We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Frank Caputo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Frank below.
Hi Frank, so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?
Being a shop owner, self care is vital for me in order to avoid burnout. I work long hours, and do it it all for 807 Cards & Collectibles from marketing, sales, inventory and the day to day operations, so its very important for me to take some time for myself and zone out with some music. When I’m to tired at the end of the day to do any hobbies (shopping, playing sports) I will come home and spend a good 20-30 minutes unwinding at the end of the work day listening to music reflecting on what I did during the day / what I have to do for the upcoming days before I do anything else for the day, the louder the better. Music has been a big part of my life helps put me in the mood to work, and I often have it cranked in the shop when its empty, it keeps me alert when I’m all by my self, and it helps separate my work life and home life if a good song is playing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I run a local card shop (LCS) 807 Cards & Collectibles in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, we are the regions only card shop and has the largest selection of cards available for purchase in Northwestern Ontario. We are a new company that first started on eBay in early 2020, then opened a physical location November of 2022. 807 Cards & Collectibles was funded solely on eBay sale, During the hype and resurgence of the hobby in 2020 cause of Covid 19, everyone stayed home and rekindled their passion for the hobby, I started posting cards online and using that income to buy display cabinets for the store, as well as some new computers and even a down payment for our current location. Before starting 807 Cards & Collectibles I was working for Canada’s largest independent media company as a Technical Director, Christmas 2019 a friend / co-worker passed away at work and being upset by the issue and the company’s lack of compassion from the situation, I realized I didn’t want to be the next one dying at work for a company that didn’t care for its employees, I needed a change. When I told my wife I no longer want to be in tv, she asked me what I would do if I won the lottery? I said, start a card shop, she said okay then do it, 2 months later I was laid off after working there for almost 20 years and new now was my time to do this shop so I enrolled back to college to gain some new skills required for this store, 4 months after graduating in spring of 2022 I found a location and nervously opened 807 Cards & Collectibles.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
For me one of the most important for me in this journey is patience, I learned quickly that there aren’t enough hours in a day and doing it all yourself sometimes, its okay for a project not to get done that day or week, and it seems like I’m always waiting for packages that should of been delivered, so learning patience is key. Problem solving is key, when I first started I had issues finding supplies since practically everything was on backorder, when customers were asking for accessories, I quickly had to find another source to get inventory, When I opened the store in November of 2022, I didn’t have a POS system, I had one coming from my Mother In laws old business but had to wait, so I had to find a quick solution, I end up using a computer with some software, and my phone as a payment system before the new equipment came in.
For me the biggest factors for our success is the ability to see trends and attacking them, we offer services in the area that weren’t offered before in regards to grading cards and wanted to make sure we were educated with multiple grading companies to offer the best solution for your cards, whether its for your PC (personal collection) or for investing purposes, we can assist you each step of the way. The best way to do this is to just research your field, when I went back to college I spent my down time learning the field I was entering, for me it was not on how to run a business but more like which product are trending and which players are popular, I spent a month researching on eBay when cards where selling at what times, I list auction items with an end date of Sundays at 6pm. at that time people are more likely to spend money relaxed at home around dinner time, or if I see a high profile card sell at auction for $1200, with a few bidders, I will post that card if I have it at $1150 to catch the interest of the the bidders who didn’t get their card,
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The biggest obstacle right now is space, the location is great, its downtown in the Waterfront District, the marina is a 5 minute walk from the store and Lake Superior is in view of my shop but its small, which worked at first but a month ago, I acquired over a million cards. Hundreds of sealed boxes, pack, and a few cases from the Junk Wax era (1988-1996) along with 24, 5000 ct. boxes totalling 120,000 loose cards, baseball, hockey, football, basketball, and even comic cards, so I’m at compacity, and after chatting with my friend Chopper one day about where to put it all, he stopped me mid sentence and said you’re going to need a bigger bleeping place. He was right, and just after I resigned my lease for another year, I started looking for a bigger, more accessible spot to put 807 Cards & Collectibles. I have a vision on what my next location is going to look like but its very important to find the right spot for this and not rush it, I did find a great spot around the corner from the current location, 900 square feet but the renter decided chose to lease it out to another business so the search is still on.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: 807Cards
- Facebook: 807 Cards & Collectibles
- Twitter: @807Cards
- Youtube: 807 Cards
Image Credits
all photos were taken my myself
