SAN DIEGO — San Diego Comic-Con draws fans from around the world, and the popularity is helping to keep hometown businesses up and running strong all year round.
Commanding the crowds of people lined up to get their books signed by their favorite authors is Jenni Marchisotto’s special brand of mayhem.
“These are our people. This is our chaos and we love it and we thrive in it,” she said.
Marchisotto is a seasoned SDCC pro and the co-owner of Mysterious Galaxy bookstore. She said the gathering of pop culture fans in downtown San Diego helps them stay in business.
“Comic-Con is Mysterious Galaxy’s biggest event of the year. We wouldn’t be here without it,” she said. “This is an event for fans, and we are book fans and we are especially sci-fi and fantasy book fans.”
Not only does Mysterious Galaxy sell books, but they also partner with publishers to handle book sales for author signings, and collaborate with SDCC to curate panels. Marchisotto said the momentum helps keeps them moving forward during slower parts of the year.
The San Diego Convention Center estimates SDCC 2024 will attract more than 135,000 attendees over four days, producing an economic impact of more than $164 million.
Josh George, owner of Smokin J’s BBQ, is hoping to snag a piece of that profit. They opened their newest restaurant location in the Gaslamp Quarter one year ago, and this is their first official descent into Comic-Con madness. Even though the convention draws fans from around the world, George hopes they can make a special connection with the people who live here.
“I just want to see this restaurant full. I want to see people who are from San Diego who maybe only come downtown once in a while and are coming down for Comic-Con to give us a try,” George said.
George said after years of being thrown off by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2024 is shaping up to bring much-needed life back into the Gaslamp Quarter.
“I think downtown still feels like it’s reeling a little bit from 2020, 2021," he said. "It hasn’t really found its footing quite yet. It feels like it’s creeping in the right direction though, and Comic-Con is always big. So maybe this will be something to sort of boost us all up and we can generate some momentum and kind of maintain that moving forwards.”
The havoc is half the fun, and Marchisotto said she will always be here to support people’s passion for reading.
“It is hectic, it is busy, it is joyful,” she said.
This year’s Comic-Con is being heralded by many as a true comeback after years of cautious post-pandemic reopening and the Hollywood strikes last year.