Akadot Retail made its first convention debut at Anime Expo 2002 and planned to liven up the boring exhibition hall with its one-of-a-kind Akadot Retail "Sideshow" created especially for fans. Even though the Akadot Retail Sideshow was free, not many fans seemed interested in stopping to take a peek. "Grabbing the attention of hardcore anime shoppers was not an easy task at first.", says Isaac Lew, Head Sales Administrator of Akadot Retail.

In order to pry fans away from their anime shopping, Lew gathered a crowd with the one thing everyone wants: freebies. After tossing out free Akadot T-shirts and anime videos, anime fans from everywhere gathered around the Akadot booth filling up the aisles in hopes of grabbing a free gift. Once Lew had the fans' complete attention, he began his Akadot 101 class giving fans the lesson of a lifetime. Teaching fans what Akadot Retail is all about, Lew had fans chanting in unison the products that Akadot Retail features on its website. Fans were more than happy to participate in the Akadot Retail Sideshow as more and more continued to gather, forming something similar to a block party.

Unfortunatly, the sideshow came to a screeching halt when the fire marshall was called in informing Akadot that fans were creating five different fire hazards in the exhibition hall. What once started as a small gathering became chaos when fans blocked all of the surrounding aisles and exits. Akadot was forced to shut down the sideshow, even though fans kept coming back to the booth asking for more.

Neighboring booths also tried to imitate the Akadot Sideshow, but due to the watchful eye of security, none came close to the capacity and entertainment of the original Akadot sideshow. In order to satisfy the numerous fan requests for an encore performance, Akadot adjusted its original sideshow to the "20 Seconds of Love," giving fans freebies and info about Akadot. Despite the protests of the staff at Anime Expo, Akadot tried its best to entertain and please fans. Leaving with a free video courtesy of Akadot Retail, one hyped-up anime fan told us, "Akadot Retail rules!"