Silver Sprocket’s SF space, final Saturday sale 4/4/26, memberships, help needed, & next steps
4/2/2026
Dear Sprocket Friends,
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I am beaming with gratitude from all the kind words and everyone who came out for our last days. I’m so proud of the community we’ve all built together and its lasting resilience. Hearing from so many people who had never made a comic before and now have art careers thanks to the shop brought me to tears more times than I can count. I’m so happy for all we’ve been able to do together.
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Final Saturday: 4/4/26
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The Sprocket shop will open one more time this Saturday April 4th, 1pm to 7pm with a fresh presentation of prints, shirts, along with remaining books and the rest.
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Everything will still be 30% off.
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Going for chill vibes and moving the things that are harder to sell online, and recouping some funds while continuing to pay artists their commissions.
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**CALL FOR HELP:
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1/2: Final sale:
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IRL friends, we’d appreciate getting some helpers to run checkout for the Saturday sale. The response to our last days was amazing and I’d like to avoid lines around the shop and have this be a more chill and relaxed experience. Shoot me a text.
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2/2: Moving stock:
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Please let me know your potential availability to help this Sunday or Monday to make a fire-line to help bring everything up from the basement to the main floor and get out of the rented storefront.
If you can help, please email or text - my cellphone: 408-391-2217 and I’ll confirm what it ends up being.
This happened when the shop flooded and works best with handing boxes down a line so we’re not carrying heavy things up and down the stairs.
Ideally this Sunday April 5 (good for staging) between 2pm-5pm and/or Monday April 6 (best for putting on pallets) between 11am and 4pm.
avi@silversprocket.com
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**What’s next for Sprocket in SF? Memberships?
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Membership cards and pins are being produced and will be sent out to all who signed up. Your support is incredibly appreciated regardless of the project ultimately not being successful enough to keep the space going in its previous form.
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This will be more than a keepsake or momento -
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***Continued in comments*** ...

I’m saddened to announce that Silver Sprocket’s San Francisco storefront’s last day of operation will be this Monday March 23rd. 

Everything in the store will be 30% off through our last day.

Please swing by, we`d love to see you at 1018 Valencia one more time.  

Your online orders are deeply appreciated. While we are having this sale in-store only to help clear inventory, you can get 15% off online with code: 15sale

Why so suddenly, and why right now?

The unfortunate reality is that even with the positive response to our membership drive, difficult staff cuts, and every other action we could think of, the store continues to lose money each month.  To offset the drop in sales over the past three years, I have been supporting the store by taking on personal debt.  Personal debt has never been sustainable, and I’m well past the end of the road for what I can take on.

While there were challenges, the store was generally breaking even until 2023.  It must be said that I was running this store from a place of deep passion, but not from experience, or expertise in retail.  While this may have worked out for a business with wider margins, the factors familiar to all of us experiencing a changing San Francisco had an outsize impact.  The drop in foot-traffic, lower sales at all businesses on our part of Valencia Street, fewer tourists, rising expenses, and the general economic uncertainty impacting people’s spending made it impossible for the retail store to sustain itself.

Our Crew

With the store closing, our amazing staff is very suddenly finding themselves out of work. Our managers Josh and Sol, along with part-timers Parker and Chrissy, have been the absolute best collaborators I could have ever hoped for in this undertaking going above and beyond in being dedicated, diligent, hard working, kind, and passionate about all aspects of the operation. Working with them has been an honor and delight. They will be looking for work. Please reach out to josh@silversprocket.com or sol@silversprocket.com to get in touch. 

What’s Next?

[Continued in the comments...] ...

✨ Witch Hazel Wednesday ✨

With more Witch Hazel fan art! 🤭

These are a some extra goodies that we didn`t get to include in the last fan art compilation. And wow! 🤩 You all have done such an amazing job creating and having fun with these characters. Like a crochet noot?! Truly Magical 💖

We can`t wait to see what else you create!! 🪄
💫 crochet noot 1 by @abbey_simmons
💫 crochet noot 2 by @kristinathome on TikTok
Fan art by:
💫 @doyoulikeketchup & @ketchuptattooart
💫 mia_d_shark
💫 @complacentrobot
💫 @abbey_simmons
💫 @endlessfret

Witch Hazel: Variety Hour created by Colton Fox @coltonthefox & Beige Blum @icedtaho, is available online and in stores! Get your copy today! ⚡

#witchhazelcomic #silversprocket #witchhazelwednesday #witchyvibes #fanart ...

