Sad day for me

[ryknow216]

The last and only remotely local LCS in my area just shut down permanently. The owner Royce owned that shop since 1990 and was super knowledgeable in the industry. While other hobby shops in the area dwindled and faded away over the years, his shop continued to thrive. Really sad day for me as I grew up going there as a kid with my dad buying baseball and basketball boxes albeit junk wax, it paved the way for my love of the hobby today.

He didn't really adapt to the vastly changing market. He still had mid 90s baseball packs in boxes on the wall with the display pack faded into oblivion and the same cards in the cases for 10+ years. I sometimes found Bowman Draft boxes for way less than current market price, usually $170, even months after release. I think this explosion in wax cost finally did him in. That and he said 8 out of 10 customers only came in to try to sell him stuff. Anyone else seen any of their local LCS's shut down recently?

[ThoseBackPages]

why did he close?

[ryknow216]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

why did he close?

Probably didn't make money anymore. I should have bought his inventory before he closed. I just called him to see if he had any A&G coming in and his # was disconnected and yelp said it's shut down permanently.

[TFP]

LCS used to be 1/2 comics related, 1/4 gaming, 1/4 sports.

Now it’s 1/2 comics, 1/2 gaming and two small shelves of sports packs & boxes.

[LVDan]

I know from my own failures that a lack of willingness to diversify was my shop's primary downfall.
Adding Non sports, sports you don't care for, memorabilia, apparel and other sources of revenue can allow you to keep your dream job as LCS owner alive a lot longer if willing.

[tkraft24]

Originally Posted by ryknow216

Probably didn't make money anymore. I should have bought his inventory before he closed. I just called him to see if he had any A&G coming in and his # was disconnected and yelp said it's shut down permanently.

I would guess he was operating at a loss for years, just living off the fat from prior years hoping things would turn around.

[griffan15]

I've seen this for years with the guys who can't change their marketing strategies or can't stay relevant with today's trends. Guys who don't want to sell online or guys who can't seem to stay on top of market values ALWAYS go under.

Unfortunately, these people are very knowledgeable (hobby wise) and super nice, but terrible at running a business.

[GoBeavs]

Sad to hear. I think you're right about the wax prices being a major cause. Those are always the top revenue streams at stores, and when they can't acquire them any longer at decent prices, it really puts a huge dent into their profitability.

Although the former owner of the LCS I used to visit sold out because he got hit by a couple break-ins. Decided he didn't want to deal with it anymore. I haven't visited it since. Though me now being 2 hrs away is a big reason for that.

[marlinsmaniac20]

No one can afford wax prices anymore and ebay has all of your singles needs at the click of a button. This is a trend that's unfortunately only going to continue.

[employee8]

Even for those LCS that are successful and sell a fair amount of wax it’s the manufacturer/distributor product allocation that’s taking them down. Group breakers are crushing their souls because they won’t get any high margin products as those go to the higher volume stores first. I also agree with the generational/failure to adapt to technology as a pain point for some.

[IHaveHisCard]

Unfortunately this was the fate of the LCS's near me. Cant compete with online vendors and are unwilling to change/adapt.

[SupermanBrandon]

My LCS growing up was on Market Street in the small town of Clinton, TN. We drove a town over for me to go. I've not been back in over 20 years but it's still there. Do the old school LCS's still have those electronic rotating card cabinets? The ones that you push the button up or down and the shelves rotate from front to back to show the cards on the different shelves? Mine did.

[CircleTheWagon]

One Pack of Hobby Prizm at LCS $30
Rak at Walmart $10

99% of people will buy from Wal Mart

And I know retail sucks, but most people just want the silvers anyways so they don’t care.

[psd2k10]

i love my local lcs but i just dont know how they stay in business. I buy form there fro 2 reasons:

1. to get my product same day versus waiting for the mail
2. to help them stay in business

I know they charge a little more than what I can pay online but that's ok, I get it. but yea, sad to hear you dont have one anymore. every city should have at least one!

[Mroberts30]

Sorry to hear that, it's a shame. The LCS by me seems to be doing ok. He sells online and stays up to date with current market values. I was surprised to hear he doesn't collect himself but it makes perfect sense. I'd want to open all my own boxes and packs if I owned a shop.

Anyway, the last Saturday of every month after the shop closes, he holds a "pack battle" event. It lasts a couple hours or so. You get to pick what sport you want to participate in. Say the pack for baseball ball is a fat pack of series 2 then you'll have to find a specific. For example, he'll say ok find the player with the most career doubles out of the whole group. If you have that card, you win the round and a small prize. In addition you get a raffle towards a big prize at the end.

I haven't been able to attend one yet, I only found out about in June. (Just got back into collecting) but it seems like a great way to get people in the shop, having fun and spending money. I also seems neat to see what other people get in their packs and be able to make trades on the spot. Almost like a case break in person.

Sorry again to hear the shop closed. If you ever find yourself in NJ, the shop I'm talking about is on rt37 in Toms River.

[kobemagee29]

Originally Posted by griffan15

I've seen this for years with the guys who can't change their marketing strategies or can't stay relevant with today's trends. Guys who don't want to sell online or guys who can't seem to stay on top of market values ALWAYS go under.

