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An indie comic book shop was priced out of Williamsburg. Fans can save it, but at what cost?
By
Ryan Kailath
Published Oct 10, 2024
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Courtesy Desert Island
By
Ryan Kailath
Published Oct 10, 2024
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Desert Island, a comic book shop for offbeat, independent and small-press fare, is at risk of losing its long-standing location in Williamsburg. Its owner is crowdsourcing funds to either remain or relocate.
It's the latest in a spate of closures that claimed Crest Hardware, which recently shuttered after 62 years, and Kellogg's Diner, which went bankrupt last year and reopened with a Tex-Mex menu created by a notable chef.
But for fans of indie comics, Desert Island isn’t just a store – it’s an active part of the culture, and a neighborhood favorite since it opened off the Metropolitan Avenue-Lorimer Street station in 2008.
The New Yorker called it one of its favorite New York City bookstores, while the New York Times highlighted its “punk rock” business ethos, where indie comics artists sell their work on consignment and keep the bulk of the proceeds.
Cartoonist Art Spiegelman pictured at Desert Island.
Courtesy Desert Island
“That place means the world to me,” said Jim Scheussler, a local comics fan who has been frequenting Desert Island since it opened. Scheussler said he contributed to the GoFundMe campaign.
“It’s an amazing store, but there’s also a community that built up around it,” he said “That place is definitely a focal point of the indie comics scene.”
The store’s popular broadsheet “Smoke Signal,” now a legendary outlet in the comics world, has featured work from giants of the medium like Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware as well as indie favorites like Julia Wertz and Gabrielle Bell.
The store opened in 2008, according to owner Gabriel Fowler. But since his 10-year lease ran out, Fowler has been renting the space month-to-month. Now, another business has offered to pay 60% more, and Fowler said he's currently discussing the option to match that higher rent.
Fowler was resigned to losing the space, until his customers pushed him to raise money to stay.
“They were all telling me: “What are you doing? You’re just gonna walk away? You gotta do a fundraiser!” he said.
The GoFundMe he launched on Sunday afternoon cleared its $79,200 goal in less than 48 hours. That’s the amount that would allow him to sign a new three-year lease at the new rent his landlord quoted, Fowler said.
But Fowler said he’s both deeply grateful and torn over the money.
“If I do the fundraiser, drum up the money, and then just shovel that money into the landlord’s mouth, I don’t know that that’s winning,” Fowler said.
“When people start paying too much for these spaces, it sets a barometer for the value of the places around me," he said. "Will indie business not be a viable thing in this neighborhood at all?”
The stretch of Williamsburg where Desert Island opened was quieter in 2008. Although Brooklyn was in its ascendancy, tourists and transplants still often preferred Manhattan. This was before Equinox, Whole Foods, and other chains muscled in, and before luxury high-rises began multiplying along the waterfront.
Even now, the blocks east of Union Avenue, where Desert Island is located, are markedly quieter than the outdoor shopping mall of big brands and street vendors surrounding the Bedford Avenue L train station.
Fowler has been looking into other spaces to get a sense of the market. He told supporters and wrote on the GoFundMe page that any funds might be used to relocate the store. But he said it’s difficult to find what he needs at his price point, and that he can’t rely solely on the loyal customers who will follow Desert Island to a new location.
He also said he needs tourist foot traffic in a highly visible location to survive with his “gloriously whimsical business model."
“No one needs this stuff,” he said. “Only once you’ve taken care of all your expenses and your affairs and you’re ready to have some fun, maybe then you’ll buy yourself one of these weird books I offer in my store.”
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Ryan Kailath
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