Comics:

Continued from Page 8

The shop’s niche product offerings and loyal community kept the business growing. But in 2017, Diehl said a fire had destroyed $300,000 in inventory in the shop’s back room at a previous location.

After recouping losses from the fire, the shop closed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Diehl said he had no intentions of reopening.

“Then we saw a void in the community that said they wanted the store here, somebody’s store, so I looked at it again,” Diehl said. “We started the same way again over here. We started off a little smaller space to see what the community would bear, and it was just huge.”

Moving forward, Diehl said he plans to dedicate the back wall of the shop to anime, manga and Japanese pop culture. He also hopes to expand the store’s selection of T-shirts.

Now, the shop has four employees, and its success has enabled Diehl to open its dedicated space for games.

“We’re trying to make this the one-stop nerd shop,” Diehl said.

Kapow Comics is located in Suite 108 at 540 Lake Center Parkway in Cumming. The shop is open from 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. SundayThursday and from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.