New sports card and collectible shop opening in State College, joining national card craze
A new sports card and memorabilia shop is preparing to open later this month in State College, what would be a one-of-a-kind store in Centre County for collectors who enjoy a hobby that regained popularity after the coronavirus pandemic.
Nittany Cards Plus, 1631 S. Atherton St., is targeting the last week of January to open, owner Jason Dambach said. It’s believed it would be the only sports card shop in Centre County.
The former State College Spikes executive’s shop is stocked with cards and collectibles from all four major sports, everything from individual cards and box sets to autographed jerseys and memorabilia. He also plans to offer some soccer cards.
Some cards will be offered for as little as $1, while some boxes could cost upward of $1,000. Most of the cards available on the store’s opening day will be modern, but the first-time business owner said the shop will ultimately be “whatever customers want.”
Put it all together and Dambach said he hopes the business will become a hub for sports card and collectible enthusiasts in central Pennsylvania.
“I’m very much a people pleaser in that I really want people to come in here and like what they see. If they don’t, I hope they tell us because we want to fix that,” Dambach said. “The biggest thing that I’m anxious about is (learning) what the customers want and then reacting to that. There’s some unknown. You think you know what people want as a business owner, particularly in retail, but the customers will tell us that and we’ll react to that. There is a little bit of an unknown in that, but at the same time it’s exciting to be able to execute that and pivot the way that our customers want us to pivot.”
Dambach’s entry into the national collector card craze is in some ways unsurprising. The man who still remembers the first box of cards he received as a child from his grandfather spent about 25 years in the sports industry before looking for a business opportunity.
It was a natural merger, especially after the pandemic when people rifled through attics and hoped to find something in their old card collection that could be the hobby’s next gem.
“If there were two things that I was passionate about when I was a kid it was sports broadcasting — because I knew I always wanted to do that — and card collecting. That started when I was 7 years old,” Dambach said. “My entire life growing up, particularly up until about 18 years old, cards were everything to me.”
Dambach said conversations about starting a business began in fall 2022, giving him the past year-plus to learn more about the market and find a location in Happy Valley.
Some sports cards are bought and sold at fluctuating values, similar to how stocks are bought and sold. Collectors can double as investors and vice versa, using sports cards as an asset similar to artwork or coins.
“So much has changed over time. It really is much more of a business than it used to be,” Dambach said. “People when they come in and buy, they kind of have an idea in the back of their mind how they want to liquidate it themselves down the road.”
Dambach didn’t hesitate to share he signed a 5-year lease for the about 1,400-square-foot space, saying he found it important to disclose that information because it “shows that you’re in this to build something long term.”
He and his wife, Erica, the Penn State women’s soccer coach, live in Boalsburg and “don’t plan to go anywhere anytime soon,” he said.
“I want to be doing this until I’m in my 70s, past the time my kids are through school and through college,” the father of two said. “I really want this to be sort of a legacy to pass on.”
As the business matures, Dambach said he expects to offer consignment and grading reviews. He also plans to use the shop as a way for people to buy, sell or trade their cards.
He didn’t express much of an appetite to buy anyone’s personal collections during the shop’s infancy, but said he will consider buying individual cards as things move forward.
The business is expected to be open about 45 hours per week, Monday through Saturday. Programs and promotions for children — like trade nights and offering free cards on a regular basis — are planned, as are autograph signings from coaches and athletes.
“Yes, as a business owner, the idea is to sell, make money, pay the bills and further our business,” Dambach said. “But at the same, if a kid can come in even without having to spend money and they can walk out with a handful of cards, that’s as important of an investment as if they spend $5.”
