Maui Comics & Collectibles recently opened at their new location in Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center, following an announcement in October that the store would be closing for good. MC&C had been in their Wakea Avenue location for less than one year when owner Alika Seki accepted the fact that a streak of bad months in business was going to thwart the future of the entire store. He announced it would be closing, and for a couple of months, he thought the closure would be permanent.
Upon news of their closing, customers began expressing their sympathies and sadness over the loss of the popular niche store. One regular customer, an employee at QKC, mentioned the store’s hardship to mall management in passing. Shortly thereafter, Seki was contacted about moving into Queen K.
“We were gonna close down – things were bleak,” Seki told MauiTime. “Then QKC made an offer to help us stay open and move in… If QKC hadn’t stepped in, we would’ve probably ended up closing for good. For two months, we really thought we were done for.”
Seki said the store has been very well received at QKC and they have been fairly busy during their first week at the mall. “We are still working to pay off debts from a terrible 2018 in terms of sales, but things are looking up,” he said. “So the move was definitely a necessity.”
Though the dust from the move has not settled yet, the store is open regular business hours – much to the pleasure of its dedicated legion of customers and fans. Maui Comics & Collectibles is located on the main level in the Sears wing of the mall, in the former Mobi location.
Image courtesy Maui Comics
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