Stairway to Heaven

Ten years ago, Stairway to Heaven owner Brad Gile was mentoring behaviorally challenged children as a high school English teacher. Today, he owns a comic book shop right here in Exeter, N.H. From Batman to Doctor Who, from The Walking Dead to Dungeons and Dragons, Stairway to Heaven is the go-to place for all your comic-related needs.For years, it has been Gile’s dream to manage a comic shop. “As rewarding as teaching was, it started to burn me out after a while,” Gile said. “So I felt like it was time to do something new. And the comic shop idea had always been something I wanted to do, so I jumped at it while I could.”The store opened this September, and Gile is enthusiastic about his choice to set up the shop in Exeter. “I feel like Exeter is such a terrific community,” Gile said. “It’s got a very diverse, and very good-looking downtown. And I feel like the people here really want to support local businesses. A lot of family oriented customers come here, so I like to keep it a kid-friendly environment.”Despite the store’s recent opening, it has already garnered much interest from the PEA community. “I’d say 15-20% of my customer base is students from the Academy, and that number is growing. I think it’s taken the students a little bit of time to find me, and some are still finding me, but that’s great, because it seems like every week, there’s a new student in here from Phillips Exeter,” Gile said. “One of the reasons I opened up the shop here was because of the Academy’s presence. It’s a tremendous school, obviously, but I also thought it could be a great customer base for the store.”Gile was also impressed by the diversity exhibited by his Exonian customers. “What’s exciting for me is that there is a pretty much equal ratio of male to female students that come in, which I definitely didn’t expect when I opened the store,” he said. “It’s been really great to have that extra female customer presence, because it really helps the diversity of what I’m able to carry and sell.”Despite the shop’s relatively new place in the Exeter community, it has already made an impact on the lives of several students. “I stopped by the comic store when it first opened and spent about half an hour in there,” upper Jordan Cynewski said. “The guy working there was really nice to us, and he was happy to help us out with his knowledge of comics.”Upper Jad Seligman also expressed his fondness of the store. “I had an incredibly positive experience at Stairway to Heaven. The owner, Brad, goes far, far out of his way to satisfy his customers and make them happy. He’s probably one of the most enthusiastic shop owners I’ve ever met.”Lower Quinn Hickey was particularly impressed by the quality of the service at the store. “The guy who runs it is really nice,” Hickey said. “I bought a couple of comic books from there, and overall it was a really great time. I would definitely come back.”In the future, Gile hopes to become more involved with the Academy and it’s student body. “I’m definitely looking to collaborate in the future with the Academy. I heard a rumor that there is a graphic novel class going on at Phillips Exeter. I haven't heard much more, but if it’s true, I’d love to be involved with that at some level,” Gile said.There are also more events for students hosted by the shop. “I’m doing a board game night on Wednesday nights from 6-8,” Gile said. “Academy kids haven’t really participated in that, but they’re always welcome.”