Utah’s oldest comic shop left its decadeslong home in search of new customers. Here’s where it hopes to find them.

The state’s oldest comic book store has a new location.

After 34 years in a strip mall on 3300 South, Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection has moved to a bigger space in The Gateway at 136 S. Rio Grande St.

The store will host a grand opening Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., which will feature signings from local creators from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The move, co-owner Roger Prows said, is a step toward finding new clientele.

“In that [old] location, we just weren’t seeing new people get into the hobby,” Prows said. “We thought coming here kind of would put comics where people are at.”

Prows and his brother Charles bought the store from a previous owner in 2021. He said the other major goal with the new location is using the bigger space to set up gaming areas.

Dr. Volt’s is a pop culture store and is not limited to comic books, though there are buckets of alphabetized comics to sort through. The store also offers games, Hot Wheels, Funko Pops, action figures, Pokemon cards, apparel and more. It’s a collector’s treasure chest.

“Anything that can kind of fit in the pop culture realm,” Prows said, “is pretty much up our alley.”

The Gateway space has allowed Dr. Volt’s to expand its vintage toy, Funko Pop, game and collectible comic book selection, according to Prows.

The Prows brothers also founded The Nerd Store 11 years ago and operate two locations under that banner — one in Orem and another in West Valley City. Prior to this, Roger Prows owned a pet store.

When the brothers took a road trip to a pet industry event, Charles Prows kept talking about the comic books he had started reading and how his dream was to make enough money as a veterinarian one day to eventually open a comic book store.

Roger Prows said he convinced his brother to drop out of school and follow his dreams. Between the two of them, they had Roger’s old sports card collection, Charles’ comic collection, and about 400 bucks.

“We started touring fairs around the state, trying to sell that kind of stuff,” Roger Prows said. “Then [we] got a booth at the first Salt Lake FanX.”

Prows said a prior love for comic books isn’t necessary to visit any of the brothers’ stores. In fact, he didn’t read a comic until he was 29. When they decided to dive into the comic book world, Roger said Charles told him he should read a few comic books first.

“It really opened my eyes,” Roger Prows said. “The format is just a really open, creative format, because there’s no budgetary restraints … you can draw anything you want on the page.”

Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this story, it was stated that creators of “Stray Dogs” would be present at the grand opening. The creators will be at the store in November for Black Friday. Roger Prows originally stated they bought the store in 2001, but meant 2021.