Sports Trading Cards UK Owner’s Business is Thriving
When Jamie Walton opened his Sports Trading Cards UK hobby shop two and a half years ago, customers were granted access by appointment only.
Requests became so frequent that in Q4 of 2023, Walton decided the store needed regular business hours.
Sports Trading Cards UK offers a comfortable setting with couches, a television, and even a coffee machine. Cards and memorabilia, of course, envelope the appealing shop.
“It’s a bit of a safe space for people to come and talk about cards,” Walton said.
Sports Trading Cards UK is about an hour’s train ride outside central London in Edenbridge. Walton’s store is only one of two hobby shops in or around London. Kaboom Cards, which is about a year and a half old, has a shop in London.
Sports Trading Cards UK owner Jamie Walton started his company online before expanding to a brick-and-mortar store in London about 2 1/2 years ago. (All Photos Courtesy of Jamie Walton)
According to Ian Foster, Topps senior director of marketing and digital content, only about 30 hobby shops are located in Europe.
“That’s crazy small, but that just shows how young the market is,” Foster said.
This untapped region overseas for trading cards and collectibles is gaining traction. However, brick-and-mortar shops can present a big challenge.
“Real estate here is expensive, so it’s expensive to put a lease on a shop in Europe,” Foster said. “That’s probably the difference compared with the United States. And because we’re such an immature market, I think what we’re seeing is people are more likely to be online stores or breakers than they are hobby shops.”
Times They Are A-Changin’
Walton started a website a little over five years ago to sell cards. About six months into the journey, the pandemic hit. Cards boomed. Collectors were drawn to purchasing online. With the way of life seemingly back to normal, European collectors now have an itch to interact and buy cards in person. That provided Walton the opportunity to open his physical store. But hobby shops overseas are still in their infancy.
“I think it’s going to take quite a while to grow that,” Walton said. “Card shows, there’s enough people that want that face-to-face time. But you can only have so many card shows a year. So, over time, I think the card shop and the face-to-face time will grow as The Hobby grows. It will just be a slightly different trajectory from how it is in the US. We’re 70 years behind.”
With interest in The Hobby growing, more shops will be popping up in England later this year. Recently, Sports Cards Direct opened in Plymouth, England, five hours from Sports Trading Cards UK. Walton noted a shop opened its doors in July not too far from his location; another store to the north of Sports Trading Cards UK will be coming later this year.
“Regionally, it should work well for The Hobby,” Walton said. “There will be more exposure across the country.”
A Little Bit of Everything
Sports Trading Cards UK, open Monday-Friday, offers its clientele a little bit of everything.
The store displays a large selection of sealed products—packs, blasters, and hobby boxes—singles in showcases and what shop owners in the United States call a dollar bin. Walton tries to acquire new products as close to release day as possible. However, dealing with customs and other restrictions in shipping from the US becomes difficult.
“We’ve grown crazily over the five years in terms of we try to sell everything,” Walton said. “We try to offer every sport and configuration of product that we can. Everyone has a certain budget or interest, so we’re trying to really grow this sport as wide as possible.”
Soccer is easily Walton’s top-selling cards at his shop. But it hasn’t always been that way.
“We couldn’t give soccer cards away four years ago; it’s crazy,” Walton said. “Over time, it’s grown and grown. It’s phenomenal, to be honest.”
Walton noted that the NFL is the second-best seller. It’s become extremely popular overseas thanks to annual games played in London and Munich. The NBA comes in third, followed by WWE/UFC cards. MLB is close behind. The NHL, Garbage Pail Kids, golf, and Star Wars round out the order of top products sold at Sports Trading Cards UK.
Walton foresees a bright future for The Hobby in Europe. There’s so much room for expansion.
“If you asked on average 100 football fans if they know anything about football cards, I’d be surprised if more than five really know what they are still,” Walton said. “There’s still a lot of education, a lot of learning, and a lot of growth. … The next few years will be super exciting.”