Unfortunately, these people are very knowledgeable (hobby wise) and super nice, but terrible at running a business.

Group breakers have the most to do with local card shops going out of business. I dont believe its because there terrible at running a business. A lot of card shops are getting allocated more & more on product & that has a lot to do with it

[TanksCards]

Originally Posted by LVDan

I know from my own failures that a lack of willingness to diversify was my shop's primary downfall.
Adding Non sports, sports you don't care for, memorabilia, apparel and other sources of revenue can allow you to keep your dream job as LCS owner alive a lot longer if willing.

There is only one shop within 45 minutes of me and every time I spend more than 30 minutes in there he has probably 5 people come in for magic or pokemon cards

[Dbacksbaseball]

Originally Posted by marlinsmaniac20

No one can afford wax prices anymore and ebay has all of your singles needs at the click of a button. This is a trend that's unfortunately only going to continue.

Yup. This is the big takeaway. The 'blowup' has effects that start with the LCS. I got my case of Ginter from a shop owner that supplied HALF of my cases when I was opening 10-15 cases of each release.

I was the only person in the building for 30 minutes at open on a bigger release day. He's doing fine with dealer net and the rest, BUT, he told me most of his big customers have walked away, he just has a 'few' breakers left and the rest is single box purchases.

And he is a pretty big player, and normally 10-15% below blowout.

[Callmethevreez]

Originally Posted by SupermanBrandon

My LCS growing up was on Market Street in the small town of Clinton, TN. We drove a town over for me to go. I've not been back in over 20 years but it's still there. Do the old school LCS's still have those electronic rotating card cabinets? The ones that you push the button up or down and the shelves rotate from front to back to show the cards on the different shelves? Mine did.

I went in there earlier in the summer. No more baseball cards. He had some supplies and comics. He did randomingly have a open box of 2018 Topps Heritage Minor League. I bought a pack of it and some supplies, to support a local business.

[Carrbeaz]

I bought my shop nearly 5 years ago and have been thriving because I have also adapted as the market changes. Supplies, supplies, supplies. Amazon and ebay charge way too much for supplies so it's a thriving market for me, especially since local walmart and target stopped carrying toploaders.

Even if I cannot get large quantities of the hot boxes, I try to stay diverse with the gaming(but I dont allow kids to just hang at my store, it runs off the well paying sports buyers, only special tournament nights for them).

Also you can't just buy all the crappy 80s-90s collections that come in. Don't be afraid to piss people off if they insist you buy their crap. Sometimes I tell people they would have to pay me to take their junk.

[sabrgeek]

And yet, in the DFW area we had maybe five shops two years ago and now we're in double digits. Some of the new stores are open because they ARE breakers and use brick and mortar to get more product from the companies. Others opened as an avenue to buy cards from people or have an office to do their other business from. And others opened to take advantage of what had been a significant uptick in the sports card business.

[Sinoth23]

Originally Posted by Mroberts30

Sorry to hear that, it's a shame. The LCS by me seems to be doing ok. He sells online and stays up to date with current market values. I was surprised to hear he doesn't collect himself but it makes perfect sense. I'd want to open all my own boxes and packs if I owned a shop.

Anyway, the last Saturday of every month after the shop closes, he holds a "pack battle" event. It lasts a couple hours or so. You get to pick what sport you want to participate in. Say the pack for baseball ball is a fat pack of series 2 then you'll have to find a specific. For example, he'll say ok find the player with the most career doubles out of the whole group. If you have that card, you win the round and a small prize. In addition you get a raffle towards a big prize at the end.

I haven't been able to attend one yet, I only found out about in June. (Just got back into collecting) but it seems like a great way to get people in the shop, having fun and spending money. I also seems neat to see what other people get in their packs and be able to make trades on the spot. Almost like a case break in person.

Sorry again to hear the shop closed. If you ever find yourself in NJ, the shop I'm talking about is on rt37 in Toms River.

Been there a few times...nice guy

[Big35Hurt]

My favorite LCS was flooded out last year and hasn't opened since. Even though I didn't buy much wax or singles due to their prices, I always enjoyed stopping by for supplies and to chat with the owners.

https://www.channel3000.com/news/-it...mage/791940830

We are down to one shop in Madison (city of 250k) and I just don't have the same connection to that shop. The shop has changed owners and locations multiple times and isn't as convenient to get to as the one that closed was. I feel your pain.

[fenwaykid]

Originally Posted by psd2k10

i love my local lcs but i just dont know how they stay in business. I buy form there fro 2 reasons:

1. to get my product same day versus waiting for the mail
2. to help them stay in business

I know they charge a little more than what I can pay online but that's ok, I get it. but yea, sad to hear you dont have one anymore. every city should have at least one!

Fully agree with #2, if you like it and want it to stay in business you have to support it. I go to mine often, buying supplies, Pokémon for the kids, and random boxes for myself.

[Mroberts30]

Originally Posted by Sinoth23

Been there a few times...nice guy

Yeah he is. Helpfully and not pushy. He has a lot of neat stuff in there to. Unfortunately/fortunately, its very close to my job so it's a struggle not to go in there everyday on lunch break or after I get off.