GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As store manager Leah Schreiber puts it, Vault of Midnight is a store that is “full of nothing that you really need, but everything that you want.”
That would be comics, graphic novels, locally produced stories and magazines, puzzles, games, and a lot of items you won’t find in a typical store.
During the holidays, that can be a problem if you’re shopping for someone into comics or anime or superheroes but you are not.
“If you feel comfortable, you can let us guide you through,” says Schreiber, “but there's also no shame in just getting a gift card.”
SEE MORE: We're Open for the Holidays West Michigan
“What's really beautiful about our staff is that each of us have our own set of interests, too. So we're all sort of experts in our own sort of way. We can provide recommendations to just about anyone under the sun, and we love to do it.”
That’s one way to shop in Vault of Midnight and time, but the pandemic has forced the store to offer more options while observing in-person restrictions. They are limiting the number of customers to eight people at any given time.
A few months ago, the store created a website where you can shop, or choose one of several options: “You could think of any sort of way that you want to shop, and we would find a way to make it work,” notes Schreiber. “If you want to send us an email of your books that you're looking for, like your dream wish list, we can do that way. Call us on the phone, do it that way. Come right up to the door, you can talk to someone without physically entering the store.”
Vault of Midnight is at 95A Monroe Center St. NW in downtown Grand Rapids, plus stores in Ann Arbor and Detroit.
SEE MORE: MAP: Find stores in West Michigan for holiday shopping
More local comic book shops:
Argos Book Shop, Grand Rapids
Buy Moore Toys & Comics, Rockford
Excelsior Games & Comics, Greenville
Goldmine Comics & Cards, Wyoming
Lange's Comics and Collectibles, Muskegon
Rocket Comics, Kalamazoo
Rookies Sportscards Plus, Lowell
Tardy’s Collectors Corner, Grand Rapids
The Comic Signal, Plainfield
The Outer Limits, Wyoming