Rochester comic book shop owner falls ill unexpectedly – Reuters

ROCHESTER – A longtime figure in Rochester’s retail scene is in the intensive care unit at Mayo Clinic after being suddenly taken down by a series of medical conditions, which means her individual store is temporarily closed.

Craig Cottenwho owns the book review comic book, game and sports card store in Rochester Hillcrest Shopping Center at 1618 US 52 North, fell unexpectedly ill last week.

Cate Moore, Cotten’s niece, wrote and posted this week about her situation on social media and launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover medical bills. She hopes to raise $30,000. By Wednesday morning, the campaign had raised about $1,300.

“Recently Craig wasn’t feeling like himself and thought he was just suffering from a cold. On Thursday, June 23rd, what looked like a cold to Craig turned into something much worse,” a- she writes. A friend arrived at the store and called an ambulance.

Doctors at Mayo Clinic Saint Marys Hospital told her her organs were shutting down due to septic shock, her niece wrote.

“Craig was then diagnosed with kidney stones, pneumonia, and on top of that he was told he had very aggressive acute leukemia. With both pneumonia and kidney stones on top of having a cancer, he doesn’t have much of an immune system to fight it on his own. He was admitted to intensive care and put on a breathing tube,” Moore wrote.

Being in hospital means the Cotten’s Book Review store, which he ran himself, is closed for the time being.

Cotten, who had worked for a long time at Book Review, bought the company in 2008 from Terry Laut. The store moved to the Hillcrest Mall in 2005, after being located for two years at 115 N. Broadway.

In 2006, Cotten wrote about the experience of running his own business for an article in the Publish a newsletter. He estimated that he worked over 60 hours a week to keep the business running.

When asked about the most difficult aspects of owning a business, Cotten wrote, “Long hours, low pay and high stress.”

However, he also answered the question of what is the best aspect of freelancing and running your own store.

“Be your own boss. You look forward to going to work every day. It’s a challenge. It’s all up to you whether you succeed or not,” he wrote.

Jeff Kiger tracks business activity in Rochester and southeastern Minnesota every day in “Heard on the Street.” Send tips to

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