A Social (Mon)Dragon

Sarajane Snyder, current owner of Mondragon Bookstore, likes to talk about gardening, which reflects the large gardening section within the many shelves of the store. Sarajane even equates her ownership of Mondragon to that of a perennial. Perennials have three stages in which they grow; they sleep, they creep, and then, they leap. She has been the owner of Mondragon since 2017, and, in her third year, she wants the store to leap.

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Mondragon first opened on June 20th, 2009,  by a retired Bucknell University professor. Charles Sackrey, professor from 1980 to 2002, opened the bookstore along with his friends as a way to pursue a passion of his in his older age. It was with his friends that he wanted to call this bookstore “Mondragon” after a town in Spain known for being a collective. In his classes, he would teach his students about economics (as that is what he was a professor of) with a sprinkling of economic philosophy. (Bradt). Specifically, on the Bucknell website, he is listed to have taught “Classical Marxism” and “Theatre and Economics.” (“Charles Sackrey.”) This is funny because he was known to talk to his customers about Marxist philosophy all the time. But, seeing as Marxist philosophy was his main focus as a professor, we can see this seep into the way in which he ran his bookstore.

 

Mondragon’s stocks come entirely from donations, as Sarajane has told us, even from the beginning. In the beginning, the books were mostly donated from Bucknell’s English and Creative Writing departments. When Sarajane took over, she kept this model of donations, her books mostly coming from friends and customers. Because of this, any amount of money on these used books becomes profit. So, quite often, customers are able to bargain the prices of their books. Sarajane believes in the power of books and the knowledge gained when read. If it was possible, she would make the store a complete not-for-profit business. From what my research has shown, Mondragon did start as a not-for-profit business, but eventually dropped that guise and started selling books at cheaper and more affordable prices. (Bradt).

 

Marx is known for his socialist ideals of commerce, which is very different from the average American bookstore. In Jack Perry’s “Bookstores, Communist and Capitalist,” he observes the differences between the Communist bookstores of Eastern Europe and the Capitalist bookstores of America. Perry often felt disappointed in the American bookstore. In an observation about American bookstores, Perry notes that “You do not stroll through sections of classics; you march through shelves of ‘Publishers’ Special Cut-Rate Editions,’ or ‘Lavishly Illustrated Editions Marked Down’— the determining principle being price, not content.” (109). That being one instance of many. In the Eastern European bookstores, Perry observes that, “Bulgarian bookstores were popular spots, so much so that often there were long lines outside.” (107). In addition to that, he notes that the literary community would aften flock to bookstores whenever a new book was added to a bookstore, especially ones in those countries. (Perry 108). This type of literary community’s actions can be attributed to the lack of diversity in choice within bookstores; primarily, bookstores would sell propaganda of the state, Marxist and Leninist philosophies, and religious texts. (Perry 107-8). Mondragon does not follow either of these bookstore formats; instead it seems to take a note of Marx’s socialist attitudes. Since the beginning, customers have been able debate over the price of a marked book. Sometimes, books would even be unmarked just so that customers have the ability to name their own price. This practice has carried over into Sarajane’s ownership of the store. In my group’s interview with her, she told us that she believed people should be able to enjoy literature. She told us about such business practices above as well as free books, magazines, CDs, and other types of media (which I will discuss later in this post). In all, it seems as if the goal of Mondragon is to provide literature for all.

 

Now that the (for now), let’s move into talking about the second class that Charles Sackrey taught, “Theatre and Economics.” What does a bookstore have to do with theatre other than it’s section on plays (which Mondragon notes that they have a great Shakespeare section)? Well, I guess it is mostly a conversation on the performance of a bookstore to its customers and what kind of works are promoted to the community. In a lot of ways, Mondragon takes some of its ethics from Niche Bookstores. In “Feminist Bookstores,” by Daphne Spain, she talks about the ethics of niche bookstores as such. In a case study on Sisterhood Bookstore in Los Angeles, Spain notes the history of this store. I think the most interesting thing Spain delved into in her observation was the expansion Sisterhood built to their store. Spain notes, “The renovation raised the back of the store two feet higher than the rest of the store. The result was a stagelike setting for readings and book signings. Its elevation made speakers visible from the front of the store, as well as to those outside. Sabina Tubal, the author of Sarah the Priestess, thought it made the back ‘look like

