(6/16) Emmitsburg is now home to a new enterprise, a comic book store, which will soon also feature games and sports memorabilia - Wookie Walkers.

With a business name like Wookie Walkers, it should be pointed out right from the start that the business does not offer dog-walking service for area residents.

The business name traces its origins to a band named Fish. Co-owner Casey Myers explained that the more-entrenched fans of the band are often referred to as "Wookies". Myers said he did not, appearance-wise, exactly fit in with the "Fish Wookies", but because he associated with them, his friends called him "Walks with Wookies" - which gave rise to the name of the enterprise.

For the uninitiated, Wookie was a character in the Star Wars movie series, of which Myers is also a big fan.

Myers and his life-partner, Amber Phillips, established their new comic book store in the Silo Hill strip mall, although the 7,000-plus comic books offered are merely the beginning of what is planned to be a multi-faceted enterprise encompassing other collectible and gaming.

Both Myers and Phillips hail from the Baltimore area, and relocated to Emmitsburg four years ago. Myers is employed by a banking company, but when the business went virtual because of the COVID pandemic, he and Phillips decided to establish their own enterprise as a second source of income.

Myers, who has been collecting comics since he was inspired by neighbors in his hometown in the 1980s, has amassed an accumulation of around 10,000 comics – which he decided to begin selling-off. "I decided to sell them to let other people enjoy them," he said.

Although the business was established at its Silo Hill location in March, much of the time since then has been spent in designing the store and stocking the shelves with thousands of comics and apparel. While the store is actually now open to the public, the grand opening will be held on July 17.

Not only is Myers continuing to shop for vintage and new comic books to sell, he and Phillips are also planning to expand the collectibles to include sports memorabilia, and possibly offer an opportunity for Mount Saint Mary’s University’s art students to display their works and even offer art classes.