Ninja Pirate • Pflugerville

Ninja Pirate • Pflugerville

Written by Amy Stansbury Thursday, 07 February 2008

Charles Leake was 18 years old when his parents decided he needed to get rid of all his comic books. Knowing the collection was worth money, Leake traveled to army bases around Europe where he was raised, selling comics at collectibles shows on weekends. He has dealt comic books off and on ever since.

Now, 20 years later, Leake is married with a five-year-old daughter. He and his wife Amira own Ninja Pirate, a comic book and game store located in Pflugerville. The Leakes moved from Virginia to the Austin area in April 2006. They chose Central Texas primarily because the housing market was doing well, but they also liked the “Keep Austin Weird” slogan and culture of supporting the arts and local businesses.

“We liked that you can get small-town values with the resources of a bigger city here,” Amira said. “And of course, there are good schools in this area. That was important.”

The Leakes stumbled upon the storefront office space for lease in Pflugerville by accident.

“There was too much construction on the original [RM] 620,” Charles said. “It was a fluke. We got lost in Pflugerville and saw the place. We pulled up the rental cost and it met all of our criteria.”

They were looking for commercial property for lease near a neighborhood so Ninja Pirate could not only be a store, but also a meeting place for teenagers living nearby.

“We’re trying to give teens a place to go in Pflugerville because there really isn’t one,” Amira said. “We also want to create new gamers because if you don’t create new ones, the hobby will die.”

Ninja Pirate is a member of the Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce, and sells comic books, science fiction fantasy books, graphic novels, which are collections of several weeks of comic books, comic books targeted at younger children, such as those by Cartoon Network, Walt Disney, Looney Tunes and Marvel Adventures, as well as board games, card games, role playing games, snacks and more.

The Leakes established their business in January 2007, working out of their home. They opened the doors to Ninja Pirate in April and held a grand opening May 5 on Free Comic Book Day.

“Kids were knocking at the window as we were trying to unpack boxes asking to come in,” said Amira. “We had to keep the shades down to get it all put together so we could open.”

While children and teenagers are regular customers at Ninja Pirate, Amira said they are seeing a growing adult market in the evenings.

“We carry a lot of board games too, and the adults are getting more and more into that,” Amira said. “We always tailor what we carry based on what is popular and what sells.”

Did You Know?

• New comics are available on Wednesdays. Free Comic Book Day is May 3.
• Play video games at a station toward the back of the store for $3.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! is a popular card battle game. Tournaments are held noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 6 p.m. Sundays, except the third Sunday of each month.
• Warhammer is a miniature role-playing game. Store-wide tournaments are held from noon to 7 p.m., or until the game is finished, on the third Sunday of each month. First place wins a $90 box set; second place wins a $45 box set; third place wins a $15 box set.

Ninja Pirate, 100 12th St., Ste. 105, Pflugerville, TX 78660, 512-251-0110, www.geek-man.com