понедельник, 17 сентября 2012 г.

Entrepreneur reopens sports-card shop in Central Point, Ore. - Mail Tribune (Medford, OR)

Byline: Greg Stiles

Mar. 1--CENTRAL POINT -- Mike Odinwaller goes from collector to dealer today when he reopens JJ Sports Cards at 235 E. Pine St.

The 28-year-old former construction worker says he was preparing a sports memorabilia Web site when he found out Chris McCormick had the shop up for sale.

That was in December. On Jan. 20 he took possession, closed up shop and started remodeling.

The once plain walls are now decorated by the works of local wildlife artist Ed Chance and martini-themed artist Michael Godard. But the primary theme remains sports collectibles, says Odinwaller who began collecting in 1983.

'My original intent was to start a Web site and then open a card store and storefront after I was in business a couple of years,' Odinwaller says.

The standard sports cards share space with autographed pictures, game-used cleats, batting gloves, game jerseys, along with framed lithographs.

Odinwaller worked through night until 4:30 a.m. Tuesday pricing cards and was back in trying to get things in working order at 7:30.

'I have a good standing local group, that's religious about and loyal to this store,' Odinwaller says. 'We're going to be a steady long-term.'

He says Thursday afternoon and evening trading sessions, where collectors can come and swap their cards without fees will continue.

Odinwaller is heavy into baseball collections and former Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr. Football memorabilia, however, has overtaken baseball.

'Football is the biggest show now and collectors are fans of particular players,' Odinwaller says. 'They are Roger Staubach or Emmitt Smith or Joe Montana fans. The retired players have the best sales.'

He has an eBay account and is set up to sell to Asian customers.

'We're one of the few stores willing to handle the special codes to do foreign sales,' he says. 'Not everyone wants to deal with it.'

JJ Sports Card founder Jordan Kramer opened the store in 1995. He sold the shop to his brother-in-law Chris McCormick in January 2005 to pursue real estate sales full time.

Kramer says the key to making a go of it financially in a small town is to create excitement. Something to create a stir as the shop did when it hosted Brooklyn Dodger Hall-of-Famer Duke Snider in December 2001.

'If Mike can make it exciting and fun, it will be a great place to hang out,' Kramer says.

'When I first started shop, it was only open 3 to 6:30 and I still made a decent income. It just depends on how you create excitement and who's behind the counter.'

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