This is probably going to be the longest post in this series, so let's get down to business. This post covers the northern portion of west Pike county. Basically, I'm going down US 23 from the Floy county line to the north end of Pikeville this week. Black = closed. Red = open, no comics. Blue = open with comics. Check = actually bought at least one comic there once. Comments include additional locations that I'm unsure of. Here is this week's list.
- Food City, Coal Run, ✓: We would alternate this Food City with the one actually in Pikeville, but sometimes we would go to both the same trip. It was a little further out, but it was a little bigger and with a slightly larger selection of products, although its bakery was not as great. As such, I didn't get too many magazines here. The only times I remember getting comics there was when my regular store was having one of its many disruptions. Even after I opened my store in the same center as the Pikeville location, I would still travel to this one every few weeks, as it frequently got in new products before the other one. Unfortunately, the company felt that this site wasn't getting as many customers as it should, and they closed this site and built a new, smaller one at Shelbiana. I shop at it about twice a week, but it just isn't the same. (I'll talk more about that one next week.) The site is now a Big Sandy Superstore. I got a my current television there.
- Rite-Aid (currently Walgreens), Coal Run, ✓: I didn't really stop in this store that often. However, this was one of the places I would stop at in the early 90s when I was having problems finding comics as my usual store. It stopped having comics many years before it became a Walgreens. I haven't been in there since the conversion, so I have no idea if it even has magazines any more. As I was creating this list, I think I confused/conflated this store with another one somewhere else, one where I saw comics, but didn't purchase any. I'm thinking Letcher county or Virginia, but I honestly can't be entirely sure. I decided to mention it anyway. [Next to the Rite-Aid was a Kroger. I know that they had a descent magazine section, but I don't remember if they had comics. Maybe for a brief period in the late 70s or early 80s, right when I was transitioning to superheroes. Not much of a bakery section, but it did have some unique products otherwise. After it closed, part of it became a Save-a-Lot. Also, there was a department store nearby. When it was a Murphy Mart (?), I know I got toys and activity books, but I can't remember comics. After in became Ames, I still got toys, maybe a magazine, but I don't remember comics. To be honest, I only remember it being Ames after I saw an online article about how the store is trying to make a comeback with over 500 possible locations. After it closed, the space became a JCPenny and, after another store closed, an Ace Hardware.]
- Watson's, Coal Run, ✓: I had a lot of firsts here. I got my first ever record, "Rubber Ducky," while the store still had a music section. I got my first bag of Jelly Belly jelly-beans here, back when they still had a small confectionary section. I also got plenty of toys here, including my first deluxe comic books, decades before they were more common. While Watson's toy section never really had comics, maybe some collector packs, they did have a few activity books and such. Once, I discovered these high end Disney comics with card-stock covers, brighter colors, and a slightly higher page count than normal. Whitman, at what would be the tail-end of its publishing prime, was experimenting with these newer printing techniques, as a means of attracting customers. I got all six of the first wave, and three of the second wave of comics. (My mom didn't want to spend so much on titles she didn't like.) Whitman would soon stop publishing comics entirely, but I was able to have this last big hurrah with Disney comics. (While higher page counts never caught on, almost all comics now use this full-color printing style, and many titles use card-stock covers as either standard or as a special incentive, adding a dollar to the price.) When the store became Peeble's, the toy section disappeared, but I was old enough to not get toys anymore, so that. The clothing selection also changed, and I didn't go there as much. I stopped going when in became Goody's, and then Gordman's. The store chain finally went out of business. The site had been going renovation for much of the time since. [There is a gaming/comics/collectible store in the center, but I have never been there, even though I know the owner. The store's hours are later than mine, so it is hard for me to go out there. However, I wanted to be thorough, as I have seen comics on their Facebook posts that I sometimes get.]
- Readmore Book Store, Coal Run, ✓: By the time this location opened, I was already getting most of my comics through my regular comic store. I still got a few here, mostly those titles not on my pull list. I also got way more books and magazines here than I did at the Prestonsburg site, including my first ever tarot deck kit. By the early 2000s, I think that they had stopped selling comics. The last time I went, in the fall/winter of 2003/4 or so, I stopped by on my way to Prestonsburg and picked up the anniversary issue of a 'magazine' that I got on occasion. (I haven't gotten an issue of it since, due to the difficulty of finding and purchasing it.) The store closed soon after.