Every Thursday, Mondragon holds an art night where local artists and book lovers come together to create art using books.

a shrine’ to women.” (98). Sarajane has done something similar to Mondragon. Through events and decorations to the store, Sarajane has created a shrine to local creators. The first thing one sees as they enter the store is a wall that displays art created by local artists. When delving deeper into the store, there are art projects made from and devoted to literature hung up. Merchandising created from local artists for Mondragon is displayed with pride along doorways. When asked by our group about what Sarajane wants the store to be, she told us that she wants the store to be a hub to a community that she has the ability to grow. She wants to be able to display the works of local artists. When the weather is nice, she wants to be able to let local farmers, gardeners, and florists to be able to set up outside of her shop as a sort of fair. In the middle of our group’s interview, a customer came in to pick up fresh mushrooms grown by local farmers that get delivered to Mondragon for pick up. From what we got from the interview, it seems as if Sarajane was the one that started this platform for local artists.

 

Sarajane took over Mondragon in January of 2017. But to back up a little first. Sarajane grew up in the rural areas of

In the hall, Mondragon advertises local events. In the bottom left hand corner is the sign for the free magazines.

Lewisburg. After college, she returned to the area and wanted to help out at Mondragon in her free time. Eventually, Charles Sackrey let her take on more of a management position and, finally, the store. A lot of the “employees” carried over in the shift in power from Sackrey to Sarajane. By “employees,” Sarajane explained to us that the workers there are all volunteers carried over from the prior ownership, many of them older people in their retirement age. In return, many of them get a free book from the store. In her first year, she sorted the store into the modern Mondragon we see; she organized, categorized, and curated all the used books in the store as that was her big project of the time since there were many books cluttering the area. While curating these books, she started a section of books outside the store in the hallway of the building. She told us that people tend to take the books outside the store. Sometimes, they slip money under the door, but sometimes they don’t. She doesn’t really mind this and actually encourages it with the free magazines that she sets outside the store. In her second year of owning the store, she decided to attempt to take the ethics of the the town of Mondragon by creating a collectively owned store. She told us that this was an experience that inevitably failed due to personal reasons from the other owners. But still, Mondragon stayed open under Sarajane.

Tiger, the collectively owned cat, rests among the donated books at Mondragon

There is one thing that is collectively owned that works for Mondragon, and that is the cat. Tiger, a tabby cat, used to be owned by a single mother and her young daughters in one of the apartments upstairs. This family moved out early on in Sarajane’s ownership; the only problem is that the new place they were moving did not allow animals. So, Tiger moved down into Mondragon and stays there. She is technically owned by the family, Sarajane, and all of the volunteers that work there. Tiger has become a staple to the experience of Mondragon.

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In Sarajane’s first year, Mondragon slept while she reorganized it into its modern design. In her second year, Mondragon crept into existence with in-store events, merchandising, and platforming. Now, in the third year, Mondragon wants to leap.

 

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Photos

Photos courtesy of Richard Berwind

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Information

Most information used in this blog was collected through an interview with Sarajane Snyder (Sited below). All other information collected will be cited under the “Text” section.

Snyder, Sarajane. Personal interview. 22 February 2019.

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Texts

Bradt, Christopher. “Check Out Lewisburg’s Most Eclectic Bookstore!” Bucknell University Press, Genesis Framework, 29 Jan. 2013, upress.blogs.bucknell.edu/2013/01/29/check-out-lewisburgs-most-eclectic-bookstore/

“Charles Sackrey.” Bucknell University, 1999.

“Feminist Bookstores: Building Identity.” Constructive Feminism: Women’s Spaces and Women’s Rights in the American City, by Daphne Spain, 1st ed., Cornell University Press, 2016, pp. 84–110. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt18kr5mx.8.

Perry, Jack. “Bookstores, Capitalist and Communist.” The American Scholar, 2001, pp. 107–111.

