THE TIME CAPSULE
The Time Capsule has two retail locations that sell comic books, toys, records, movies, video games, and all sorts of collectibles. Rob Yeremian tells his story of how he started collecting comic books as a young kid, to owning two stores, and was once in the top 50 sellers on eBay.
“Everyone wants to relive their youth and that’s what really fuels a lot of people to want to collect. When people come into my store and find comics from the past and old toys and records, it’s exciting and fun.” By L.A. Reilly I really wanted to interview a record store for my next article. I googled records stores in RI and The Time Capsule came up as one of the most popular stores. After reading about Rob Yeremian’s store, I discovered it was much more than just a record store. Along with records, he sells new and old comics, records, classic VHS tapes, gaming consoles, and vintage toys. Definitely a trip down memory lane that can easily put a smile on someone’s face, remembering the fun times of your childhood. “I’ve always been a collector of comic books, starting as a young kid, and by the time I was 15, I started developing more expensive tastes so I started selling off the ones I had to raise money to buy older, more expensive stuff,” Rob said. It then turned into a business. He started at age 15, setting up at comic conventions. The promoters at the conventions were so impressed that a 15 year old kid wanted to set up that they gave him a table right by the front door. “What happened was someone walked through the door with a big bag full of comics, and since I had the first table, he asked me if I wanted to buy them. I was looking for older, more expensive comics, myself. I
looked through the bag and bought them, realizing I could make a profit.” Rob started thinking about buying comics and reselling them so he could buy the comics he really wanted. Before graduating from URI with a degree in Economics in ‘93, he opened his first store selling comics and toys called “Time Capsule Comics,” in Warwick. In 1998, Rob decided to liquidate and sold what he had left to one of his customers. He decided to go to Los Angeles where he attempted to sell comics & collectibles on the West Coast. He ran into two problems. One was the cost of living and second he came to realize that in New England, people had attics and basements where they stored old stuff. People saved things. Out in LA, most houses didn’t have attics or basements so people didn’t save stuff. After 7 months, he came back to RI. Back in late 1998, he joined eBay and it changed the whole game for Rob. After he came back he had no inventory and had to start over. He pieced together enough money to open a store in Warwick. When he came back to RI, someone had taken his “Time Capsule” name. So he opened as “Recycled Memories.” He spent the next 5-6 months building his inventory back up and selling on eBay. He sold comics and VHS tapes that hadn’t been released Shop ShopIn InRI RI41 41
