The Card Locker in Festus offers not only a wide variety of sports cards, but other types of collectibles as well, owner Curtis Cadenhead said.
While sports cards, jerseys and the like dominate the shop, customers interested in other collectibles might want to step inside and have a look, Cadenhead said of his shop at 214 E. Main St., which opened the weekend after Thanksgiving.
“We have a little bit of everything in collectibles,” said Cadenhead, 55, of Hillsboro. “We have sports cards. We have gaming cards from Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon. We have Yu-Gi-Oh cards. We have other non-sports cards from “Star Wars” and Marvel and DC comics, stuff like that. We have memorabilia from sports and movies.”
The store also has autographed jerseys, helmets and hockey goalie masks for sale.
“We’ve got Pete Rose,” Cadenhead said. “The jerseys are framed and autographed. We’ve got Magic Johnson. We have a Chevy Chase-autographed Blackhawks jersey like he wore in ‘Christmas Vacation.’ We’ve got a jersey autographed by Charlie Sheen from ‘Major League,’ where he played Vaughn, the closer.”
The actors sign their names, not their characters’ names, he said.
“We’ve got the COAs – certificates of authenticity – on everything we sell that’s autographed,” Cadenhead said. “I’ve even got the COA for a storm trooper helmet (from “Star Wars”).
“Nowadays, they put in a hologram with a QR code you can scan. So, there’s not a piece of paper that goes with it. Some of the stuff that’s older has paperwork. But, nowadays you’ll have a little hologram or something with a QR code you can scan or a number you can type in on their website that will tell you what it is.”
An eye-catching display of guitars stands in a section of the shop.
“We have autographed guitars,” he said. “We have an autographed guitar from Taylor Swift. There’s a Hank Williams Jr., a Jon Bon Jovi. There’s an Alice Cooper. There’s one from Lainey Wilson. She’s big in country music right now.”
Naturally, a business called The Card Locker has all kinds of sports cards and memorabilia, he said.
“We have sports cards of the four major sports – baseball, football, basketball, hockey,” Cadenhead said. “We have NASCAR stuff that’s autographed.”
He has a table with chairs at the front of the store for customers who want to trade items or play games.
“They can open packs, trade stuff,” he said. “We’re going to try to have gaming nights.”
Cadenhead, who operates The Card Locker with the help of one part-time employee, said it is his first brick-and-mortar store.
“I ran three different websites that marketed home plans and garage construction drawings for about 100 different designers all over the country. I sold that in May,” he said.
“That’s where this came in. I’ve been collecting cards since I was a kid. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing. So, I sold my other company and said, ‘You know what? I’m going to give this a shot because I enjoy this, and this is fun.’”
Cadenhead said he offers a 10 percent discount to first responders and all military personnel, active and retired.
He said his tentative hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with Sunday and/or Monday hours to be determined.
“We’ve been open every day since our opening at the end of November,” Cadenhead said. “We’ll probably close either on Sundays or Mondays, which is still to be decided.”
For more information, visit The Card Locker Facebook page or call the store at 636-465-0211.