Choo-Choo! 🚂 The Sprocket train is coming around with our convention and fair list of 2026! 🤩 ✨ So far at least.... 👀 more to be announced soon~

🌟 Montreal Comic Arts Festival (MCAF) @fbdm_mtl
May 12-17, 2026 @ Saint-Denis Street
Montreal, QC, Canada

🌟 Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) @torontocomics
June 6-7, 2026 @ Mattamy Athletic Centre
50 Carlton St., Toronto, ON M5B 1J2, Canada

🌟 American Library Association Conference (ALA) @americanlibraryassociation
June 25-29, 2026 @ McCormick Place
2301 S Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, IL 60616

🌟 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) @comic_con
July 22-26, 2026 @ San Diego Convention Center
111 Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101

🌟 Small Press Expo (SPX) @spxcomics
Sept 12-13, 2026 @ Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Rd, Rockville, MD 20852

Make sure to come out and say hi, 👋 it`s gonna be a great year!! We`ll provide more details and artist appearances closer to the dates! 🎉

Illustration by a very sleepy Rachel Dukes @mixtapecomics 💖

#silversprocket #indiecomics #smallpresscomics #comicscommunity #conventions ...

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine`s Weekend! 💖💖

Here are a few Witch Hazel Valentine`s cards to send to your loved ones ❤️‍🔥, even if the day has already past 😤. Plus a stinky love potion comic. ✨

Witch Hazel: Variety Hour created by Colton Fox @coltonthefox & Beige Blum @icedtaho, is available online and in stores! Get your copy today! ⚡

#witchhazelcomic #silversprocket #witchyvibes #indiecomics #valentines ...

This has been a winter of hard fortification and new alliances... 💪

🐐📣 We are delighted to announce that Silver Sprocket’s comics and graphic novels will now be distributed to the book trade by Publishers Group West @publishersgroupwest/Ingram @ingram.publisher.services, a local Bay Area team we found to be refreshingly warm and indie-savvy, with reach into all the weirdest bookstores, libraries, and random places that sell zines for some reason. And they happen to have the fewest tangles with gigantic megacorps, which is… nice. 🎉

Silver Sprocket remains fully independent, and is still distributed to comic shops through Lunar and Universal, alongside all of our existing direct, indirect, indie, anarchistic channels, etcetera. ✨

🐐📣 We’re taking a short break from publishing new books for the first half of 2026 to come out farm fresh this summer with new works from Elizabeth Pich @ffffungirl, Hyena Hell @hyenahell, Corinne Halbert @corinnehalbert, Em Hoover @emhooverart, Fredde Lanka @freddelanka, Travis Rommereim @travisrommereim, Andy Warner @andywarnercomics, and a few surprises up our mohair sleeves! ❤️‍🔥

#silversprocket #indiecomics #smallpresscomics #comicscommunity #graphicnovels ...

Good Boy Magazine is the only magazine you need in your life 😌 ✨ and today is the bookiversary of #2 releasing 4 years ago today! 😱

🌟 2022 Ignatz Award Winner for Outstanding Anthology 👀

Includes comics by Benji Nate, Michael Sweater, Alex Krokus, Ashley Robin Franklin, Sam Grinberg, Flower Alligator, Dave Mercier, Bastian Najdek, Steve Thueson, and plenty more! 💥 😆

In turns goofy, action-packed, sardonic, poignant, and irreverent, there’s sure to be something for everyone to enjoy! Each issue is also fully self-contained for maximum satisfaction and readability. A pure joy. Read comics or go to hell. 🔥🔥🔥

#silversprocket #indiecomics #smallpresscomics #comicscommunity #graphicnovels ...

Drawing on Indigenous Taíno culture and the stylings of 20th-century manga, THE CHANGELING by Rhode Island-based tattoo artist Tina Lugo @tina_lugo13 is an engrossing fantasy adventure that follows Luth, a young lycan entering the trials to become Heketi, an elite warrior hand-picked to serve as defender and peacekeeper. But can she outrun her destiny as the Dark Star, fated to bring ruin to her land? 🗡️ 🐺

Get the complete story of Luth and the Dark Star saga with this fantastic CHANGELING bundle! 👀 Includes THE CHANGELING Vol 1, 2, & 3, poster, and sticker-sheet! ✨ ✨

#silversprocket #indiecomics #smallpresscomics #comicscommunity #graphicnovels ...

FANLEE AND SPATZLE MAKE SOMETHING PERFECT by Pseudonym Jones @pseudonymjones released 6 years ago today! 😆 🎉

It collects the slice-of-life comics from 2014 to 2019 of Pseudonym Jones` characters Fanlee and Spätzle.🐻 🐥 These funny and emotional snippets are about a bear and a duck who are best friends, despite having very different approaches to life, relationships, and gender identity.

Follow their journey from the very beginning and watch how they change and grow along the way! ✨

#silversprocket #indiecomics #smallpresscomics #comicscommunity #graphicnovels ...