Ogre’s Grove in Milton to close Nov. 29

After nine years in business, Ogre’s Grove on Union Street in Milton is set to close with a two-day farewell event Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and 29.

Founder Justin “Ogre” Sinnott said, “It’s very bittersweet. This year has just been a nightmare with my health. The industry itself is a hard one. The fact that we went nine years is incredible. Most comic book shops don’t last six months.”

Sinnott said the plan is to do Ocean City Comic Con Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 13 and 14, and then revert back to a subscriber-based model, which is how the business started. He said he intends to beef up the company website to do either personal delivery or mail order. 

“We won’t be carrying as many extra things. There will be a lot of back issues. There’s always going to be a store capacity,” Sinnott said. 

He said the decision to close the brick-and-mortar shop came about over time, with Sinnott and family members having health problems, making it a struggle to do day-to-day operations.

“Everything is coming down to the timing and the opportunity, and it's right,” Sinnott said. 

He said the main thing he’ll miss about the store is things like Free Comic Book Day and seeing young kids get their first book. 

Part of the closing of the shop is selling the house as well. Sinnott said the house is under contract, but he could not say much about the buyer other than it is a local purchaser.

“Once we get through December, then I’ll have a month of getting this delivery service under control. And then in January, we’ll probably start the real work of building the website correctly,” he said. 

As for what people can expect for the final days of Ogre’s Grove, Sinnott said, “It’s our last two days, [so] there’s going to be a bit of a party atmosphere. I’m not going to book any artists. That’s for the opening, not necessarily the closing. But I do expect a lot of people to be in and out. Everything that’s not nailed down.”