Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Patrick.
Hi Jeff, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Comic books have always played a huge role in my life. I grew up in rural Vinton County and was given my first comics at age three. Immediately, I became fascinated with the colorful characters and stories but didn’t start collecting them in earnest at about age ten. Fast forward to a six-year career in small market radio, during which I decided to start selling comics as a part-time side-business. Post-radio, I moved to Columbus in 1989 to go to work for the library system. At that time, I worked part-time at a now-defunct comic shop. Following that, I started selling comics through another store, also now no longer in business.
Working with both of those businesses was a tremendous learning experience, in that I learned what *not* to do in a business. The first shop was owned by someone who also had other business ventures and ended up stretching himself too thin and eventually had to give that business up. The second store was very successful, but for various reasons, the owner had to sell the business. I was not in a position at that time to take it over from him, so it was sold to a couple who refused listen to any advice or accept any guidance during the ownership transition. Ultimately, the bills piled up, vendors went unpaid, and they had to close their doors.
In the meantime, I was experiencing extreme and growing dissatisfaction at my full-time job and going through a mid-life crisis. During all this, I found inspiration from a quote I discovered by author J. Michael Straczynski, who was writing the Thor comic at the time, “Avoid the tyranny of the reasonable voice…it will guarantee a complacency of never trying anything adventurous…” In the story in which I had discovered “The tyranny of reasonable voices,” the passage spoke of how mistakes you make can always be worked out. It’s the mistakes you *don’t* make because you do nothing and don’t try that haunt you when you get old, and regret is the real killer. I armed myself with that quote and the lessons I learned from those two previous business situations, made the life-changing decision to open my own business in 2011 and left security and a steady paycheck behind. I started out in a small space, about 600 square feet. By the end of the second year, sales tripled, so I moved to a larger 1,200 square foot space. Business continued to grow by leaps and bounds, and in October 2019, I moved into my current location with 2,800 square feet.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest challenge over the years has been with shipping and distribution of new comics. Up until COVID, Diamond Comic Distribution was the sole distributor of comics in the United States since the mid-1990’s, holding a monopoly on comics distribution. Over the last five years, events occurred in the industry which resulted in distribution of the major publishers’ titles being split between two other distributors, Lunar Distribution and Penguin Random House.
Other challenges have been obtaining collector supplies (comic bags, backer boards, comic book storage boxes and other items), due to supply chain issues, and increased costs of the items in this category made from plastic, due to tariffs. All of this seems to have stabilized for the time being.
Staffing was an issue for when everything re-opened after the shutdown. We remained closed on Sundays for about a year after we were permitted to re-open, but we were finally able to bring enough staff on board to go back to being open seven days a week in May of 2021. We now employ a great staff of 1 full-time and 6 part-time team members.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about World’s Greatest Comics,?
We are a full-time business, specializing in the buying and selling vintage comic books. We are known for having the widest and most varied selections of vintage comics in Central Ohio, with an extensive stock of nearly 50,000 comics for sale, new releases each week, as well as related items. We are known for fair pricing, competitive offers for purchasing vintage comic collections, exceptional customer service and a knowledgeable staff.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I like best of the city is the tremendous growth it has experienced in the 36 years I have lived here. There’s really not anything about it I don’t like.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.wgcomics.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WGComics
Image Credits
Eileen Patrick, Jeff Patrick
