ARLINGTON, Texas – Anime fans in Arlington will most likely know of the local anime store Wild West Weebs. What they may not know is that the same store runs one of the most popular anime conventions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
And behind the success of both ventures is a super anime fan.
Jeremy Owens is the proud owner of Wild West Weebs, located near The Parks Mall at Arlington, and Weebcon Texas. With a background in finance and a past containing many different jobs, Owens decided he did not want to be in a cubicle or working odd jobs with not-so-great pay. The 25-year-old talked about the beginning of his store, the exciting moments of planning a convention as well as the not so exciting parts.
After seeing people’s interest in his own collection of Funko Pop figures and shifting to collecting and selling mystery packs to anime fans, Owens said he wanted to do it on a larger scale. He then opened his anime store in October 2020, working through the challenges of operating a retail space during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The word “Weeb” has been used as an insult toward anime fans for years, but recently it has become a word that anime fans use in pride. Owens said he wanted to embrace the word, which led him to name his store Wild West Weebs.
“Now people are wearing it as a badge of honor,” Owens said. “They are proud to be called a weeb.”
The store began with a 600 square-foot space and an inventory of mostly Funko Pops, but Owens said he did not want Wild West Weebs to be an anime shop. He wanted it to be an anime store.
“I want people to be able to come in here and if they want a shirt, a bag or a stapler, whatever, however you want to display your passion, I wanted to make sure we had it here,” Owens said.
Owens said the store is as complete as it can be for now, so now he has shifted his focus to community events and other similar things that will excite customers to come to the store.
Soon after the store opened, Owens made the venture to host a voice actor to do a signing at Wild West Weebs. With the extremely popular Chris Sabat present, the store saw a significant influx of people. Upon seeing the line outside his store, Owens realized that this is something people want and will travel for, leading to his desire to organize a convention.
“If I am going to try to live my dream, now is the time. That’s why I did it,” Owens said.
The first Weebcon took place in August 2021. Owens knew that if he went all in, it would pay off, and that is exactly what happened. Weebcon has seen double the number of attendees each year it has been active with a record high of about 14,000 attendees at the 2023 show.
Attendees raved about their experiences online and through word-of-mouth.
Aniya Elmore, a regular attendee, said the Weebcon venue—the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center—provided ample room for different activities and looked “really cool.”
Weebcon was also notable for its success in drawing visitors.
“Weebcon at the time was known as one of the only cons aside from major cons to bring 20-plus guests, especially in the Dallas area,” Weebcon attendee and consignment store owner Javier Chavez said. “We saw a con in Dallas that was able to headline a final number of 53 guests—that was amazing.”
Owens said he believes the reason for the success of Wild West Weebs and Weebcon is the staff’s knowledge of anime. Connecting with customers and convention attendees is easy when they both enjoy the same things and know what people are looking for. This translates well into convention planning when it comes to booking voice actor guests and being able to know what is trending and who attendees would like to see in person.
“What I can guarantee about Weebcon is that each year we are trying something new,” Owens said.
Convention planning and execution is not always smooth sailing. Owens said he was always on a call and running around. He pointed out that conventions are just like any other customer service gig and will have similar issues at some point. Because running a convention was entirely new to Owens, he said there was a lot of figuring out to do and he just had to trust his gut. In the end, he had a goal and pushed forward to overcome all the difficulties he encountered, a strategy he said he’ll likely continue to use in the future.
Owens said his vision is to provide “a home base for all things anime.”
