If you click on the above link it will tell you it’s temporarily closed, but it was very much open when we were there (I think the website might be a villain-diversion-tactic). I believe this is the second store opened under the guidance of writer Dave Eggers (whom I adore). The first is a store in San Francisco that sells pirate supplies.
At Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co (which is run entirely by an amazing team of volunteers) you can: Test out capes in their wind machine;
Purchase a secret identity kit, superhero capes, tights, belts, anti-bug-splatter visors, various not-very-harmful weaponry, night vision goggles, spying devices, plus cans of Doom, Gloom, Intelligence, Matter and Anti-Matter. There are also posters on stopping sidekick abuse.
When you make your purchases you must read the superhero vow out loud (no exceptions) in front of the entire store – and you must include your superhero name.
But best of all … behind a secret door is a room filled with desks, chairs and books. This is the real purpose behind this delightful store. Well, let me explain it in their own words:
“826NYC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With this in mind we provide drop-in tutoring, field trips, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. All of our free programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice.”
If I lived there, I would volunteer. Oh, how I would love to start a chapter in Vancouver. I believe you must have your own storefront idea, and I don’t know if Canadian laws would allow something like this … but it’s worth investigating.
For the record, I bought a collection of students’ writings at the Superhero Supply Store (along with a tin of Doom, and a symbiote for my son). It is some of the funniest, most poignant writing I have ever read.
