Fat Jack’s, Philadelphia’s first and oldest comic book shop, raising money to fight closure

Known as Philadelphia’s first comic store, Fat Jack’s opened its doors in 1976. Since then, the store at 2006 Samson St. has made it through multiple economic recessions, a change of the millennium, and a pandemic. But the effects of shutting down, inflation, and the increase in remote work has the store considering closing.

Years of losing business to online sellers and the rise of digital comics pushed many comic stores to close down. Fat Jack’s remained operating, as community members raised money to help them out of a 2019 economic downturn. But, right as stability seem to be in sight, the pandemic sent them into a six-month shutdown. Being an in-person store, Fat Jack’s saw sales plummet.

“We’re in a terrible situation and we desperately need your help,” wrote Fat Jack’s manager, Eric Partridge, on the store’s official GoFundMe. According to Partridge, who has been managing the store for 28 years, most Center City clientele had settled into remote work and were no longer making their way into Philly — a reality that, per a 2022 Center City District report, the city continues to struggle with. Only 57% of foot traffic is back, compared to 2019 levels.

“We used to have about 222 to 250 people a week, but now we are down to about 180,” said store owner Mike Ferraro. Fat Jack’s subscription program has also been affected. Working from home meant that readers had to cancel their membership due to being unable to pick up their comics.

Seventy-one-year-old Ferrero looked for many alternatives to prevent the store from reaching this point, Partridge said, including filing for the Paycheck Protection Program — the federal loan program created during the pandemic to help small businesses keep their workforce — but funds ran out before they could receive help.

Now, they are running a GoFundMe in the hopes of raising $20,000 to cover the cost of product acquisition and to catch up on bills. Though the total debt amounts to $80,000, “this will keep our head above water,” Partridge said. At the time of publication, $9,667 has been raised to help Fat Jack’s.

In the meantime, the store is having a half-price sale of older comic back issues until the end of January and is doing a weekly Sunday online sale through the broadcasting live website The Experience, at 4:30 p.m. Local comic artists are showing their support visiting the store on weekends to make drawings for customers, and selling original artwork to raise funds. Check the Instagram account for announcements.