Mon May 5, 2008 4:51PM5 comments ›
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Martha Thomases
Wizard Entertainment HQ For Sale: Comics Not Included
Got $4 million?
To be filed under "Talk Amongst Yourselves," we were recently sent a link to a Century 21 ad for a property located in Congers, NY, that piqued our interest. Apparently, the office of Wizard Entertainment, publisher of Wizard Magazine
According to the ad, the owners of the property (Wizard Entertainment) are looking for $4 million in exchange for the 35,000 square-foot property. Although we're not sure what to infer about this aspect of the posting:
Owner would prefer to deliver building vacant but would be agreeable to a lease back 60-100% of office/warehous [sic] space.
When asked for comment on the posting, a representative of Wizard identified only as "Ed" said that the publisher was simply "checking our business options."
Additionally, when asked about the company's plans should the building find a new owner, the Wizard representative responded, "We may not go anywhere. We may sell the building and stay as a tenant. We may sell the building and move across the street."
Neither Century 21 nor representatives at Wizard would offer any further comment on the sale or its implications for the publisher.
What we really want to know, though, is whether the pricetag includes that warehouse full of comics seen in the ad. Maybe there are a few good issues of Captain America
Jump to comments (5) 
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Comments (5)
Anonymous (5:58 PM on Mon May 5, 2008)
Didn't Rich Johnston report they had halfamillion in debt last year? Got to pay their credit cards!!! LOL
Anonymous (7:53 PM on Mon May 5, 2008)
i smell crossgen
Alan Coil (12:25 PM on Tue May 6, 2008)
Just looking at that one picture tells a big story. You don't need a building 20 feet tall (or taller) if your product is stored on pallets. This height also affects heating costs. Notice that the guy is wearing short sleeves. Either this picture was taken in summer, or they are keeping the building way too warm. Storing product on pallets is cheaper than using shelves, but it is also a space waster. Notice that there are 4 truck delivery doors. I can't imagine they would need that many; 2 maybe.
From just that one picture, I can see many inefficiencies that are wasting money. I'd let Wizard hire me to help them with their inefficiency, but I understand they don't listen to their employees anyway, so why waste my time?
Richard Pachter (1:53 PM on Tue May 6, 2008)
Original reporting!
Way to go, Marfa.
You go, woman!!
Vinnie Bartilucci (2:21 PM on Tue May 6, 2008)
Wizard was just starting out when I was running Comicfest; I even wrote for a few early issues. I got the job running the show at the suggestion of Wizard's then EIC Patrick Daniel O'Neill. Indeed, Gareb Shamus and my boss David Greenhill knew each other, and their offices were not terribly far from each other. After the show, Gareb tried to buy the Comicfest name from David, and when that fell through, he just bought the Chicago Comiccon from Gary Colabuono (I know I spelled that wrong) a year or two later.
While I'm not dissatisfied with my life as it stands, I do occasionally wonder how different it would have been if I'd stayed in the industry and taken Gary's offer to become his marketing manager, a position later filled by Larry Marder. I'd probably be a lot hungrier, and more nervous.