Print's Not Dead! Microcosm Zine Store Expands Twice in Six Months!

PRINT'S NOT DEAD! MICROCOSM ZINE STORE EXPANDS TWICE IN SIX MONTHS! Plus, Introducing the ZINE TRIKE!

For Immediate Release  



Microcom Publishing Announces Further Expansion With everyone and their grandpa declaring print media dead, Microcosm Publishing is saying "not so fast, dudes!" For the second time in six months the Microcosm zine store in SE Portland has expanded, moving first from a 9x15' room this July to a 13x15' space, and now upscaling to 22x15' of radical publishing goodness!    The store has all the zines and books Microcosm publishes, such as the DIY guides and Powells bestsellers Make Your Place and the Zinester's Guide to Portland, but it also carries thousands of self-published zines and small press titles. After more than a dozen years in the business, Microcosm set up the storefront 18 months ago--just in time for the recession!   Says Microcosm founder Joe Biel, "In the age of internet bookselling, and when even big box bookstores are on the brink of bankruptcy, you gotta get crafty: The tiniest brick and mortar store and an even smaller zine tricycle seems to be just the ticket to re-establishing reading!"

  A zine tricycle!? Yep, Biel has built a mobile zine trike, a tricycle zine display cart that will take zine culture out onto the streets of Portland! On rainy days the trike is based out of the store, where it functions as display space, but as soon as the sun comes out, the trike goes mobile. "People forget that even shopping is a form of socializing and if we push all commerce onto the internet, we'll be leading some pretty isolated lives," says Biel. "I hope the zine trike will fight that and add a little old-worldly situationism into the mix at the same time."   As the economic downturns continues to put a cramp on US spending, Biel says keeping print alive comes down to one fundamental task: "We don't have investors or loans or outside shareholders. All of our fundraising comes from the most old-fashioned method: selling zines and books."   Located in the ActivSpace Building at 833 SE Main, #108, the Microcosm Publishing zine store is open from noon to 7am every day. Check with twitter.com/microcosmmm for updates on the zine trike! Or visit us online at http://microcosmpublishing.com/   For more info or to arrange an interview with Joe Biel about the Microcosm zine store, the zine trike, or the death of print. 
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Jessie Duke
Microcosm Publishing
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Press Department
http://microcosmpublishing.com/press/
609 Rock Creek Dr.
Lansing, KS 66043
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