University officials announced this week that another vacancy on Penn's campus will be filled when The Marvelous: Records, Comics and Books opens its doors later this month.
The new store will fill the vacant retail unit under Smokey Joe's on the 200 block of 40th Street, which has been empty since Fingers, Wings and Other Things closed in September 2001.
This lease follows several other new retail announcements made last month, including the arrival of an Ann Taylor Loft, which will fill the space at 36th and Walnut streets in the Mellon Bank Building, and a Marathon Grill, which will occupy the once-empty food and beverage slot in the Bridge: Cinema De Lux.
"We are very excited," Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik said, praising the new addition to Penn's retail community and Milan Marvelous -- the West Philadelphia entrepreneur who will run the shop.
"Milan Marvelous does fit the category of an operator who has a unique concept," Blaik said. "We don't want to be known for another commercial corridor, we want to be known for who we are as a University."
Marvelous said he has been working 16 and 17 hour days to turn the basement space into a haven for underground and independent music artists and comic books.
"At other college neighborhoods you go to around the country this is one of the amenities," he said of his store concept.
Custom carpentry and displays will combine with a "snazzy color scheme" to dazzle shoppers, according to Marvelous.
The front displays will feature a wide array of comic books that Marvelous hopes will appeal to an adult audience.
Noting that "one percent of all music continues to be released on vinyl today," Marvelous pointed to a corner where records were in the process of being categorized and said, "This is just the beginning -- we've got another 12,000 records at home."
The store will carry records ranging from the traditional blues and rock to "risque covers." Additionally, Marvelous plans to have a turntable where customers can test out records before they purchase them.
"You have [records] that transcend categorization and some that defy categorization," local resident and friend of Marvelous Mike Shih said, explaining need for the turntable.
"My friends and neighbors have been so enthusiastic," Marvelous said.
"Our success will help to acclimate the [University] for getting more eclectic venues," he predicted, stepping over the wire coils and sawdust in the entryway that, just weeks from now, should be open for business.
