A Whole New World: Omar’s World of Comics & Hobbies Opens in Lexington Center
By Heather Beasley Doyle
During the store’s grand opening on Monday, Jan. 15, a steady stream of people entered Omar’s World of Comics & Hobbies in Lexington Center. A sizable portion of people said “Hi Omar,” as they crossed the threshold of 30 Waltham St. into a space filled with conversation and shelves stocked neatly with comic books, games and t-shirts. As people greeted him, 22-year-old Omar Masood left his spot behind the checkout counter to greet them personally, often uttering a superhero name upon recognizing them.
Omar’s World of Comics & Hobbies is undeniably a store, with everything from Wonder Woman, X-Men and The Flash comic books to Pokémon cards and the board game Ticket to Ride for sale. However, it’s more than that, according to Omar’s father, Sohail Masood.
“I always wanted something for my son, even when he was little,” Masood said. “My feeling was, down the road, I need to do something for him.”
Born with Down syndrome, Omar is a student at Lexington High School, in the LABBB Educational Collaborative, which provides special education services. LABBB students can stay in the program until they’re 22, at which point they have to graduate. Now 22, Omar will graduate this spring.
Store’s genesis in Omar’s passion
When his son was young, Masood envisioned opening a pet store at a shopping mall for him, because Omar loves animals. Masood’s own animal allergies complicated that plan, though. When Omar became smitten with comic books about 4 years ago, a new idea began to percolate. By the time they met Sally Hoops two years ago, a potential comic book store was already a conversational mainstay.
“They’ve been talking about it since I’ve known them,” said Hoops, who was working as a waitress at the Masoods’ favorite restaurant, Naked Fish, in Waltham.
Eventually, Masood asked Hoops if she might consider leaving the restaurant to work for them.
“As soon as they told me about, I knew it was the right thing,” said Hoops, whose stint at Naked Fish was part of a break from her career in business.
At the end of October, the Masoods, who live in Lincoln with Omar, told Hoops they’d rented the space at 30 Waltham St. She started working for the company Nov. 1. Since then, Hoops, the store’s manager, has been doing “a little bit of everything,” she said, from finding the right distributors to overseeing the installation of a new furnace.
“The Masoods have been very involved every step of the way as well,” she said.
If You Go
What: Omar’s World of Comics & Hobbies
Where: 30 Waltham St., Lexington
When: Seven days a week, 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., with additional hours for game nights and events
For more information: Check out the store’s Facebook page (their page is Omar’s World of Comics & Hobbies)
‘Unique’ opportunity for LABBB students
While the store is something for Omar (top left), the Masoods’ vision extends beyond their son. Three days each week, four LABBB students will work as interns at Omar’s World of Comics & Hobbies, stacking shelves, taking inventory and generally keeping tidy a space frequented, in part, by kids. Two part-time mangers with ties to the LABBB program are also on staff.
“This is a really cool thing for people post-22,” said part-time weekend manager Rob McDonough, who also works as a physical education assistant with LABBB.
McDonough, who is a Lexington native, explained that LABBB graduates have far fewer opportunities to work and stay involved in a community once they’re out of the program.
“This is pretty unique,” he said of the comic store, “and I just want to be a part of it.”
Plans for non-profit status, expansion
That paucity of opportunities drives Masood as well.
“What I feel bad about in our society is that even though we are helping the disadvantaged and disabled, we still don’t treat them as full human beings,” he said.
He wants Omar’s World of Comics & Hobbies to be different, not just for Omar, but for anyone of any ability who walks in.
“The goal is to make it a happy place,” Masood said, “where the kids can come and make relationships,” within the confines of the store’s cheerful blue and yellow walls.
The goal is “not to make money,” he explained. If the store just breaks even financially, that would be just fine, he said. Masood is currently applying for 501c3 status for the store, which would designate it as a not-for-profit—and he hopes to expand Omar’s to three or four more locations, Newton among them.
He wanted the first location to be in Lexington because one of the family’s goals was to give back to Lexington High School, and “because the kids come out of the schools [and walk into the center],” he said. Omar knows “everybody” in Lexington center after years of after-school excursions.
Game nights, and more planned
And Omar has his own ideas about what makes his new store great.
“I like it here because it’s small, kind, and a good job,” he said, of the 1,400-square foot space, adding that he also really likes the store’s PlayStation 4.
Game nights are in the works, according to Hoops, who encourages people to keep an eye on their Facebook page for dates and times.
“All of the hard-core gamers should definitely stop by,” she said.
Masood hopes the store will long outlast him, offering game nights and comics while giving his son and others with special needs a safe place to work and belong.
Standing with his father in his store, Omar listed his favorite superheroes: The Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Black Panther. As for the dark-haired, green-clad superhero on the store’s logo—it’s Omar, ready to stand up to injustice.
As customers mingled, Masood explained one of his son’s ways of bringing the comic book world into everyday life.
“Every person he meets, he gives them a superhero name,” he said.
“He doesn’t want to grow up,” Masood added, “And I don’t want to push him to grow up.”
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