Chameleon Comics in NYC

[packs]

Originally Posted by basesareempty

Owning a brick and mortar is tough I believe. To get a good, high traffic location you are going to pay up in rent. To get lower rent your off the beaten path which means you are working very hard to drive traffic to your location. I know most of the remaining stores in the Baltimore/ Washington area are a mix of cards, signed Memorabilia and Pokémon/ Magic tournaments they host. Is this the same business model many of you are seeing around the country?

If I were to own a brick and mortar shop the only realistic way to survive would be doing most of my business online and using the storefront as mostly storage. This would have to be done in a place where the rent was low enough to make it economical though. At the same time, doesn't really matter where you are if you're doing most of your business online.

[buymycards]

The only remaining card shop within a 40 mile radius of my home has been surviving through Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic, Pokemon, etc. They have a great following, with tournaments and a huge gaming inventory. 20 years ago, sports cards, mostly baseball, were 95% of their sales. My guess is now sportscards are less than 20% of sales.

The great thing about a brick and mortar store is that customers are constantly coming in trying to sell their collections. A store owner can pick and choose from some great items, as long as they are willing to put up with all of the 80's and 90's collections that are brought in.