In May, Big Fun will celebrate five years in the Short North. Located at 672 N. High St., the toy shop carries a variety of comics, toys, and novelties.
Owner Jason Williams has been a comic collector his whole life, and has been in the business for over ten years. Prior to opening Big Fun Columbus, he partnered with the owner of Big Fun Cleveland, and he owned a different toy shop for two and a half years before selling it. When looking for a place to open Big Fun, he landed in the Short North because of Gallery Hop. He loved the atmosphere and community of the area and decided it was the perfect place to launch Big Fun Columbus.
Five years later, the shop is bursting at the seams with inventory. Comics, figures, board games, gag gifts, novelties, candies, greeting cards, and magnets are among the selection in the shop. Williams says the shop’s biggest selling item is usually action figures for whatever movie is currently popular. There is a massive selection of Star Wars, Marvel, and DC characters in figures, comics, and posters.
Because of the massive inventory, Big Fun doesn’t keep an inventory list on line. However, if customers are looking for a specific item they can call the shop to see if it’s available. Additionally, customers looking to sell back their own items should call to see what is most needed at the moment. 75 percent of Big Fun’s inventory comes from customers selling items to the shop.
This year, Williams and his crew at Big Fun will be celebrating their fifth anniversary with a party on Saturday, May 26. Customers will get 25 percent off their purchase if they know the secret word of the day, and Captain Captain of the kids rock band the Shazzbots will be performing.
For more information, visit www.bigfuncolumbus.com.
All photos by Randi Walle.