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Timeline

Timeline made using Time.graphics

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Comic Metropolis: A Journey Across Sea to Success

With over 1000 graphic novels, 150 table-top games, 150 paints and many events, Comic Metropolis has become a local favorite to comic advocates. Comic Metropolis is known for its wide array of comics stretching from Star Wars to Manga and for the many events they hold on a yearly and weekly basis. This store has evolved into a community for many comic book lovers and grew fast in only a three year span! I got the opportunity to talk with him about how his business has grown to now.

Picture Provided by Chris Naiman

When I walked into the store for the first time I was stunned and amazed at all the products that were there and on display. The walls were filled with old comic books in pristine condition and shelfs were stocked with games and figurines. Although the shop design was amazing, what really took my breath away was the amazing color that made the room look alive. This reminded me of Sunwise Turn: A Human Comedy of Bookselling by Madge Jenison. The author describes the interior of a bookstore she opened with Mary Mowbray-Clarke. Jenison writes, “We had both been talking and thinking a great deal about color since the big post-impressionist show of 1915; and one theory… was that a room should be built from a full prism- that a full chord of color would make a room more alive and complete and restful than two or three contrasted notes can do” (Jenison 17).

Comic Metropolis stunned me with the color that popped out at me. The walls were a beige color but the comics that lined up on the walls and the figurines made the room pop. A good independent store should have aspects like this which is why Comic Metropolis is a favorite of the locals.

Picture of First Edition Spiderman Comic Introducing ‘Electro’ -provided by Chris Naiman

The history of Comic Metropolis is very young but I think the history is also in the comics. Comic Metropolis has a very wide array of comics, some newer and some of the first editions! As I walked around the store and browsed at all the items, one item caught my eye. It was a Spiderman Comic worth $600! I asked the store owner, Albert, why it was priced so high. He responded by saying that it was the first time Electro appeared, one of Spidermans arch-nemesis’. Albert stated, “comics that have the first appearance of a character raises lots of interested to readers and when kept in pristine condition, can be worth a lot one day. This contributes to the history of Comic Metropolis.

 

Comic Metropolis had its grand opening on September 5, 2016 (Labor Day). It was started by Albert Payne and his mother, Laura Asherman Payne. Before even opening the store, Albert lived in London with his mother and had a huge collection of comic books. He has been collecting comic books ever since he was 12 years old in 7th grade. He would regularly go to comic markets and purchase his comic books. Albert has kept up his collection throughout his life for nearly 29 years.

While living in London, Albert Paynes mother, Laura, worked as a teacher where she supported special needs people. She worked as this even though she had been trained to teach religious studies, had four degrees in English and could have become a qualified teacher, but she did not want to pay the money for it.

As the time passed in London, Albert came up with an idea of trying to sell comic books since he owned a massive amount. At first he had an online store, which is not available anymore, to try and sell his comic books that he had collected. He could not buy new comic books from Diamond Comic Distributor, the only comic book distributor, since they only ship to brick and mortar stores. This was not a huge hit so Albert started to look at brick and mortar stores. With this idea in hand, he began a search on the market for a place and found one in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Located in the heart of Bucknell college town, the location would be great for college comic advocates and local collectors.

According to Albert, the place was “a little run down but had potential”. The place him and his mother bought was going to need total renovation including installing a whole new air conditioning system. They moved to the US to start working on the renovations and after sometime it was completed.

Comics Metropolis on a Friday afternoon
Comic Metropolis Sign

Before the grand opening happening, Albert wanted to put up the Comic Metropolis sign. Albert asked Middle Creek Signs company to make them one and they delivered. Albert had it installed on the store and it was officially up in March of 2016. Then there was a problem brought up by the township that the sign was too large and did abide by the 1ft by 2ft max allowance. Albert and his mom began to fight for the allowance of the sign size and used a bed and breakfast place called Tawsty Flower on 4th street to argue that they had an even bigger sign put up. With that said they finally got permission to keep using the sign and has been up ever since.

 

Albert promoted the store using word of mouth and through radio advertising. The store did not get much attention though. They were not attracting a lot of customers and therefore not gaining a lot of profit. Albert said that they were worried they couldn’t compete with Purple Platypus and them attracting the younger generation. In order to combat this, they started to sell HABA children games and Manga comics. It was a success and they started to attract the younger children.

