Welcome to The Retail Comic Strip Archive!
At long last, I’ve created an online archive for the RETAIL comic strip. After considering a few different options, I ultimately decided to put together my own simple website where fans of the strip can read the comic in its entirety. I strive to keep the site ad free, so tips of any size are greatly appreciated.
If you’re new to RETAIL, welcome! You can learn more about the history of the comic by clicking the link in the menu bar. If you’re old to RETAIL, I’m sorry this took so long. After retiring the strip back in February 2020, I have been very busy with book projects. That, and I had no access to the old web archive. Over 5,000 original comic files had to be reformatted to get them ready for the new site. It took a while.
Speaking of which, since I had to work from my original files, you may catch a typo here and there. I encourage you to send me a polite email when you see one, so I can fix it.
Each strip is named by date only. The individual comics aren’t tagged yet. I realize this makes searching for a particular comic you might remember impossible, but my main goal was to get the comics online ASAP. Eventually, I’ll get around to tagging individual comics a few at a time, then I can add a search function. For now, there is a calendar and “jump to” dropdown in the sidebar so you can navigate to specific dates a little more quickly. You can also hack a date into the url to get to a specific comic as well. (ie: /january-2-2006/)
I had no access to the old comments, so they’re gone, but please feel free to comment anew. Be advised, however, that my time/desire to moderate them is very limited, so don’t be a jerk to other people. Also, I’ve disabled the ability to post links in the comments to mitigate spam. If you try to post a link, your comment will get stuck in moderation limbo and you’ll have to type it all over again, so maybe don’t do that.
I don’t know how much the site will grow from here, but thank you to everyone who has reached out in RETAIL’s absence to tell me how much the comic meant to them. It is truly appreciated.
I hope you enjoy the archive!
-Norm
Thank you, Norm. So many laughs and knowing nods from myself and others in Retail. Glad it’s back and leading more readers to an understanding of life behind the counter.
Right now, I’m just happy to be able to read this again! As someone who works in retail right now, this resonates with me oh so much!
Just wanted to let you know that the comic for February 14, 2010 appears to be missing. That’s as far as I got binge-reading so far. I wish I’d noticed the comment about asking for typo correction earlier. There are a few, but honestly it doesn’t matter that much as we can tell what you meant. 🙂 I appreciate you putting this up in the first place!
Should be fixed now.
This is all wonderful to read (again); I can’t figure when I originally started reading, the characters are “good friends” in my head and the stories seem familiar even if it’s my first read. Just happily working through all the days, so many thanks!
You need a Patreon or something, I’d support that to see new updates and I’d bet other folks would too.
Thank you! I have so missed Retail. I keep thinking of all you could’ve done with the strip during the pandemic. Customers not wearing masks, the employees having to and everything in between. But I’m so glad to see this again, thank you for all your hard work putting it together.
Is there any way we can help with tagging? It’d be cool to be able to search or browse by character.
So happy to see this up. I’ve been waiting for an archive ever since the strip ended. Time to binge read the whole thing from the beginning.
Thank you kindly for this. As a reader who came in via the Toronto Star – despite living in Ottawa – it’s good to have this back where I can look at it again. I figure that “proper” tagging will be a bonus, whether you’re doing it, or hiring it out or recruiting from the would-be volunteers already lining up.
Delighted to see the strip available again. Thank you so much for putting the archive together.
Thank you for your hard work to get this comic posted again! I usually read it in big chunks, and never got to read the last couple of months’ worth before it disappeared. Going to start from the beginning and just enjoy the whole thing again. 🙂
Just found out you have rehomed your series here. What can I say, other then being another person grateful to have a place to read this wonderful series again.
Since there are no purchaseable archives, would you kindly consider putting the comic image files up in a single archive file? Would be a lot easier than right-clicking from day one.
So very happy to find this. I couldn’t follow the end of the strip and I really wanted to. Thank you, Norm
Yup! This is the comic strip we have all been looking for! Thank you for all the hard work. It is a great comic for sure! Joek
Have you considered publishing the entire series into a single book?