ANGRY CHERRY SCOOPS BEST IRISH COMIC SHOP AWARD FOR SECOND YEAR

By Gary Ferry

THREE local business owners have been celebrating this week after their store retained its title as the best comic shop in Ireland, as voted by its customers.

Angry Cherry, based in Foyle Street, ran away with the public vote hosted by Irishcomicnews.com, and added this year’s title to that won just twelve months ago, their second prestigious award in just over four years of business.

For Pete Crossan, Mickey McGonigle and Martin O’Kane, the news comes as a reward for taking a chance on a dream which became reality back in November 2013.

“I think our strength is that we do try and listen to people,” Crossan told the Derry News.

“I think the difference between us and other shops is that they will buy what they think will sell, whereas we will buy the things that we like. We are fans buying for fans. On top of that, if we don’t sell it, we’ll hunt it down somewhere.

“Honesty goes a long way also. We’re not about ripping people off. We do try and interact with everyone whether they are spending £1 or £50. Every customer deserves a bit of time and we appreciate every customer.”

Describing itself as ‘a forerunner of pop culture in the city, with a wide range of comics, collectables, movie and music merchandise, Angry Cherry has built up a loyal fan base and is going from strength to strength as it enters its fifth year of business.

“It’s about trying to stay current and staying on top of it,” Crossan continued.  “If we don’t have something or if the customer can get it cheaper somewhere else, we’ll tell them, and that honesty is so important. I think that honesty gets you repeat sales. People respect that and they will always come back.

“We are also doing the cheapest comics in the town, and I think that’s important. We’re not in it to buy jet skis and roll around the town, we’re in it because we actually enjoy doing what we do. I would say the customer loyalty is down to the service. Last time I checked we had 121 five-star reviews on Facebook, and there is no one else in the town who has that. Hopefully it’s onwards and upwards from here on. Here’s to another four years.”