- Magic Mart, Coal Run (final location), ✓: I rarely went to Magic Mart when it was at its original location. It was just so hard to get to. I know I got a toy or two there. Maybe it had comics, at least collector packs. I can't remember. However, it definitely did went it moved. I do believe I got at least one there before the comic book store opened. I also got a bunch of magazine, but with two other stores nearby, that wasn't as frequent. I also started my love of school supplies, specifically mechanical pencils, here, shopping every year for new ones. After I finished school, I didn't shop here as often, although I got the table and chairs for my store here. By then, they had stopped selling comics, I think. Maybe they still had some Archie digests. Anyway, I did try to stop a few times per year. On the last time I went, they had gotten rid of the magazine section. The school supplies seemed boring, as did most of the other sections that I used to like the most. The chain closed a few years later. In a strange coincidence, Big Lots took over the site, just like they did with Magic Mart's original location.
- Unnamed Hobby/Comic store #2, near Magic Mart, Coal Run, ✓: Why is this number two? Because this is either the second such store to open in the area, or it is the second location for the next entry. Since I couldn't remember the names of either spot, I am giving them separate entries, as they also had different vibes. I stopped in during the difficult period when I was changing comic book store. I only stopped once, but I got on one of my first comic book catalogs here, allowing me to know what was coming out three months in advance. I think it closed after a few months or so.
- Unnamed Hobby/Comic store #1, near K-Mart, Coal Run, ✓: See above. This location had a smaller comic book section compared to this earlier section, but it was neater overall, and less parking. Both stores focused more on hobbies than comics. Don't know what happened to either one after I finally had a permanent comic source. [K-Mart was not a frequent stop when I was a kid. I know I got an activity book, one of those word find series that was everywhere back then. Maybe some toys. Maybe they had collector packs, can't be sure. I am almost positive that they didn't have individual issues, but I could be wrong. I remember getting magazines there in the mid 90s, but by the 2010s they were down to just a few around the registers. I still stopped there a few times a year to pick up products I couldn't find elsewhere. It was the oldest, but last of the local K-Marts to close, even though it still was getting a lot of business. I still have trouble finding replacements for all of the products I can no longer find. A Rural King went into the spot. I haven't been in it, but my mom has. It was near Easter, and she was scared off by the chick display. She hasn't been in since.]
- Walmart, current location, Pikeville, ✓: While I remember getting magazines at the original Coal Run location of Walmart, I don't recall comic books. I may be wrong, but this entry focuses on the current location. As I mentioned last week with the P-burg location, DC and Walmart partnered on some exclusive giant comic books. While I got the first ones there, I got the majority of them here. When the original giants stopped in 2020, the partnership continued with some collector packs with exclusive mini-posters. Mostly, the titles were DC overprints that they had committed to before the lockdowns started, and DC needed a way to get of them. Once they were sold, the deals ended. Walmart already had collector packs of comic books, and they still have some today. Mostly Marvels, which I wouldn't have, but Walmart still has comics. They even had a display with this weird independent title for a while. This Walmart used to have a large magazine section, but it has steadily shrank from six racks, to four, to the current two after the last major remodel. About a quarter of the titles are special editions, known as bookazines. The mags are crowded into a small corner of the book section in the back, and they could have been spread out much better.
- Winn-Dixie, Pikeville, ✓: I always liked Winn-Dixie. Many of the interior aisles had gaps in the middle so one could move without having to go up and down so much. They had products that other stores didn't have. They also had a small magazine section with some comics. I don't think I got many here, but I think I got at least one here. I also got my first body-building mag here, although it wasn't exactly that good and I never got that one again. I was sad when the store closed in the late 90s or so. I couldn't go in the last time, as I didn't want to see the emptying shelves. The Pikeville Food City would later move in, and I will mention more about it next week.
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