
Restoring Jobs and Building a Future
Donation protected
THE FLOOD THAT ALMOST KILLED A DREAM
In 2004 Hurricane Ivan dumped 4 feet of water into my small retail hobby shop and kicked off a series of events that eventually forced me to close. The pain of this tragedy impacted every facet of my life: financial devastation, job loss, depression. Many years later, while still recovering, I began to rebuild. Thanks to my supportive wife (who has had some tragedy of her own) I now have an opportunity to restore much of what I had lost and save the jobs of others in the process. All I need is a little help from you!
HISTORY
Adventurer's Realm was a small comic book and gaming store in Bethlehem, PA. Local community hobbyists could find their favorite collectible items and play their favorite games seven days a week. Products included comic books from major publishers like Marvel & DC with Batman and Spider-Man, collectible card games like Magic: the Gathering, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, and tabletop games like Warhammer and Dungeons & Dragons among many others.
WHAT FUN WE HAD
Our regular customer base grew quickly, and our comic book reserve system brought regulars into the store every week. We had Friday night Magic: the Gathering draft tournaments with as many as 40 players at a time. Regular gaming events were held in our Game Room where customers could meet each other and enjoy their favorite hobbies. To many of you it was Nerd Paradise and the business, albeit in its infancy and still small, was doing gangbusters and growing rapidly until...
FIGHTING TO SURVIVE
I spent the weekend cleaning mud and debris, ripping out and replacing carpets, shelving and fixtures, and was ready to re-open the store only to discover the township shut the road in front of our shopping center to repair the street which had sustained major damage in the flood. I was open but my customers couldn't get to me.
BUT WAIT, IT GETS WORSE
While I was still struggling to open, a couple of local guys and former customers, having seen how successful Adventurer's Realm was, decided to open a store exactly like it not even a half mile down the road. They proceeded to lure my customers away from me at the worst possible time. I was finally able to reopen, but the resulting damage was done. It seemed like the whole world was working against me and after a long and emotional struggle I was forced to close Adventurer’s Realm, seemingly forever. Shortly thereafter I fell into a deep depression and I felt like my life was over.
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FLASH FORWARD TO 2012
After many years of treatment and coming to terms with what had happened I began rebuilding my life. I returned to my career in advertising, volunteered with a local community theater, and eventually met and married my wife. I began learning about e-commerce and the opportunities that exist for selling so in 2012 Adventurer's Realm was reborn online (because you can't drown the internet)!
SLOWLY REBUILDING
I started selling off pieces of my own collection first with an eBay store and eventually expanded to Facebook and a stand-alone e-commerce website of my own. I felt like I was selling my own bones. My knowledge grew and Social Media became the new method of offering Adventurer's Realm to hobbyists. Eventually the e-commerce site was moved to a community webstore and can be found today at www.AdventurersRealm.com .
THE AGE OF COVID
Most recently my wife and I have faced the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has forced everyone in the world to face. In our case, my wife's job provided access to health insurance for us both, most critically for her. Several years ago she suffered a brain aneurysm and we almost lost her. Thankfully her insurance covered her care and today she is healthy and full of gratitude. Her continued insurance coverage is essential, so when she was laid off in July we needed a plan to keep moving forward.
AN UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY
In recent years I have reconnected with a comic book store and its manager that I have known for about 30 years. As our world began reopening after our state's mandatory quarantine, the manager alerted me to the fact that the owner has decided to retire and sell his store. After reviewing the opportunity with my wife and our accountant, we came to agree that this is one of those occasions where something comes along that you can't just pass up! However, the current owner has already taken steps to close the store and retire on November 30th, 2020! TIME IS URGENT!
YOUR HEROIC CONTRIBUTION
will be used to fund the $10,000 initial down payment on an already arranged loan for the purchase of the store. In addition, approximately $6-8,000 will fund the deposit needed to secure a new lease. Remaining funds will provide a small reserve for any surprise initial costs that may arise. I have already raised 75% of these funds and only need to raise about $5,000 more to reach my goal! Can't you please help?
THE RESULT OF YOUR CONTRIBUTION
will be the salvation of the jobs of the store manager and staff members who depend on their regular paychecks during these uncertain times. It will preserve a retail store that has been serving its community for 35 years. It will restore the goals and dreams of those that for years patronized, worked at, and benefited from this shop’s existence. Most of all, it will restore a piece of me that I had thought long lost.
A WORD ABOUT ME
As a collector and enthusiast since childhood I visited many stores and aspired to one day own one. My store in PA was a fulfilling attainment of that goal, and the grief over the loss of it was devastating and affected all portions of my life. I almost gave up forever. Now I have an unexpected opportunity to help Adventurer's Realm rise from the ashes (or the mud in this case)!
All I need is your help to get started! Won't you please consider a contribution, no matter how small, towards preserving this store, the lives it supports, and my own lifelong dream?
Thank you in advance for your consideration and generosity!
I hope to one day see you in the Realm, whatever your Adventure may be...!
Ken at Adventurer's Realm
Fundraising team (2)
Kenneth Paris
Organizer
Franklin Township, NJ
Pamela Paris
Team member