“It was nothing but happiness! I have always had a charming and cultured clientele. Comics touch childhood, they appeal to the best part of ourselves,” says Isabelle Brucato, who is preparing to permanently close the doors of her second-hand comics and manga store, located on rue des Butchers, in Quimper.
BD Zef is first and foremost the story of a couple. Isabelle and her husband Olivier Brucato are from the Paris region. They lived and worked there until the 90s, he an IT executive, she a psychiatric nurse. After a stopover in Angers, they decided to settle in Quimper in the early 2000s. Isabelle works at the Gourmelen hospital, but Olivier opens his second-hand comic book store… in Brest. Hence the name, BD Zef.
“When I opened it, it worked well straight away”
The Brest bookstore is doing well and gives ideas to Isabelle, who in turn opens, in 2009, in Quimper, a Zef comic strip, rue Sainte-Catherine. “We have always been immersed in the world of comics, since our adolescence and we have never stopped! We had a penchant for subversive comics like The Black Ideas of Franquin or Gotlib,” confides Isabelle. “When I opened it, it worked well right away. Resale on the internet was not yet very developed. I had a lot of collectors. For manga, it took longer. It was really in 2015 that it exploded.” 2015 is precisely the year that Isabelle changes premises to take over the 45 m2 at 18 rue des Boucheries (in the former Bistrot à lire).
“It’s a fun job”
In the bins, there are no less than 8,000 comics and 3,000 mangas. But also collectible figurines, key rings, puzzles, cups, etc. All the goodies derived from comics and pop culture. In 2019, Olivier returned to Quimper with his comics under his arm and opened his own comic strip Zef in the Passage de l’Épée, a stone’s throw from his beloved’s shop. Fifteen years later, retirement time has come for Isabelle. “I put the business up for sale a year ago, but it didn’t work out. It is an activity that requires time. It’s a fun job,” NOTES the sixty-year-old who will close shop in mid-February with a light heart, without any bitterness. “It was our business, it goes with us. There is a time for everything,” she philosophizes. Olivier sold his stock of Passage de l’Épée in December 2023.
All stock sold at less than 50%
But, before leaving, Isabelle liquidates all her stock at minus 50%, starting Saturday January 11. She still has 2,000 comics and a few hundred mangas. In the windows, too, all the figurines will have to disappear! Ghostbusters, Game of Thrones, The Witcher, Batman, South Park, Super Mario, Star Wars, the Ninja Turtles, the Muppets, Casimir… will remind everyone of a piece of their childhood or adolescence. Not forgetting a nice little collection of posters.
The couple, who now live in Melgven, now plan to put on a puppet show for their own pleasure! “We are still at the reflection stage. But my husband likes to write stories and I’m more of a manual person. I like to sew, knit, doodle, etc. We still want to tell stories and make our imaginations work,” smiles Isabelle, her eyes sparkling.
Practical
BD Zef, 18 rue des Boucheries, in Quimper. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Permanent closure mid-February 2025.
