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WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC4) — In West Valley City, a beloved local comic book shop is getting back on its feet after an estimated 1.3 million gallons of water flooded into the back of the store. To help them achieve this, the local community of nerds and geeks alike rallied together Saturday by bringing the very comics the store sells to life.
Forced to move after the flood, The Nerd Store has temporarily set up shop at the former home of Rue 21, toward the west side of the mall.
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Following a flood that forced The Nerd Store to move, an event was put together by the community to support the shop. (KTVX/Dennis Dolan) -
Following a flood that forced The Nerd Store to move, an event was put together by the community to support the shop. (KTVX/Dennis Dolan) -
Following a flood that forced The Nerd Store to move, an event was put together by the community to support the shop. (KTVX/Dennis Dolan) -
Following a flood that forced The Nerd Store to move, an event was put together by the community to support the shop. (KTVX/Dennis Dolan)
Roger Prows, co-owner of The Nerd Store, said the store flooded on Oct. 30.
“There was about over a million gallons of water coming out of a water main. Only our store in the mall was affected. It kind of put us out. We had to move all of this in basically a week, get a new store set up outside the mall. We are doing our best to let people know where we are at,” he said.
To make sure everyone knows The Nerd Store is still around during the busy holiday season, community members came together to organize an event with guests, comic creators, artists, and cosplayers. Proceeds made today went towards any funds that the store’s insurance may not cover.
“Our comic book community here in Salt Lake is really good about looking out for each other, stores and artists and traders alike, and so when they had that problem, we saw what kind of horrible damage it was causing, we just said ‘You know what? We got resources we can give to this. We could just go out and have an event at the store and support them and show our solidarity,’ and it caught on like wildfire,” said Adrian Ropp, a comic book artist and writer who has worked on ‘Archie.’
Ropp detailed how the comic book community is always doing what they can to support each other, adding that they also rallied together last year to help him with medical bills as he faced health problems.
“You’ll see stuff like that over and over and over,” he said. “…They just all have hearts of gold. They just want to be helpful and spread positivity into the world. I’m just happy to be a part of that team.”
Comic characters, Disney princesses, and galactic heroes were all at the mall to help save the day — as well as special guests, including Travis Romney, the creator behind “The Mighty Utahn”, Doug Wagner and Steven Phillip Jones who have worked on DC and Marvel comics.
Ropp said if you’re curious to check out the shop, there is a story for just about everyone inside.
“Comics are for everyone. If you’re resisting coming to a comic shop because you think there’s some label that it puts on people, please don’t. You’re just missing out on some fantastic stories, and that’s really what it’s all about, is all of us getting together kind of like a mini comic-con and just enjoying all these cool, diverse stories with each other,” he remarked.
In addition to their West Valley location, you can also find The Nerd Store at The University Place in Orem and the Gateway in Salt Lake City.
For updates, visit The Nerd Store website, Facebook, or Instagram pages.