Chapel Hill Comics turns a page

After 20 years with the store, owner Andrew Neal has decided to sell Chapel Hill Comics and see what else life has in store for him.

The comics store, owned by Neal for 11 years, is a regular fixture at 316 W. Franklin St.

“I’m excited for the store - that it’s going to have somebody come in who hasn’t been doing this for 20 years,” Neal said.

“I think I could keep it going just like it is for a long time, but I think I’ve probably pushed it uphill as far as I can.”

He said he still enjoys the materials he sells, but the grind of retail has worn him down.

“He’s a fantastic boss,” store manager Jason Adams said. “He’s really knowledgeable and really approachable.”

Neal was a regular customer when he was hired in 1994. He worked at the store for nine years before buying it.

“It wasn’t a lifelong desire to own a comic book shop, although there was a lifelong interest in comics,” Neal said. “Because I got a job at the shop, I found out I was pretty good at selling them.”

When previous owner Dan Breen decided to retire, he approached Neal about purchasing the store.

“I was 28, not knowing what to do with myself, when the opportunity to buy the store showed up,” Neal said.

“I grew up basically as I figured out how to run the business. I’ve gotten to the point now where the business is a mature business, and I’m an actual honest-to-goodness grown man, as opposed to just a technically grown man.”

When it opened, the store was called Foundation Bookstore, named after a trilogy of science fiction books by Isaac Asimov. Neal said after he took over, the reference was less well-known, so he decided to change it to something simpler — Chapel Hill Comics.

Neal said he was proud to sell a profitable store and is unsure what the future holds.

“I’m kind of excited, honestly, to not know what I’m doing because I’ve know exactly what I was doing for so many years at this point,” he said.

Neal decided to sell the store to Ryan Kulikowski, who will be its fourth owner.

“I follow my gut a lot,” Neal said. “This is the first guy who’s ever approached me who my gut told me, ‘Hey this might be real.’”

Kulikowski is a native of the Chicago suburbs and worked as a teacher for the past 11 years. He said he and his wife have wanted to move to North Carolina for a few years now.

“It was always a someday kind of thing, like someday I should buy a comic store, someday we should move to North Carolina,” he said. “It just so happened that it all worked out.”

Kulikowski worked retail at a music store when he was younger — an experience that led him to want a comic book store.

“I enjoyed talking to customers and talking about music stuff,” he said. “As I grew older I got really into comics and kind of geeky things, and I thought I would be cool to have a comic book store and be able to do the same type of thing with that stuff.”

Kulikowski said once he takes over, he does not want to change the store too much.

“I think I can only add to what they already do,” he said. “I think (Neal) has done a great job building a great store that people really like. I want to keep what he started.”

Contact the desk editor at  city@dailytarheel.com.