Young collectors open sports card shop in St. Joseph

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The sports card hobby has become a multibillion-dollar business, and a few young collectors have now opened their own card shop.

Two brothers, Chase and Cade Frieden, and their friend, Kreightyn Johnson, started their own sports card business in St. Joseph called The Card Cave.

"You get into something as a kid, something you enjoy, and you have so much sitting at home that has value," Johnson said. "You kind of have fun with it, and you start small."

The Card Cave opened in late July. The three are just getting started, but they've already learned a lot about what it takes to run a business.

"I feel like we've put our minds to it pretty hard and straight in the past couple of weeks to get it done," Johnson said. "It's growing really well."

Besides buying and selling sports and trading cards, the three have learned more about marketing a business, taking inventory and balancing their budget.

"It takes a lot," Cade Frieden said. "Like comping the cards and seeing how their values go up and down."

Just days into their new business, they've learned that some collectors are looking for unique cards.

"Sometimes people want things that you would never expect," Chase Frieden said. "Like old cards -- I feel like those would do way better than they do. But there are the older cards, and some are like a dollar now. They're less than the newer ones."

The Card Cave is located downstairs in the Polished Porch Antique and Boutique Mall at 3603 Frederick Ave. in St. Joseph.