He started his brick-and-mortar business at the height of the sports card boom of the early 1990s, opening a 500-square-foot shop. Twenty-nine years later, Joe Davis is still at it. J&J Sports Cards, his Atlanta area hobby shop and Got Baseball Cards, his online business, are thriving, better now even than in those crazy days of the latter part of the junk wax … [Read more...]
Shops Deal with COVID Closures
Mark Fugate, owner of a Cincinnati area card and memorabilia shop, didn’t wait to close his Sports Gallery. Days before the state of Ohio ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses, Fugate locked the doors on his store. “Nobody wants to close,” he said. “It’s very tough. But baseballs and bobbleheads are not essential at this point in time.” The Sports … [Read more...]
VIDEO: Loss of Spring Training Crowds, Virus Fears Make for Tough Times at Arizona Shop
These are challenging times for sports card and sports memorabilia shops. Some have closed for now. Others can only offer curbside service or delivery to stay within local guidelines. Those that have been able to stay open so far are seeing fewer customers. In Florida and Arizona, the early end to spring training was a double whammy. Jeff Thalblum owns Free … [Read more...]
Notes: Chicago Area Shop Still Going; Six-Figure Bids; NE Ohio Show; Mahomes Rules Sales
Nearly 28 years ago, college student Jim Anderson and his father Vic opened a hobby shop in the Chicago suburb of Elgin, IL. His dad has passed on but Jim and the store are still going strong. Shoebox-Memorabilia relies on a network of regulars who have formed a community of collectors, some of whom come in to break boxes and wind up making a day of it. The … [Read more...]
Notes: SoCal Store Featured; Card Donation Milestone; T206, Early Topps Auctions Coming; HFC Jersey Auction
Maybe you’ve participated in one of their breaks or seen the name online but Jaspy’s Hobby Land now has a brick-and-mortar location in Hermosa Beach, CA. The place is also home to those online breaks they’ve been doing for several years. It’s all run by long-time hobbyist Mike Jaspersen and his son, Nick, who were the subject of this feature story in a SoCal online … [Read more...]
Hobby Shop Owner with MD in Running for eBay’s Small Business of the Year Award
A hobby shop owner from Blaine, MN is in the running for eBay's Small Business of the Year award. Todd Hallada owns 2Bros Sports, one of eBay's largest sports collectibles sellers and also owns a brick-and-mortar shop, located just north of Minneapolis. Hallada and his brother Tom were born with muscular dystrophy but that hasn't stopped either of them. At age 16, … [Read more...]
Honus Photo Brings Big Bucks; Brady Back on Panini; New Badlands Card Shop
One of a few surviving images of Carl Horner's early 20th century photo you see on the world's most recognizable trading card sold for $38,789 early Sunday. RMY Auctions offered the 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" photo in its July auction. Carrying a 1912 file stamp date on the back but produced a few years earlier, it is considered the second finest example of its kind. … [Read more...]
Notes: Jeter SP Soars; MHCC’s New Auction; Live Case Break Opens Shop
A PSA 10 1993 Upper Deck SP Derek Jeter rookie card is on the auction block and has already set a new record for the grade, sitting at $66,200 with the auction not set to conclude until mid-week. The SP Jeter has become the future Hall of Famer’s most popular—and pricey-- rookie card and ranks is among the most valuable cards of a modern era in high-grade. There … [Read more...]
Autograph Signings a Long-Running Hit for Philly Area Shop
Man cannot live by bread alone. And card shop owners usually can’t live on selling cardboard alone. Unless they have a strong base of card-a-holics, most successful shops usually have some degree of diversification. For Carl Henderson, the long-time owner of Carl’s Cards & Collectibles in Havertown, PA, bringing in autograph guests has proven to be … [Read more...]
Notes: Taking the Card Shop Plunge; Dow Jones vs. Card Market; Kirk Gibson Fundraiser
A lot of people dream about opening a card shop. Lifelong collector Aaron Bertram of Traverse City, MI decided to stop thinking about it and start doing it. On Friday, the former sales manager at a local auto dealership is opening the doors to The Vault Sports Cards and Collectibles. It’ll be mostly sports cards, but he’ll also try to appeal to gamers and … [Read more...]