A Better Brave New Worlds

Celebration

2009-05-31T09:54:00.009-04:00

Saturday was our grand opening of the new shop and we had Steve Morrison on hand from the 'Preston & Steve' morning radio show on WMMR. Steve was signing copies of the 'League of Extraordinarily Stupid Gentlemen' comic and talking to fans for a few hours. Brian Coates, the artist and writer of the comic was signing copies and meeting with folks as well. The store was packed most of the day but, unfortunately, most of my pictures came out really fuzzy. The folks working WMMR took lots of pics. I can't wait to see those.

Here is a pic of the Rich the 'Peace Dawg' working the new counter.

Later on Supergirl, Spidey and a dark emissary from the galactic empire cut the cake for incoming guests.

I chatted with many customers and friends that I hadn't seen in a long time all day long. We had hoagie and wrap trays delivered by our friends at Slack's Hoagie Shack in Newtown. The featured beers were Hercules double IPA from Great Divide and a saison from Ommegang called Hennepin. A good time was had by all. Rob was liking the champagne that my parents brought.

Of course, there was cake.

Rob forgot his sunglasses so I packed them in the leftovers I was sending to the boys downtown.

I just want to throw a final shout out to all those who had a hand in pulling this mammoth project together and getting it completed on schedule. I want to thank everyone for all the long and sometimes stressful hours involved. We built an amazing store that is a great place to shop.

BNW 6.0 is here!

2009-05-28T20:55:00.005-04:00

After many extra hours from the folks who sell you comics Eric, Rich, Brian, Rob, Lane, Kevin and several volunteers reopened Brave New Worlds in Willow Grove on schedule on Wednesday May 27th. There is no way we could have completed a move of such scale without so many helpers and I want to personally thank all of them again.

On Thursday, we had new comics and many folks were very happy with the new shop. Here are a few pics.

We're scrambling around right now to add the finishing touches in time for the party on Saturday. Steve Morrison from WMMR's 'Preston & Steve' will be on hand from 1pm to 3pm. Also appearing is Brian Coates, the writer and artist of the radio shows 'League of Extraordinarily Stupid Gentlemen' comic book, will be on hand to sign and give away copies. Both Spider-Man and Supergirl are scheduled to be stopping by as well.

Countdown to M-Day

2009-05-23T20:37:00.009-04:00

This week was spent replacing all of the florescent bulbs, more painting, repairing the ceiling grid, running wires for the stereo, cameras and phones. On Friday, we started the last major project left - installing the new ceiling tiles. Before that Eric and Andy installed the new carpeting in the gaming/storage area.

Lane worked on painting the big green wall.

Brian and I went to work on our brand new ceiling.

The new awning showed up while we were working.

Saturday was spent finishing the ceiling tiles and cleaning up. The store is really shaping up nicely and we are all set to move on Monday night! I can't wait to get started filling the place with comic goodness.

2009-05-16T21:53:00.005-04:00

This week we finished up building all the sections of comic shelves and attached them to the floor. We filled another 30-yard dumpster with all the remaining debris from the shop and construction. The outside of the building was completely cleaned up too. When it was finished, there was much rejoicing.

Also the new fixtures that will make up the counter area were delivered.

After some Spackle and a quick sanding, it was time to prime and paint the shelves and slat wall. There was a lot of painting that needed doing and Cathy, Lane and Michelle were on hand to get the job done.

We decided to incorporate the same color scheme from the Old City shop into the new store design. That meant painting one wall the very bright and Hulk-like 'Gamma Green' (not kidding, that's what it's called). The rest of the walls and slat wall were painted a neutral light Violet color and the shelving was painted black to match the new fixtures in the shop.

It's finally starting to look like we're going to make our deadline of moving in on Memorial Day!

Hammer Time!

2009-05-10T20:19:00.005-04:00

This week we finally got to the fun stuff. With the Hulk on hand to oversee the work crew, Brian and myself went to work on developing the 'Great Wall O Comics' version 5.0. Ironically, joining us that day was Darin Swartley who used to own Cyborg 1 comics in Doylestown. He was the one who shared comic fixture building technology when we built Fallout Comics together 12 years or so ago.