Susquehanna Valley Squadron playing Star Wars: X-Wing Board Game. Photo provided by Chris Naiman

Albert had more ideas that he wanted to implement into the store so he could grow the attractiveness of it. He wanted to add something where it would bring people together and have them stay a while rather than only 20 minutes. Albert cleared an area for a game room that he allows anyone to play any board or card game in. He regularly allows Susquehanna Valley Squadron play their competitive board game every Saturday. I got a chance to see a game and it looked intense. Many quick movements and a lot of strategy was implemented while I observed a game.

Albert wanted to create a place where people can interact and enjoy themselves, he wanted to create a community. Albert applies the concept of a didactic bookseller image, such as what is said in Laura J. Miller’s book, Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Miller writes that, “…there is a belief that serving the customer by helping her find the material that best suits her taste is an honorable endeavor. Moreover, when book professionals do describe themselves as taking on an active cultural role, they tend to define cultural leadership as adding to the existing diversity of literary voices.” (Miller 62). I think that Albert Payne wants to create a culture there at Comic Metropolis rather than just leaving the customer to pick comics for themselves and not have them engage in the culture of comics. The people really appreciate this as many of them are young children looking to start reading and need a direction to go.

Albert needed more attraction to his shop and did this by creating a membership program. He developed a program where it costed $40 a year and with that you would get 10% off every year. This turned out to be a big hit at the store and the program now has over 100 members still subscribed. According to Albert the average age of customers in the membership are around 35 years old. Another event Albert created to attract more customers was, Free Comic Book Day! It is held every first Saturday in May. In 2017, they wanted to do a test run of the event and it turned out successful with many respondents. A year later they went full blast on the event and it turned out very successful for them.

Talking with Albert Payne made me realize he isn’t here to just sell comic books but he is here to create an experience and a community of people whether it’d be comic book advocates or new readers. Throughout the history of Comic Metropolis, it has developed into a thriving store and community for people with many events and the membership program that keeps readers interested and intrigued. I will definitely be visiting Comic Metropolis again and I recommend you do to.

Special thanks to Albert and Laura Payne for their hospitality and contribution 

 

Sources

Images

Photos provided by Christopher Naiman

Texts

Jenison, Madge. Sunwise Turn: A Human Comedy of Bookselling. New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1923.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Timeline

https://time.graphics/line/233643

A (Mon)Dragon’s Home

This Alleyway was built into one of the buildings.

The town of Lewisburg was cast in grey and rain the day my group went to visit Mondragon. The local businesses each provided their own versions of warmth for the average passerby; from windows brightly decorated with handmade dresses to windows advertising the lunch specials of the day, I found myself attracted to the inviting nature of each business. But, as the assignment was to simply survey the area, I quickly moved on so that I could survey more and more of Market Street. While my compatriots fawned over the different businesses that lined the streets, I found myself fascinated in between the businesses. I wanted to journey down the alleyways decorated like old Irish Faerie realms have always been depicted. Lined with stones and moss and leading to patios of homemade furniture garnished with trellises, these alleyways appeared to lead to a realm different from the one portrayed by semi-bustle of the street. My friends moved quickly while I moved slowly (whether it was because of these alleyways or

This little patio alleyway was right next to Mondragon and part of the brewery next door. Sorry for the blurriness, but you probably get the point.

my short legs, I do not know). I couldn’t help but wonder why each alleyway was decorated with such thought and care just to create the antithesis of what an alleyway is traditionally thought as.

 

Lewisburg is the small town that accompanies the local college, Bucknell University. Approximately half an hour away from my own university, Susquehanna University, the two are often compared as sister universities and/or rivals. If the rivalry were of the local towns, then Bucknell would be the clear winner. Littered with Boutiques and a generally Victorian visual aesthetic, Lewisburg presents itself as an upper middle town. The big difference between Lewisburg and Selinsgrove, at least from what caught my eye, is that Lewisburg seems to detach itself from the local college community. While there are a couple of Bucknell flags and the college’s bookstore. The town seems to want to keep its image as an upper middle class area rather than one that has its door open to the ever-changing community that colleges generally present. Lewisburg keeps its aesthetic image pristine and a place for the locals rather than the local college students.

The Lewisburg Hotel really shows this warm Victorian visual aesthetic.

