Comic-Con event sparks life at Sunrise Mall amid store closures

By Sara Beth Williams–
A returning Comic-Con brought much-needed traffic to Sunrise Mall over last weekend.

The Weekend Blender comic-con brought multiple vendors and cosplayers to Sunrise Mall Saturday and Sunday, attracting residents to the otherwise vacant mall. The vendors sold everything from anime, superhero, Star Wars, and other pop culture merchandise, to clothes, and cosplay merchandise. Music played over loudspeakers, and the event also featured pop culture and comic-related trivia games, a photo booth, and cosplay contests. Guests dressed in superhero, Pokémon, ninja, and Ghostbusters costumes frequented the vendor fair.

One costumed guest who dressed in tactical gear and wore a brightly colored replica gun in a holster sparked concern from an individual outside the mall who contacted police mid-day on Saturday, the opening day of the Comic-Con.

Police confirmed Monday to The Sentinel that there was never any danger to the public and that multiple guests were dressed in different tactical gear and carried fake weapons from their favorite TV shows. To ensure the public felt safe, officers did do a short walk-through of the mall during the event on Saturday, police confirmed.

The Weekend Blender has consistently brought traffic to the mall twice a year since 2023. One commenter responding to a video of the Comic-Con posted on social media said the event is a “great way” to help bring back traffic to the mall and questioned why there weren’t more similar events hosted inside the mall.

“Regular big events like this would pull in more businesses to rent space,” the commenter said.

The Comic-Con event occurred in the midst of multiple impending store closures, including Hot Topic and Macy’s, which are slated to close by the end of the month.

Sunrise Mall management and Sunrise MarketPlace Executive Director Kathilynn Carpenter could not be reached for further comment regarding the event.

The Weekend Blender event is organized by Pete Salazar, who said the events began in 2009 at the Sierra Vista Mall in Clovis, California, with a handful of vendors who sold arts and crafts, toys, and collectibles. By 2016, he said the event morphed into a semi-Comic-Con-style event with cosplay characters and celebrities making appearances, as well as more vendors who sell comics and anime merchandise.

Currently, Salazar organizes up to six Weekend Blender events per year in three different malls, including Sunrise Mall, and is committing to two events per year, per mall.