Darin and Eric were hard at work cutting and hanging all the slatwall that was delivered earlier in the week, while Brian and I started to layout the design for the 8-foot wide shelf units.

I was determined to make improvements on the shelves that we built two years ago in the Old City shop. I want the bottom two shelves to move out closer to the shopper to make them more accessible. This would also act a foot for the shelving as we would not be attaching them to a wall like all the previous shelving units. Once we could design a prototype that could stand on it's own, we simply had to make four more following the template.

And voila, the new shelving was born. Brian had a really important phone call, but we managed to get a few built.

While we were working the electricians started on the fire alarm system that was required by the township. It was a really busy day and the building was a beehive buzzing with activity.

On Saturday, Maura's boyfriend Jim conquered the old HVAC in the middle of the shop that hung out below the drop ceiling. We thought it was around 300 pounds, but it was probably closer to 500. I should know because it spent some time on top of my head while three of us were trying to get it to the ground. Luckily, Jim's friend Pete had a winch in his truck and we were safely able to remove the old eyesore. My neck is still a bit sore.

2009-05-01T17:36:00.002-04:00

It's official!

I am proud to announce that the property has been purchased at 433 West Moreland road! Moving day is a mere 3.5 weeks away and there is still a lot of work to be completed. The floor is taking longer than expected to install, but it was much-needed and it sure does look sweet.

Big props to Eric and Brian for superior work and bonus kudos to Marc Lombardi for stepping in to help out one afternoon.

Next up is replacing the old heating/cooling ducts, and start with some electrical work including installation of a fire alarm system.

Mo Demo!

2009-04-19T20:52:00.006-04:00

This week Charles and myself tore down the nasty drop ceiling tiles and found many surprises stashed up there from the last 40 years. Unfortunately, most of the items were disgusting. This made for an even bigger pile of stuff we had to get rid of.

Enter the dumpster. After we filled it, Brian took time to strike a pensive pose.

After the trash was removed it was time to scrape and mop the floor clean. Painting the ceiling tiles grid was next. Maura stopped by with her boyfriend Jim who checked out our heating and cooling system. Good news, the larger unit is in pretty good working unit and a smaller second unit that can be used on extra hot or cold days seems like it will be up and running with a few minor repairs. Jim recommended changing out the duct work, especially since all the ducts are exposed and easy to access right now.

Next week we prep the floor and start installing the sweet brand new tiles.

2009-04-11T17:30:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted, but we had to let the lawyers, bankers and realtors do their job. The good news is that the sale is progressing nicely and we have the keys to the building. There's lots of work that needs to be done and it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to it.

First off Brian had to set up the tunes....

With a crew of Brian, Eric and myself, we went to work getting that lovely purple, pink and green carpet. It was glued down. After a few hours of blood, sweat, tears, blisters and a few laughs - we managed to get it off the floor.

Unfortunately, underneath the glued down carpet is some equally hideous glued-down tiles.

The next day Lane, Kevin, Cathy and myself went to work on scraping off each piece of vinyl tile. It was pretty difficult, but we got the job done.

Now to get rid of that mountain of trash...

The New Location search is over! BNW 6.0 on the way

2009-03-07T10:35:00.005-05:00

We are excited to announce that we are under contract for purchasing a building in Willow Grove. The new address is 433 West Moreland and we plan on relocating the current shop at 212 Easton Road to the new building by the end of May. The new shop is just a few blocks from the current one, next door to Wawa and across from the K-mart near Willow Grove Mall.

The retail space in the new building is over 3,000 square feet and we plan on filling it with cool and interesting items from the world of comics and pop culture. Card games and miniatures will continue to be featured. Board games, toys and apparel will be expanded. The new location will also allow us to feature more graphic novels, hardcovers and collected editions than ever before.

Here are a few pics form the building:

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It may not be much to look at right now, but the Brave New Worlds team is already hard at work creating the largest and best comic shop in the entire Philadelphia area. The pink carpet and walls have GOT to go...