 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the convenience, and the atmosphere,\u201d says Gallagher, a 42-year-old computer designer who fell in love with comics at the age of nine.<\/p>\n

Gallagher is also picking up titles like Looney Tunes and Teen Titans for his seven-year-old son, aiding in the store\u2019s marketing strategy of \u201cgetting them addicted.\u201d Because comic books are written as serial novels, with storylines spanning multiple editions, once a reader has read one, they want to see how it ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey find a used comic at $1 \u2014 it gets them hooked,\u201d Stock says. Soon, hopefully, they\u2019re following a few titles a month.<\/p>\n

For Von Allan, both a customer and a comic-book creator and graphic novelist, much of the store\u2019s charm lies in its willingness to support and promote lesserknown titles outside of the mainstream, including his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cA store that is willing to lend a hand and help rookies get started is rare,\u201d Allan said. \u201cAnd Paul\u2019s been doing that for decades. I can\u2019t stress that enough. For a young artist starting out, it means the world. We need more stores like this, and I\u2019m saying that as a friend, customer and comic creator.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last few years have been hard on the Stocks. Betty walks with two canes, but still comes in daily. Paul, 67, got past a bout of flesh-eating disease several years ago, then suffered a stroke about five years back that left him partially paralyzed. He still comes in for a few hours a day, and works from home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this store closes, he would turn into a vegetable,\u201d Betty says. \u201cSo will I. I\u2019m not looking for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the street at Capitaine Qu\u00e9bec, neither is owner Charlie Vaccaro. With three comic stores in a three-block radius downtown, the close-knit competition is good for business, he said, bringing in customers from all over Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Astro closes, it might be short-term gain for me in terms of getting a few reserve-list customers, but … it would be long-term pain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After half a lifetime serving book lovers and comic-book addicts, Betty says it\u2019s the fun she would miss.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, the comic-books community is a very nice community,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re nice, and a bit weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

A link to Astro Books\u2019 crowdfunding page is available at their website, astrolib.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A store that is willing to lend a hand and help rookies get started is rare. And Paul\u2019s been doing that for decades. I can\u2019t stress that enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The product is cheap generic viagra on sale http:\/\/amerikabulteni.com\/<\/a> and is available in the strength of 100mg. Today’s fast-paced life takes a constant toll cialis soft tabs<\/a> on one’s mind and body. If you feel such a problem occurred in levitra from canada<\/a> you, you need training. Kamagra jelly is a faster levitra canadian pharmacy<\/a> agent than its other forms as it is absorbed into the blood more quickly. <\/span>
\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n