Oswego Revival Grant: Oswego Comic Shop Offered Aid Amid New Ownership

OSWEGO – In late May, Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow announced that 33 local businesses received funding from the COVID-19 Revival Grant Program totaling $225,000.

Oswego County Today will feature these businesses who were offered a chance to rebuild after COVID-19 severely impacted small businesses across the nation. The Oswego Comic Shop was one business that received funds from the grant, obtaining $3,000 to rebuild after a year that saw extremely slow traffic. 

It was quite a whirlwind for current owner, Evan Coy, who took over as the new owner right before Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down non-essential businesses in March of 2020. Taking ownership of a business for the first time is never an easy task, but the shutdown certainly made things that much tougher for Coy who said he lost roughly $40,000 in business during the shutdown.

“Being new to being a small business owner, that was not the plan I had anticipated,” Coy said. “We were shut down for I think six to eight weeks … so [that was] not a great way to get involved in a new small business venture.”

When regulations were lifted heading into last summer, the comic shop did not see immediate success or normal business return. While customers may have wanted to return, many were nervous and only wanted to shop in a limited manner, focusing on necessities in order to “limit their exposure to people,” as Coy said. Even with curbside pickup, home delivery and other options, the shop did not see its old regulars until well into 2021.

“It was a very slow rebuild,” Coy said. “It was quite a while for [us to] return to what I would determine is our normal business, and really even up until the beginning of this year, once we got past January, February we were seeing regulars that weren’t in our store for a very long time.”

Throughout the pandemic, the City of Oswego offered many opportunities for small businesses to raise sales. Coy described the promotion, “Blizzard Bucks,” which was where one would spend $25 at a local business and then get another $25 gift certificate from the city to spend at another store. Coy called it a “great way” to get free money into the hands of consumers and back to small businesses. 

As for the Revival Grant, the Oswego Comic Shop wants to focus on some improvements it would have made during the year had it had its typical amount of sales. These are primarily aesthetic-based, according to Coy. Beyond that, however, Coy hopes to bring in a new inventory of items that people might be searching for.

“You can say all the things you want to say [on] being there for small businesses, but the city continues to, through their actions, show how committed they were,” Coy said. “I was offered an opportunity to take an interest-free loan which turned into a grant, and now the second round of grants which [brings a little bit of money] into the shop and continue [the shop] into the future.”

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