Newbury Comics
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., 1978 |
| Founder(s) | John Brusger Mike Dreese[1] |
| Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Number of locations | 28 |
| Area served | New England |
| Key people | John Brusger Mike Dreese[2] |
| Industry | Music Comics DVDs Pop Culture |
| Website | [1] |
Newbury Comics is a New England-based music retailer. Newbury Comics began as a comic book vendor on Newbury Street in Boston. It was founded in 1978 by John Brusger Mike Dreese; two MIT students. Over the next few years, the focus of the company changed from comics to music (comics are still sold there in limited amounts). Dreese published also published Boston Rock a music tabloid from 1980-1987 that focused on Punk, New Wave and Indie bands. There are now 27 stores in five states (four in New Hampshire, two in Rhode Island, one in Maine, one in Connecticut, and 19 in Massachusetts).
Newbury Comics is today best known as a vendor of CDs and DVDs, and other pop culture-related goods. Newbury Comics sells LPs, CDs, singles, and DVDs. It also offers comics, posters, T-shirts, trading cards, action figures, buttons, sports merchandise, jewelry, cosmetics, novelties and more. Some locations also sell punk-style clothing.
The chain also has a sister store called Hootenanny which mostly sells punk-style clothing, located one floor below the Newbury Comics in Harvard Square.
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[edit] Notable employees
- Andy Bonner of the Boston band Piebald worked for years at both the Harvard Square and Alewife locations. The band's "King of the Road" includes the lyrics, "Andy went back to school. He got sick of Newbury Comics."
- Valerie Forgione of Mistle Thrush is the company's vice president of merchandising[3]
- Joe Guese, guitarist of the Boston band The Click Five, worked at the flagship Newbury Comics briefly before joining the band
- Rob Hamilton and Chris Pearson of Green Magnet School worked at the Framingham store and the warehouse, respectively, when the band was signed to Sub Pop records.
- Aimee Mann worked at the original Newbury Street location before gaining prominence with her band 'Til Tuesday[3]
- Jon "blast beat king" Syverson, Alexis S.F. Marshall and Samuel Moorehouse Walker of Daughters have either worked at the Providence or n.attleboro Newbury Comics respectively.
- Chris Pupecki (Doomriders, ex-Cast Iron Hike) works at the Natick store.
- Johnny Earl, founder of clothing line Johnny Cupcakes, worked at Newbury Comics, where he would secretly sell shirts out of his car on bathroom breaks.
- Jon Strader, guitarist of the band No Trigger, works at the Shrewsbury, MA location.
[edit] Company logo in popular culture
In the movie Hatchet (2007), star Joel Moore spends much of the film in a blood-spattered Newbury Comics t-shirt. In reaction to this Newbury Comics started selling special Hatchet t-shirts like the one in the movie.
In the opening credits for Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) is seen walking out of the store on Newbury Street.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.cmw.net/cmw2004/spmike_dreese.htm
- ^ http://www.cmw.net/cmw2004/spmike_dreese.htm
- ^ a b Dreese seriously enjoys comics biz, Michael Saunders and Jim Sullivan, Boston Globe, D4, December 5, 2000.
