“We’re so glad you’re here.”

It’s the sweet sentiment that plays like a broken record as folks enter Kryston Skinner and Devon Sifford’s new manga shop and cafe in North Portland.

And it’s the same sweet sentiment they express to their customers.

Reggie’s Manga Shop opened at the start of March at 7015 N. Greeley Ave., in Portland, offering an all-ages, late-night manga shop and café. Bookshelves are stocked with cool reads, mini blind box toys, instant ramen noodles and more.

“You never know how it is having a small business, but the fact that we’re able to make an impact on our community and be that space that helps you escape everyday reality, and have comfort, it feels good to have that and be that,” Skinner said.

It’s a business that’s helping heal both their inner child who grew up lacking manga- and anime-loving communities.

“We’ve been seeing little versions of ourselves come through and it’s been so cute,” Skinner said.

Guests of all ages are welcome to buy food and drink, shop the gachapon machines and read from an assortment of manga from the in-house library; a separate section is dedicated to books for sale. The library hosts about 1,000 books, most of which were donated, some of which are series that can no longer be found in print.

“It really all came together in the last three weeks before we opened,” Sifford said, as the two burst into laughter.

It was a battle, making tiny progress each day, as the square footage filled with more and more sawdust.

Thought that one-month-ago grand opening feels like forever ago, as Skinner described, and Reggie’s Manga Shop is just getting started, now with a calendar chock-full of events including classes for painting, stationery, stamp making and more.

Finding a love for anime and manga

Skinner grew up in a small, rural Western Texas town, where if you didn’t play sports, there wasn’t much for you. She grew up loving anime and at 13 years old started an anime club at her high school — ran out of her art teacher’s classroom — equipped with a mini manga library inside a closet.

“I remember feeling a lot of shame around liking those things growing up,” Skinner said.

Sifford came from a different world than Skinner: Napa Valley. He too said he had nothing to do as a child. As much as it’s a beautiful destination, if you’re 11 years old, there’s not much other than thumb twiddling or pretending you know what a vineyard is.

He followed in his dad’s footsteps and found his way to loving anime and manga.

“There wasn’t much of a community for it,” Sifford said. “There was a small pocket of a community in school, which was basically me and four other kids at a table the furthest away from everyone else.”

That was both his and Skinner’s experiences growing up.

“This feels like something I would’ve really appreciated at that point in my life,” Sifford said of the business. “I felt isolated because of what I was into.”

Why open a manga shop and café?

Skinner’s grandpa had about one of every business possible. While it’s a bit of an exaggeration, it’s how Skinner said she remembers her grandpa. At one point he owned a pizza parlor outside of a local rodeo and later owned a house building company.

“I think that’s where I get all of this from,” Skinner said of her desire to build a business. “Community is the most important thing to me, so I’m making the space I would’ve wanted when I was younger.”

The two felt Portland lacked a space dedicated to the anime scene, and while they don’t have kids of their own yet, they noticed a lack of places for kids to hangout in Portland.

“We saw that and thought we could be apart of the change and make an impact on our community,” Skinner said. “That thought felt really empowering.”

The trio — Sifford, Skinner and their dog, Reggie — would stroll by the building on family walks and noticed it popped up for lease one day.

It started with a, “let’s just take a look inside,” to inking the papers and opening shop.

Skinner remembers seeing the “for lease” sign in May 2024 — it’s her birth month — before scoping it out in June and then getting the keys in October. Just a handful of months later, they were hosting a grand opening of Reggie’s Manga Shop.

Much of the shop is influenced by the couples’ travels to Japan and what they’ve learned abroad.

When Skinner turned 21, about a decade ago, she started visiting Japan. Now, she goes about every other year. Sifford joined her for the first time two years ago for a two-month-long adventure.

It’s sparked inspiration for how they serve food at their shop, offering a hot drink case, egg salad sandwiches, onigiri and an extensive bar of instant ramen noodles. And yes, their hot water machines sing. They’re from Japan, of course.

Their goal is to make everyone feel welcome, whether they’re a full-blown manga nerd, or a newbie, its a space for community.

Skinner recommends “Hirayasumi,” by Keigo Shinzō for newbies to the genre.

Who’s this Reggie fella?

Plastered on Reggie’s Manga Shop’s website is a small brown dog. But this little guy has a name: Reggie.

Skinner got Reggie, her 11-year-old Jack Russell terrier, in 2014 and hauled his scruffy self to Portland with her. He’s lived in Texas, Washington and now Oregon, with road trips sprinkled throughout.

“He’s my old buddy,” Skinner said. “I want everybody to love Reggie as much as we love Reggie. Every time I look at him he just makes me so happy, so why not make him the mascot.”

Reggie is everywhere. He’s on social media, he’s on coffee mugs, he’s even got multiple (cartoon) headshots holding a number of items on their website.

The Reggie’s Manga Shop website can be described in one word: cozy. Reggie can take much of the thanks for its coziness.

Their small dog mascot flaunts all the possibilities of Reggie’s Manga shop, as he’s seen writing a newsletter, popping his head out of the store’s front doors, and munching on a fruit sando, all in pastel hues drawn with soft lines.

And without those daily walks with Reggie, who knows if they would’ve spotted the building that housing Reggie’s Manga Shop.