 

 

Tim Cresswell in Place: An Introduction reflects on Doreen Massey’s reflection of Kilburn’s definition of place (I know, confusing right?) as one that is generally correct when talking about place as “global.” This definition is as follows (in Cresswell’s words):

 

 

  1. Place as process.
  2. Place as defined by the outside.
  3. Place as site of multiple identities and histories.
  4. A uniqueness of place defined by its interactions.

(Place: An Introduction). Lewisburg seems to be defining itself as such as well, mostly in numbers 2 and 4. The town seems more concerned about its visual and aesthetic appeal as seen by “outsiders” and how these “outsiders” view the town and the businesses interact with each other.

Two businesses side-by-side.

I can see this as being highly true about the area surrounding Mondragon Bookstore. Lewisburg seems to take care of their main marketable street (Market Street) whether it is with ice sculptures (although thoroughly melted by the unseasonably warm and wet weather earlier in the week) or maintaining the Victorian aesthetic with the local businesses. I think the main way they define themselves to “outsiders” is by trying to create a home away from home. This also lends to the uniqueness of this place. Corporate looking businesses tend to stick out in this area and they are generally reserved to more law and business based corporations (with the occasional art gallery). On the other hand, many other businesses like cafes, boutiques, hotels, and our very own Mondragon adopt homes as a place to sell their goods. Boutiques display their clothes like an in home workshop, the hotel adopts warm lighting and inviting exterior accents like a porch, and the alleyways provide seating and paths reminiscent of a slower Victorian lifestyle, where the exterior provides just as much a home as the interior.

Coffee is on at Mondragon. (Many of my group mates loved this, so we took a lot of photos).

The bookstore is commonly seen as a home, if not actually a home. Parnassus on Wheels exemplifies this sentiment of bookstores as homes. The traveling bookstore owner, Roger, has set up his store so that books cover the exterior and the interior is where he has made his home. Bookstores have commonly adopted this sentiment (rather than literally) by providing coffee to customers, carpeted floors and warm lighting for ambiance, and a generally welcoming demeanor from the owners/workers. Mondragon definitely involves all of this. With multiple rooms of books and a coffee bar, the store appears to be the embodiment of a living room.

 

This is what Lewisburg seems to be doing to their town. From the warm lights to retail selling goods out of homes, the interactions the town seems to want to happen are that of a home. I wanted to travel down one of the alleyways with a cup of coffee with some friends and sit and enjoy the beauty and care of the surrounding area. Unfortunately it was raining and the middle of winter. But, I can only imagine what it must be like in the spring when everything is in bloom.

 

Sources

Images

Photos courtesy of Richard Berwind (me).

Text

Cresswell, Tim. “Reading ‘A Global Sense of Place’.”Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2004.

Morley, Christopher. Parnassus on Wheels. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1917.

Comic Books for the Community

Growing up in a suburban town kept me close to home and I usually never went out. In my area there are shops close buy but you have to utilize a car to get there. So when I saw Lewisburg, PA and the college town there, I was immediately amazed. The town was thriving with people going in and out of shops with smiles on their faces. I observed that there was a good mix of the ages there such as groups of college kids hanging out and older folks just enjoying a walk through town.

The store I observed was a place called Comics Metropolis LLC. The store is a very nice and quaint looking place surrounded by a lot of culture just on the street. Some of the competition that surrounds Comic Metropolis are Mondragon Books and Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University. This should not be a worry to Comic Metropolis since they are in a different market and will stand out. Comic Metropolis is the only comic book focused store in the area.

The community around Comic Metropolis is one that is connected and thriving. While I strolled around the area, it was nice to see that people weren’t just walking around but they were engaged with one another, even I had a conversation with a nice lady.

Lewisburg, PA is home to about 5,800 people (DataUSA), predominately white folks (81.4%). There are around 600 Hispanic residents (9.1%), about 220 Asian residents (3.75%) and 200 Black residents (3.47%)(DataUSA). The college town is also home to Bucknell University which has 3,600 undergraduate students (Bucknell University)

Comic Metropolis has a very welcoming feel from the outside which is a main idea in the book Reluctant Capitalists by Laura J. Miller. The ideas is that a bookstore should be a “community center”. That is the feel you get from just looking at Comic Metropolis. The outside is not too flashy but simple and attracting. The style of the building is more of a house look rather than a corporate building like Barnes & Nobles would look like. Just the outside of the building itself can attract a customer because it feels like a community center where people can go, hang out and converse with one another.

