Valkyries 500 Strong!
(Photos of some our of members celebrating starting 2016 with 500 Valkyries.)
In the last week of 2015, the Valkyries achieved a milestone: we welcomed our 500th member. We started with about a dozen women three years ago, and the word spread quickly. Those Valkyries recruited new members as they met women while visiting other stores or conventions. Our numbers kept growing and haven’t slowed down. Our founder, Kate Leth, originally started the group because she felt alone as a woman in comics retail and wanted to connect with others. She never expected it to become a 500-woman powerhouse, but here we are!
The Valkyries gives members the chance to communicate, share ideas, and make new friends through our common interests. Our members include shop owners, managers, and clerks spread over six continents (get with it, Antarctica!). The group’s collective strength naturally derives from our individual members, who channel that indomitable Valkyrie moral support to fuel their efforts in their own shops. Many of our members now host Ladies’ Nights, book clubs, and other events, and work to make their shops welcoming and inclusive for everyone every day.
Valkyries Valhalla, our sister group, was created as a place for current and former Valkyries to connect online, so members wouldn’t lose contact with their friends in the group after moving on to a different job. In November, we opened it up to women who are librarians, bookstore workers, and others who put comics in people’s hands (but don’t work in a shop that primarily sells new comics). The response to that was enormous, and we’ve added over 100 members in the past six weeks!
What does it all mean? First and foremost, it means that your chances of having a woman sell you a comic are steadily increasing. Of course, there have always been women behind the counter at some comic shops. In fact, a few of our members have been in the business for 30 years or more. As comics’ readership is becoming more delightfully diverse, so should the workers in the industry. We are proud that the Valkyries give women retailers greater visibility. More comic shops are hiring women because they can see it’s really not unusual, and not a gimmick. We are voracious readers, passionate about comics, and love sharing our enthusiasm with our customers. And we’re just getting started.
To everyone who has supported us, we thank you. You are true Palkyries. Stay tuned to see what we’ll do in 2016!
