Sunday, January 15, 2012

Marty's Sports Card Exchange Superstore

A few weeks ago, before the end of last year, I took my wife to Chattanooga for a few days away to celebrate our 22d anniversary.  We got a nice suite and went our own ways.  She brought her sewing machine and spent the time quilting.  I headed to the library for some baseball research.  Oh, we did some stuff together.  Dinner at P.F. Changs.  A bit of shopping.  Dinner at Olive Garden and then the movie Moneyball.  I was able to head out to a card shop not far from the hotel.

I've showed some of the packs that I bought there in posts earlier this month.  Now I get to show you the store.


I got there about 45 minutes before they were scheduled to close.  The store was spacious, with lots of memorabilia for sale.


Jerseys, helmets, prints, cards.  Lots of cards.


The owner, Marty, asked if I was interested in anything.  Standard line: "Hershisers".  Then I added: "But I'm guessing that based on the selection of cards you have out that you probably don't have boxes sorted by players."  Marty replied: "Yep.  That's right.  There might be a rookie or something in the baseball rookies box."


The baseball rookies box was near the boxes of vintage football, racing, and basketball.  They were stuffed with more modern era hits.  I don't quite consider cards from the 1980s as vintage.  A few cards from the 1960s were sprinkled in, but nothing caught my eye.  The prices seemed fair enough, but nothing really grabbed my attention.


Marty and his wife have plenty of modern wax, as well as boxes of much older product.


It wasn't quite closing time, but Marty asked if I wanted to buy anything because they had a meeting to attend and then were going on the road.  I snagged a few packs from the dollar box.  Marty included the tax in the price.  I asked if I could take a few photos and put them up on the blog.    His wife said yes.  I asked if they had an internet presence.  She said, "No.  We use the internet sometimes, but not too often."

Based on the customer traffic I saw, which was considerable for the end of the day, right before a major holiday, this is one old school brick and mortar store that isn't going away anytime soon.  Next time you're passing through Chattanooga, give them a call to make sure they're open and say "Hi" to Marty.

Marty's Sports Card Exchange Superstore
6851 Lee Hwy, Chattanooga, TN 37421
423-648-7037 (map)

1 comment:

  1. Mark, I've been stopping by Marty's shop for a few years now when I'm up visiting the in-laws in North Georgia. Simply put, one of the best shops i've had the pleasure to deal with. Marty and Hazel are always accomodating and they have some of the best product and prices hands down. I'm glad you recognized them in this blog and can only hope that anyone in the Chattoanooga area, whether living or passing through stops in and says hi.

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