Picture of Comics Metropolis taken by Chris Naiman

Comics Metropolis is in a very good area where it will attract a lot of customers. On the same street as the store there are a couple landmarks that people stroll by and visit. One of them is a remaining corner stone of the Lewisburg Opera House that was built over 100 years ago in 1869.

Picture of Lewisburg Opera House remains taken by Chris Naiman

Sadly the Opera House was Burned to the ground on Sunday, December 27, 1908. Though they kept one of the remains there where it laid to remember it by. This indicates to me that the community really appreciates its history and has a love for it. There are old cathedral and churches surrounding the area that add a very nice aesthetic to it.

 

 

 

The whole idea and vibe I get from being in Lewisburg is a sense of community and welcomeness. Around the are there are eateries such as Pizza Phi and Siam Restaurant & Bar. There are places you hang out with some friends and relax together at the Greek Isles Salon & Spa. The area is filled with activities that you can hang around. Comics Metropolis LLC has that same feel with the way the design of establishment is and that it welcomes people. Creswell writes, “Massey’s Kilburn is, in her words, a ‘meeting place’ where a particular ‘constellation of social relations’ comes together in place. Her observations of Kilburn draws her toward a new ‘extrovert,’ ‘progressive,’ and ‘global’ sense of place marked by the following…Place as a site of multiple identities and histories” (Cresswell). Creswell’s quote can relate to Comic Metropolis in the sense that it is a meeting place for people and that there are multiple identities that surround the area such as the cathedrals and churches.

Lewisburg is a great place that has a great sense of community. There are so many surrounding business’ and it thrives with the people. Everyone is active in the community through people who live in town, out of town and even the college students. I look forward to returning to Comics Metropolis to discover more about it.

 

Sources

Images

  • Pictures taken by Chris Naiman

Texts

  • Cresswell, Tim. Place: a Short Introduction. Blackwell Pub., 2009.
  • Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. University of Chicago Press, 2014. Chapter 5 pg 124

Websites

  • “The Facts About Bucknell.” Bucknell University, www.bucknell.edu/About.
  • Cresswell, Tim. Place: a Short Introduction. Blackwell Pub., 2009.

 

Comics Cradled in History

Lewisburg Opera House
The Opera House post fire

In 1868, Henry G. Schwartz, the architect responsible for many of the houses lining South Third Street in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, drew up designs for, and subsequently went about building, the Lewisburg Opera House, known at its birth by the simple moniker The Music Hall. From the group of local businessmen who came to own the building, investor H. Eyer Spyker rose to prominence, assuming control of the Opera House amidst his improvements to the House between 1894 and 1907. The recent development of railroads allowed theatrical performing companies to tour the country’s selection of theatres and draw in spectators, and the Opera House was no exception. Thirty-nine years after its original construction, however, the Opera House was the site of a terrible blaze. On December 27th, 1907, The Lewisburg Opera House burned to the ground. All that remains now of the once beautiful building is a single brick cornerstone, standing alone next to the municipal parking lot on South Third Street.

The street is home to a number of modern attractions. Just across from the remains of the Opera House, located at 26 South Third Street, is Comics Metropolis LLC, a comics shop opened in 2016. It’s a quaint building, and unless you know it’s there, you may very well miss it. It looks just like the houses further down the street, because that is exactly what it was before owners Albert and Laura Payne purchased it, and refashioned it as the welcoming nerd haven it now is. Nearby, there exists a particular location that seems as though it would offer a rather large clientele base for the store in question: Bucknell University. Bucknell is a mere four-minute drive, or, for those finding themselves bereft of a car, or merely seeking to get in a little exercise, a fifteen-minute walk, from Comics Metropolis. The “official” Bucknell Barnes and Noble branch exists much closer to the comics shop, and the shop may serve as a welcome nearby distraction from the rigor of shopping for college textbooks (and may also be a little more forgiving on the wallet).

