ATOMIC BOOKS TO REOPEN IN BALTIMORE
Atomic Books
ATOMIC BOOKS TO REOPEN IN BALTIMORE
Okay, some of you may have heard rumors by now, some of you may not, so
here's the official info.
This spring, ATOMIC BOOKS, Baltimore's best and only alternative
comic/zine/lit store will reopen, with new ownership, in a new location,
with the same great "literary finds for mutated minds."
WHEN: This Spring. (Keep reading the MobTown Shank for more details)
WHERE: The Avenue in Hampden, Baltimore, MD. WHO: Wunderpants
Productions, Inc
The following is pretty much the "WHY" and "HOW:"
In the Fall of last year, SCOTT HUFFINES, the owner/operator of ATOMIC
BOOKS announced that the store was going out of business.
This brought much lamenting on the part of its patrons who had been
getting their zines and comix there for almost a decade.
That included me (BENN RAY) and RACHEL WHANG, who are very much into
zines, comix, and other weird reading. To us, ATOMIC BOOKS was a defining
quality of Baltimore. In a city where sanitized chain stores are popping
up wherever gentrification and revitalization takes place, a store like
ATOMIC BOOKS adds character to the city. Sure the Orioles may look sucky
this year. Sure there hasn't been an episode of HOMICIDE filmed here in a
few years. But at least Baltimore has ATOMIC BOOKS. Well, that's what we
always felt, until December.
In December, ATOMIC BOOKS closed its doors, seemingly forever.
It was then that RACHEL WHANG and I, the owners of WUNDERPANTS
PRODUCTIONS, INC., the same people who bring you the email zine THE
MOBTOWN SHANK, and the print zine DAYBOOK approached SCOTT about keeping
ATOMIC BOOKS open through a partnership.
WUNDERPANTS PRODUCTIONS was not alone in approaching SCOTT. In fact,
several other people had approached SCOTT about the very same subject.
According to SCOTT, he went with us because, "BENN and RACHEL approached
me with a plan that would reopen the store as the same ATOMIC BOOKS you
know and love. I had plenty of other offers, but it was almost like a
vulture attack, folks wanting to pick at the juicy morsels and leave a
withered corpse. BENN and RACHEL offered to take over the whole shebang
and breathe some life back into it. Out of all the people who approached
me, they were the only ones I trusted."
Due to tax problems (you can thank your local government's taxation
policies on small businesses), an outright partnership was out of the
question. So RACHEL and I incorporated WUNDERPANTS PRODUCTIONS, and
bought all of the backstock, fixtures, etc. from SCOTT.
The result is that ATOMIC BOOKS will reopen this Spring in Hampden. For
those of you not in the know, Hampden is located in beautiful, sunny,
Baltimore, MD.
The way ATOMIC BOOKS will function is like this:
WUNDERPANTS PRODUCTIONS will take over the store, with RACHEL running the
shop on a day-to-day basis. BENN will work weekends and fill in when he
can. SCOTT will still be doing the ATOMIC BOOKS website
(www.atomicbooks.com) and he will also be working in the shop on
weekends, which means there will be two lardasses (BENN & SCOTT) loafing
around the store on the weekends, downloading porn and spying on the
webcam.
SARAH, who previously could be seen working behind the counter at ATOMIC
BOOKS on a day to day basis has decided to finish up her college degree
in Criminology, and will be attending classes full time at the University
of Maryland.
What does this mean for those who like to shop at ATOMIC BOOKS?
It means more of the same great selection of freaky stuff to read. It
means a convenient location.
For those of you who missed ATOMIC BOOKS, it willl soon be back. You will
once again have a place where you can find zines, comix, and books that
most other stores refuse to carry. You know, the GOOD stuff.
So, keep checking the MobTown Shank for more details, like the exact date
of the reopening, the time of the Grand Opening party, and when the
Atomic Books online catalog will be taking orders again.
We hope you are all as excited as we are by this news, and we look
forward to seeing your face ON A REGULAR BASIS at the new ATOMIC BOOKS in
Hampden.
For more information email:
Benn Ray: be...@atomicbooks.com
Rachel Whang: rac...@atomicbooks.com
Scott Huffines: sc...@atomicbooks.com
If you have a zine or other consignment items you are interested in
having ATOMIC BOOKS carry, email Rachel directly at:
rac...@atomicbooks.com
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That is all.
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BEST OF BALTIMORE 2000--Baltimore's CityPaper.
BEST OF BALTIMORE 2000--Baltimore Magazine.
The MobTown Shank is a WunderPants Production. Copyright 2001.
SUBSCRIBE: To subscribe to The MobTown Shank, e-mail
MobTow...@hotmail.com and say "I want a piece of The Shank." To stop
it, e-mail and say "get me off The Shank."
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Atomic Books
"Literary Finds for Mutated Minds"
1100 W 36th St, Baltimore MD 21211
www.atomicbooks.com