Dozens of comics aficionados filled Silver Sprocket’s storefront at 1018 Valencia St. for one last chance to purchase independent zines, graphic novels and comics at the beloved publishing house’s physical space, set to close today following a dip in foot traffic and sales.
Cesar Agustin, a resident of the Peninsula and loyal customer who visits the store about four times a year, learned of the store’s closing last night; the store announced its imminent closure on Instagram, and the Chronicle and others followed with articles. Agustin was devastated.
Agustin said he shares a deep passion for independent comics and for Silver Sprocket with his 21-year-old son, currently vacationing in Brazil.
“I’m so bummed. He’s so bummed,” said Agustin, adding that it was especially disappointing for his son that he couldn’t be there in person on the store’s last day. “I believe this is the best comic book store not only in San Francisco, but the Bay Area.
On Monday afternoon, Agustin had already picked up a couple of requests from his son: “Palestine,” a 1993 graphic novel by Maltese American writer and illustrator Joe Sacco about his first-hand experiences in Gaza and the West Bank, plus another book by Pittsburgh-based cartoonist Rina Ayuyang.
Silver Sprocket started as a publishing company 15 years ago following owner Avi Ehrlich’s previous experience running a record label, also for 15 years.
Avi Ehrlich poses for a photo in front of a mural celebrating LGBTQ+ on a building across from Silver Sprocket. Photo by Oscar Palma.
“None of us want to close,” said Erlich on Monday. “We love what we do so much. We love being part of this community. It was always being run on a break-even level. This isn’t something that’s been putting money into my pocket.”
“It’s been the joy of getting to work with these artists and be a part of this scene.”
The record label was first called Springman Records, but the name later changed to Silver Sprocket after Ehrlich started to volunteer with some friends at a bike repair shop in Sacramento while he was finishing journalism graduate school. He was later one of the founders of the Sacramento bike kitchen.
Ehrlich remembers with a smile wearing jackets reading “BC” for bicycle club as a joking reference to the classic “MC” of motorcycle clubs.
Running the record label, Ehrlich said, demanded staying up late and going to many concerts and bars. After years in the scene, he needed a change.
“If you’re making comics, you’re by yourself drawing. If you read comics, you’re by yourself reading,” said Ehrlich. “So many people love this stuff, but they don’t get to actually meet each other and form communities easily because it’s such a solitary activity.”
Ehrlich had found his next calling: To start publishing.
“I wanted to share resources for this group of people that I saw so much value in, but don’t have those resources,” he said.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence recognized Silver Sprocket this year for its contributions and service to the Queer community. Photo by Oscar Palma.
Ehrlich started small in his bedroom, helping friends get their books out. They would go to conventions where they would split the sales and the cost of the table. Scrappiness also followed the group wherever they went.
The work and the commitment took “sleeping on floors of disgusting punk houses and getting peed on by cats. It was charming, magical and disgusting, but it was amazing.”
Silver Sprocket’s first physical space opened nine years ago in the Upper Haight after Ehrlich’s friends convinced the landlord to let the publishing company use the space if it maintained a “for rent” sign on the window, kept the space clean and paid $2,000 a month.
After two years in the Upper Haight, Silver Sprocket moved to 1018 Valencia St. at Hill Street in 2020 to share the space with One, Two, Three, Four Records, which was run by friends of Ehrlich who weren’t doing too well at the location. The record store closed during the pandemic and Silver Sprocket took over the whole space before the building sold, and the publishing house had to find a new home.
Silver Sprocket found its new storefront just a couple of doors down at 1038 Valencia St. where it’s been for the last five years. Ehrlich said the first few years post-pandemic were good until 2023, when revenue started to plunge. Every year he noticed a dip in sales between 20 to 30 percent.
Ehrlich appears to have fallen victim to a national trend: Forbes and Publishing Weekly reported that sales dropped in 2023 for comics and graphic novels following a peak during the pandemic years while people stayed at home reading. Many major publishers had also started leaving Diamond Comics, a national distributor, after other publishing companies like Penguin and Random House and Simon & Schuster entered the market.
Diamond Comics closed its California warehouse last year, affecting Silver Sprocket’s operations by forcing them to relocate 100 pallets, or 150,000 books, to a new location.
Diamond Comics filed for bankruptcy owing Silver Sprocket $45,000, Ehrlich said.
Silver Sprocket won Eisner and Ignatz awards, prestigious comics prizes, in 2024. It also won the Lambda Literary Award for the LGBTQ+ comic last year for “Lonnie Garcia’s Putty Pygmalion.”
Ehrlich said he had to take on personal debt to cover his business’ expenses with the hopes that the dip in business was only temporary, but it hasn’t been the case. The store also had to lay off three employees last year.
On Tuesday last week, Ehrlich realized he had no money in the bank to make payroll. The sales for the whole month of February had amounted to less than $20,000, less than half of what the store needs to make in a month to break even.
Thousands of people visited Silver Sprocket last weekend as they learned of the store’s closure. Photo by Oscar Palma.
“I can’t ethically, as a business owner, schedule hours for staff if I don’t know that there’s money in the bank to pay them for those hours,” said Ehrlich, adding that he’s working to help the employees sign up for unemployment and get them severance pay.
On Monday afternoon, Kip Ling Bassil sat by the store’s window taking in the last scenes of one of his favorite stores in the Bay Area.
“It’s a real loss,” said Bassil. “Silver Sprocket is the epitome of a third space. An indie mecca that is especially important for the LGBTQ+ community.”
Though the physical space is gone, Silver Sprocket publishing will continue under distributor West/Ingram, and a new release is expected to come out in June.