'DO I GO INTO DEBT OR NOT MAKE AN INCOME?'

COMIC BOOK STORE OWNER CLOSING TO AVOID HEFTY RENT HIKE

This is a story that marks changes on Main Street in two ways.

The first comes at the end of April, when Steven Gilbert closes Fourth Dimension Comic Book Shop at 237 Main St. S. after 24 years.

Shutting down a year before his quarter-century milestone to avoid a hefty rent hike points to the second example — what some see as downtown gentrification pushing out long-term and less upscale merchants.

There are other reasons why Gilbert is packing it in — his "undying passion" for the art form of comics is mixed with a waning interest in selling them and the pandemic's impact.

But if not for the rent increase,