Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbra Williams and Whitney Williams-Johnson.
Barbra and Whitney, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My Animix started as the creative idea of Whitney Williams-Johnson, who at the time was a teen beginning her Senior year in high school. As an avid Anime Fan, Whitney had a vision of creating a space where other Anime Fans could come, maybe hang out a while, and also enjoy some of the great shopping selections that one might find at a convention. Her father and I, set out to help her do it! Along the way, we have met many great people and found other great team members, such as Whitney’s new hubby – Lloyd Johnson. Together, now seven years later, we are still here and growing. For those who may not be familiar with “Anime”, it is Japanese cartoons, artwork, books, and collectibles. The Anime world has a following that is comparable to that of Star Trek or some of the DC Comics.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We really decided to limit some of our challenges from the very beginning by limiting our hours. We are open on Fridays from 3 pm – 8 pm, Saturdays 10 am – 8 pm, and Sundays 11 am – 6 pm, so basically weekends only. This had to be a consideration with school and our other schedules, but I believe that it made our road much easier and now our customers are used to it so it works out well. I guess after limiting our time challenge, the next obstacle was finding reputable suppliers to purchase our products from, the challenge being avoiding the many counterfeit items that flood this particular market. And lastly is our space challenge. Always in an effort to carry the most products possible, we are in a constant battle for figuring out how to better use our space. We recently went through another one of these growth reconfigurations and are quite happy with the outcome.
My Animix – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We specialize Japanese Animation. This includes Anime (Japanese cartoons), mangas (books), and many types of collectibles including figures, cosplay, pillows, plushies, backpacks, pins, art books, drawing books, and so much more. We are known for our unique selection and knowledgeable, friendly staff. We have been told that our little shop rivals those in California and New York and that is wonderful to hear as Anime is much more prominent in those areas. I think the thing that we are most proud of is the distance that we have had people travel to visit our little store! It is amazing!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
We love that we are in the happiness business and so every time we see that our store puts a smile on another face, we can’t help but to be happy too. It is an amazing feeling each and every time. We also love when we hear that someone is here from another country and wanted to visit our store, or when we get cosplayers in for the cosplay contests, or when we get another rave review … I don’t know if we can have just one proudest moment as there are many!
Contact Info:
- Address: 5702 7th Avenue, Downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin 53140
- Website: www.myanimix.com
- Phone: (262)564-6200
- Email: myanimix@live.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/myanimix
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