The presence of Bucknell offers another layer to the identity of Comics Metropolis’s space. Later in his book, Cresswell examines the ideas of Doreen Massey. The third point of her’s that Cresswell highlights is the most pertinent: Massey states “a need for a clear sense of boundaries around the place separating it from the world outside” as an issue with reactionary definitions of place (Cresswell, 72). Massey, in the essay sampled by Cresswell, challenges readers to reexamine the way they think about globalization. Boundaries are an intensely present aspect of humans identifying their place in the world, both physically and situationally. States and countries have borders to physically allocate each territory particular allotments of space; that space in turn becomes synonymous with a particular place identity. Bucknell helps define the place of Lewisburg, helps define the space within which Comics Metropolis is contained, and offers an interesting factor to the identity of Lewisburg’s and Comics Metropolis’s places. According to Data USA, and as of 2016, 2,336 of the 5,757 person population of Lewisburg (40.6% of the population!) is within 18-24 years old. Of course, not all of these individuals are attending university, and indeed, many of those that are may not even be attending college at Bucknell or in the Lewisburg area, but the fact stands that almost half of the population of Lewisburg falls within the age range stereotypically assumed to be the main demographic consuming comics-related paraphernalia.

A 2012 survey taken to examine the consumer base of DC Comics (courtesy of comicsbeat.com) highlights a discrepancy in the argument I allowed: based on the survey’s findings, the two age groups that afforded the largest procurement of DC Comics releases were 25-34 years old and 35-44 years old (37%-42% and 27%-35%, respectively). College-age consumers come in at third place. Perhaps it is too large an allowance to say that Comics Metropolis is playing to the demographics of Lewisburg, as nearly sixty percent of Lewisburg’s population (58.3% to be precise) falls within these top three age ranges, but then again, its entirely possible that this is exactly what was aimed for. With such a large percentage of the population falling within the targeted demographic for one of the world’s leading comics publishers, there certainly is no shortage of business opportunity.

The final important idea of place to discuss is brought forward by Laura J. Miller in her book Reluctant Capitalists. In the chapter four section “The Critique of Standardization”, Miller uses the example of 1920’s ‘book-of-the-month’ clubs, which were critiqued for “driving Americans to read the same works, perpetuating literary standardization, and sapping the population’s individuality” (Miller, 106). I find that this “sapping of the population’s individuality” is not present in Comics Metropolis’s neighborhood. The uniqueness of building a bookstore in a house adds to the personality and individualism of the store, and makes it a perhaps welcome alternative to Bucknell’s Barnes and Noble, which is a product of standardization and capitalism. The lack of ‘retailization’ (I just made that word up I think) of the surrounding area lends Comics Metropolis an air of homeyness/personality. It makes it more welcoming, like you’re stepping into someone’s house rather than a place of business (helped, of course, by the physical location of the business itself). The fact that the bookstore is kind of removed from the commercial hub of Lewisburg makes casual browsers feel less like they are there to spend money, and makes the atmosphere more relaxing.

Comics Metropolis’s place is, at its core, a space for people to have a small escape from the consumerism of even just the main street of Lewisburg by stepping down a smaller street into a residential area populated by colorful houses (follow the street view above to the right and you’ll see what I’m talking about) and the churches mentioned earlier. Itself a house, Comics Metropolis holds the strength of the independent bookstore that standardized chains bookstores can never hope to compete with: a unique environment present only in this very particular store, and that alone is an intensely powerful draw.

 

Sources:

“Article 17.” Union County Historical Society, www.unioncountyhistoricalsociety.org/OnceUpon/Article17.pdf.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. University of Chicago Press, 2014.

Cresswell, Tim. Place: a Short Introduction. Blackwell, 2010.

MacDonald, Heidi. “DC Retailer Survey Results: Older, Male, Middle-Class, Avid.” The Beat, 10 Feb. 2012, www.comicsbeat.com/dc-retailer-survey-results-older-male-middle-class-avid/.

“Lewisburg, PA.” Data USA, datausa.io/profile/geo/lewisburg-pa/.

