Sparks native Alex Farside took a significant risk by opening a coffee shop/comic bookstore in Reno before the pandemic. But thanks to his hard work, tenacity, creative marketing, and giving the Reno/Sparks community exactly what they want, his concept did so well that he has now launched another location in Sparks. It’s across from where he went to high school (Farside was also in the first class of Marvin Moss Elementary from kindergarten-sixth grade and went to Mendive before attending Reed High School). Farside then earned a degree in finance from University of Nevada, Reno, with a degree in finance but found that he didn’t want to work on Wall Street or leave the Reno/Sparks area.
“This place is awesome, there’s so much to do here, my friends are here, it’s close to Tahoe,” he smiles.
So Farside got into outside sales and worked for the next 8-9 years in that kind of job. He was out in the field a lot, and constantly visiting coffee shops to charge his laptop, use Wi-Fi, and work. There was never anything on the walls, he noticed, and he thought it might be cool to someday create more of a fun, interesting environment. He was also always into Star Wars, X-Men, and other superheroes/ “comic book things” and thought up a pipe dream to someday put a coffee shop into a comic bookstore.
Meanwhile, Farside found that he didn’t like doing sales and shifted his attention to becoming an air traffic controller. And at that point in his career, he didn’t mind moving to another state to work in this other industry. So, he sold his house, his car, and all his possessions and became intertwined in the yearlong process to get hired and possibly relocate to another part of the country. A wrench was thrown into his plans when towards the end of the long interview process, Farside answered a health question that disqualified him from the position. Without a place to live or a job, Farside moved back in with his parents and thought about what he would do next.
The coffee shop/comic bookstore idea had always been in the back of his mind, so Farside got a job at Starbucks as a barista to learn their processes. While studying finance at UNR, Farside had learned a bit about business as well and put together a plan to launch his own store. He wanted a stage, a bar, and thought up ways to keep it open past 2 or 3 p.m.. He teamed up with his friend Kevin Wilfon (who also grew up in Sparks and went to Beasley Elementary School, then Reed) and approached 32 banks for loans before finding a financial institution in Minnesota that was willing to take them on.
With the financial backing, Coffee N’ Comics was able to open its first store off Moana Lane in Reno in October of 2019. It has a lively and fun environment, delicious coffee, and a $4,000 Giant X-Men comic book encased in glass.
Then covid hit, and Coffee N’ Comics became strapped for cash.
“The pandemic was hard on us; we had to switch to curbside service and eventually had to let all of our employees go and make coffee ourselves,” Farside says. Fortunately, though they never really shut down, pivoting to create stuck-at-home survival kits filled with comic books, a coffee mug, and free drink tickets, and delivering these throughout the Reno/Sparks area. Coincidingly, Farside says he did “wacky social media videos” to generate awareness, like roller skating food and drinks out to cars in the parking lot when people couldn’t go in.
“We did some weird stuff to get through it,” Farside remembers about the two years of the pandemic.
Farside says that Coffee N’ Comics would make a little money, lose a little money, and him and Wilfon were constantly piecing their finances together to stay afloat. It ended up being more work than they both ever expected, and Wilfon eventually sold his shares of the business to one of the Reno store’s regular customers (Ray Martinez) to concentrate on his other fulltime job. Martinez is a Nevada native as well, has a fulltime job in the tech industry, and can also make coffee and build websites.
Despite the challenges of covid, Farside says that Coffee N’ Comics was getting through it and things were going well. However, Farside realized that they put up a lot of money to open the shop and now the cost of goods was going up, so if the café could grow then it would allow them to buy products in bulk and save more money in wholesale costs. Plus, it would help them employ more people who could work shifts between both locations while providing better accessibility and convenience for their customers.
They found a spot in the corner of the Baring Village Shopping Center that used to be a dark dive bar, and the two partners got to work renovating the space. They put in 12-16 hour days building out the space with a stage, shelves, a bar, painting, plumbing, and more pretty much all by themselves.
Farside and Martinez put in a lot of long nights, and the community helped. The entire bar from front to back has been scribbled on by its baristas and regular customers, then epoxied. Plaques are on tables and chairs for people who donated time and money towards the Sparks location.
They raised around $6,000 through an IndieGoGo campaign, giving donors special limited edition Coffee N’ Comics Sparks hats. It was a community effort to get this place open, and they are in turn doing what they can to give back.
The Sparks Coffee N’ Comics opened on October 1 of this year with resounding success.
“Opening day was awesome. Two hundred people came out, and we had a Power Ranger here,” Farside said. As a couple of high school kids walk in, Farside admits that they designed the space with Reed High School students in mind, getting extra seating to accommodate the school lunch rush. Over the last couple of weeks word started to spread, and even that afternoon around 50 kids all came in for coffee and light meals at the same time.
However, Farside says that it is not just high school students who visit Coffee N’ Comics.
“Everyone comes in here. At the Reno store we get a lot of professionals because we have good Wi-Fi and a lot of power outlets,” Farside says. In other words, people like me who are always on the move yet often need a place close by to dip in and do work.
The Sparks Coffee N’ Comics has shelves/fridges full of spirits and beer, and the place turns into a 21-and-older bar after 6pm. It hosts stand-up comedy on Thursdays at 7 p.m. and is about to introduce cosplay karaoke. Farside also wants to offer a “Teacher Grading Hour” promotion, giving local educators drink specials as they grade papers.
At that, a guy walks in and starts taking in all that Coffee N’ Comics has to offer.
“This place is pretty dope, man,” he says to Farside. When Farside in turn told him about the free comedy nights, he replies, “Whaaat? I’ll be here”.
Another couple comes in and asks about the nitro cold brew, one of them telling Farside, “We got off work early and this is her favorite place, so we had to come here”.
When I mention how calm and collected Farside seems through this crazy ride, he chuckles, “From day one it’s been chaos; I’m used to figuring everything out. I’m so glad it worked out this way. No matter what happens, this is all really good,” Farside says.
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