Local Businessman, Patch Blogger puts Childhood Comic Book Collection up for Sale to Support Family Business

As a child growing up in West Seattle in the '50s and '60s, John Locatelli remembers his mother coming home every week with a new comic book she'd pick up from People's Drug Store.

His favorite was the Uncle Scrooge series, he said, because they featured real places. He was also partial to Donald Duck.

But whatever his mother brought home, Locatelli remembers the two of them, along with his brother, pored over them at the dinner table.

"I had a 'Leave it to Beaver' childhood," he said. "But at the dinner table, we never talked--we read comics. ... I don't remember what my father did."

Locatelli, a who also runs with his family, said he and his brother took great care of their belongings, which included their comics, when they were children. Because of this, many of the books they kept into adulthood remain in remarkably good condition.

It was particularly bittersweet, then, for Locatelli's wife, Helen, when her husband decided to start putting his collection up for sale--in large part to support the family business as they continue to weather the current economy.

"I do hate to see them go," she said.

John said he had already tried to put his collection for sale online and made some sales on Craigslist, but the time and energy it took to photograph each comic as well as fees associated with using auction sites like eBay weren't worth it.

The next best thing was to bring them into the store, which aside from the personal aspect of it, suits Helen's vision for the business perfectly. "If we could afford it, I'd go vintage throughout the store," she said.

Currently, Young's is a combination floral and gift shop. The Locatellis, who took over the business in 2008, estimate about 70 percent of their business comes from floral sales and 30 percent from the gifts, which include assorted ornaments, figurines and collectibles. They also carry some of the inventory that previously resided at , which closed about a year ago. 

John, who was a climate scientist at the University of Washington in his first career, said business has been flat in comparison to last year, but both years have been far from ideal. Nonetheless, the family went into business together and is doing what it can to "hang in there until it [the economy] turns around" in Enumclaw.

Visitors can spot the special holiday editions of various comics in John's collection in the store's interactive Christmas window display. And more sit on a bookcase on the right once they enter the store. In all, roughly 80 percent of John's collection is now up for grabs. The family went through and kept a select few for themselves, he said.

In all, John estimates the entire collection could be valued at up to $7,000 based on assessments of publication date, the series itself and condition. The comics for sale range from $1 to $120 and include Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Little Lulu and assorted Disney comics.

He's not expecting to actually fetch that pricetag even if he did sell his entire collection, he said, but everything helps. In these current times, "you've got to do what you've got to do."