Historics by Comics Metropolis

In the thirteen minutes we had before the parking meter ran out, my group and I hastily walked up and down the blocks of S 3rd Street surrounding Comics Metropolis in Lewisburg, PA. It was windy and cold, so we only surveyed the area for a few minutes before rushing back to the car. We didn’t even have time to step foot in the bookstore. When we first spotted Comics Metropolis, it was not at all what we had anticipated our bookstore looking like. The building itself was white, clad with a porch off to the side and blue shutters accenting every window. To me, this comic book store looked more like a house than anything. I had imagined this store to be tall and sleek with a modern storefront, similar to something you’d find in the city.

Comics Metropolis

Looking at the areas surrounding Comics Metropolis, this exterior made sense. Comics Metropolis is a family owned and operated business, bookended by Law of Attorney Graham Showalter as well as Santander Bank, both in buildings that could have once been homes. Most of the buildings on this street are painted pastel or light with a different color shutter, chimneys, rows of windows facing the street, et cetera. This aids to the Victorian image Lewisburg wanted to have before today, since they are now taking on the image of a Collegetown. Shown below is a street view of the Law of Attorney next door.

An interesting thing I happened to notice about the neighborhood surrounding Comics Metropolis were the amount of government-affiliated buildings and resources. There is a courthouse, a post office, two banks and an ATM, and Lewisburg’s Trust & Safe Deposit Company, all in addition to the real estate Attorney of Law. Not only this, but within two blocks, there are 3 churches: Beaver Memorial United Methodist, First Baptist Church, and Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church. This area of Lewisburg seems to be more historic and focused on landmarks that leave behind something meaningful.

Corner Stone of Lewisburg Opera House

For example, there is a corner stone from the Lewisburg Opera House, which was built in 1869, and burnt to the ground December 27, 1908. The idea of physical movement and change seems relevant to a point Tim Cresswell makes in his book, Place: A Short Introduction: “… imagine not just all the physical movement, nor even all the often invisible communications, but also and especially all the social relations, all the links between people” (68-69). There was a time where people visited that Opera House, that also visited one of the churches such as Beaver Memorial which was built in 1890, and there are links between those people and those physical locations in which those people interacted. Lewisburg wanted its current patrons and visitors to know there was an Opera House there and now today it is something I would not have known had I not gone to visit Comics Metropolis. This too is something Cresswell makes a point out of, permanence of place (57).

The culture within Lewisburg has a lot to do with history, but with literature as well. First Baptist Church had boxes out front advertising take a book leave a book, one for adults and one for kids. Walking by, I was very curious to see what was left behind and discovered more books within the box for kids than in the one for adults. Additionally, there is something called PoetryPath that links all of the churches together.

PoetryPath by Bucknell University

It’s a project done by the Stadler Center at Bucknell University, where people visiting the historical town or university can listen to poetry read by its author. There are ten spots and each one showcases a poem for its “thematic resonance with a culturally significant Lewisburg locale” (Poetry Path, Bucknell.edu). In participating in this, people are both welcoming poetry and history into their contemporary lives. Relating back to Cresswell once again, he speaks on Massey’s three interconnected ways of connecting, highlighting specifically on the second one, to show how authentically places and their identities are rooted in history (72-73).

After simply surveying and analyzing the area surrounding Comics Metropolis, it is clear to me now that it emphasizes Cresswell’s definition for sense of place: the cultural, subjective, and emotional attachment people possess (7). Though places constantly undergo change, like the Opera House once did, it only makes the location so much more meaningful.

Images

Yeager, Kaitlynn. Comics Metropolis. Digital file, 8 Feb. 2019.

Yeager, Kaitlynn. Corner Stone of Lewisburg Opera House. Digital file, 8 Feb. 2019.

Yeager, Kaitlynn. Poetry Path. Digital file, 8 Feb. 2019.

Websites

“Comics Metropolis LLC.” Comic Book Store in Lewisburg, comicsmetropolis.business.site/?fbclid=IwAR2EujnCwMVVjOa7n8xySfTxZ4J7f22hDo1xhwDSQBIhEPNMzdJPADxbIek.

“Poetry Path | Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts.” Bucknell University, www.bucknell.edu/PoetryPath.

Texts

Cresswell, Tim. Place: a Short Introduction. Blackwell Pub., 2009.