Saturday, May 4, 2024, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI
This one was a little tough for me after losing five days to Strongsville and being awfully tired the week after Strongsville. Another issue this month is baseball and softball season where I lose vendors who coach their kids' teams.
I did start early contacting my regular vendors and contacting folks on my waiting list. I ended up contacting 30 people on the waiting list in order to obtain 14 new dealers for the show. It always amazes me when the waiting list folks do not respond to my messages. Why go on my waiting list?
So I had to really hustle the week before the show to fill all 185 tables. Once filled, I told a bunch of people to show up the morning of the show with their stuff because I always have no shows. Unfortunately, it was no-show mania the morning of the show. I plugged in five dealers who showed up with their stuff that morning. Glad they showed up! A bunch of the new dealers did not bother to show up. Why reserve the space?
The hardest part of operating a card show is dealing with the no shows. I get guys who pay in advance and still do not show up. It is mind-boggling.
Anyway, Lisa and I hit the road to Oak Creek around 4 p.m. on Friday, May 3. Traffic was heavy with Illinois vacationers heading up north to fish, camp, and hike. We will have to deal with this type of traffic through October. The nice thing is that traffic heading home on Saturday is usually light. The heavy traffic is on Sunday when all the weekend vacationers are heading home.
We arrived at the Salvation Army around 4:45 p.m. Inside the building it was nice and peaceful. The calm before the storm! Soon our helpers Kristy and George arrived. We are now like a well-oiled machine. We had all five rooms set up with dealer name tags on all the tables and chairs by 7:15 p.m. -- a new record!
The crew decided that we would try a new place for dinner and we headed over to the Texas Roadhouse. This is a chain restaurant and I think I ate at one before. I am a carnivore and love menus like the Texas Roadhouse filled with steaks, ribs, and chops. I went with the steak and ribs combo. The steak was great. The ribs were okay. I don't think I would order the ribs again. I am going to try the grilled shrimp next time.
We spent the night down the road at the La Quinta Inn where we also stayed last month. Unlike last month when the hotel was peaceful, the La Quinta was loud as hell all night this month. We had a lousy night of sleep. Poor Lisa, she was really hurting in the morning. Well, that is the last time we stay at the La Quinta. Good thing there are tons of hotels in Oak Creek because it is basically next to Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport.
We arrived at the Salvation Army a little after 7 a.m. on Saturday. We parked in the Target parking lot while the Sal's lot was filled with Weight Watchers people and a few dealers who had started to load in.
Initially, I put my spot on the stage in the Chapel, which is essentially the worst spot in the building. Folks just don't want to go on the stage or they can't see me up there. So we waited until 8:30 a.m. until some space opened up in the back hallway next to my pal Josh Brothers.
I am so glad we moved! Sales were excellent! Woot!
Prior to the show, I reloaded 1963 Post and 1973 Kellogg's. I ended up selling almost all of the Post and all of the Kellogg's. Thanks Scott, who purchased most of it! A lot of my regulars purchased cards like Dean, Bob, Robert, Craig, Kevin, Jeff from Illinois, Jeff from Milwaukee, Scotty, some of my autograph hounds, along with a bunch of new guys, one who just about cleaned out my Exhibits. Thank you everybody!
On the buying front, I dropped some coin on a 1964 Topps Stand Ups Mickey Mantle PSA 4. Thanks Jason for the deal! Cool card!!!
In addition to buying and selling cards, the Oak Creek show has turned into a tremendous social event. I really enjoy seeing all sorts of friends that I've made over the years at card shows like Eric, Willie, Donny, Eddie, John G., the other John who gave Lisa a 1971 Topps Thurman Munson. Thanks John! There was big Mike, along with the other Mike who used to have a card shop in Lake Geneva. Then I saw my old friend Bill Downing and his lovely wife, who drove up from Elgin, Illinois. Great to see you guys! Bill is planning on setting up in Oak Creek soon. He is a clever guy and has devised a sports card bingo game that he plans to unveil at the show soon.
I also saw Stan the Man. Ken and a couple of other guys drove in from Madison. Thanks guys! I saw Terry Huseth. Thanks for coming Terry! Craig D. came up from Lake County, Illinois. Dennis drove up from Joliet, Illinois. He said it is a two-hour drive. Thanks for coming Dennis! Tony D. was there as well.
I also enjoy chatting with all the dealers. A couple of guys who keep me in stitches are Jeremy and Larry. Love those guys! Actually, I love all the dealers. Another guy I gotta single out is Tommy Larson, who not only has the best stuff in the building but he walks around and drops serious cash with other dealers in the building. Thanks Tommy!
Then there is my pal Bruce, who gave me an amazing autographed baseball he obtained at spring training as a kid. Some of the autographs on there include Red Schoendienst, Jack Buck, and Al Hrabosky. Thank you Bruce! I need to get a case for the ball and put it on display in my card bunker. Awesome!
I received more free stuff when one of the guys in the kitchen gave me his brother-in-law's collection of 1990's and early 2000's Packers cards. Lisa and I are thinking that we'll create packs of cards out of the collection and hand them out at future shows to all the kids.
As far as attendance, we broke our string of three months in a row of 1,000-plus attendees, which was to be expected with the nicer weather. Final number was 767, though, once again, I observed customers coming into the show as early as 7 a.m. and those customers were not counted in the attendance totals. The show opens to customers and 9 a.m. and I would appreciate it if all non-dealers arrived at 9 a.m. I may have to start locking people out if this continues.
Another ongoing problem is theft. I really need the dealers to be more vigilant. Guys must place expensive cards in a locked display case. They should not be surprised when this stuff gets stolen when the cases are unlocked or the cards are placed out on their tables with no protection. I gotta get over to Best Buy and start purchasing cameras. I am so tired of the thieves.
A wax dealer in the Chapel observed a guy take a box off his table and try to walk out with it. It was great to see everyone in the Chapel shout and try to chase this guy down. It just happened that one of the dealers in the Chapel knew the guy. She went to high school with him. Below is a photo of Peter Larsen, the alleged thief. Peter Larsen is no longer welcome at the show! If you see him in the building, please come get me or one of our police officers and we will escort him out.
This one was a little tough for me after losing five days to Strongsville and being awfully tired the week after Strongsville. Another issue this month is baseball and softball season where I lose vendors who coach their kids' teams.
I did start early contacting my regular vendors and contacting folks on my waiting list. I ended up contacting 30 people on the waiting list in order to obtain 14 new dealers for the show. It always amazes me when the waiting list folks do not respond to my messages. Why go on my waiting list?
So I had to really hustle the week before the show to fill all 185 tables. Once filled, I told a bunch of people to show up the morning of the show with their stuff because I always have no shows. Unfortunately, it was no-show mania the morning of the show. I plugged in five dealers who showed up with their stuff that morning. Glad they showed up! A bunch of the new dealers did not bother to show up. Why reserve the space?
The hardest part of operating a card show is dealing with the no shows. I get guys who pay in advance and still do not show up. It is mind-boggling.
Anyway, Lisa and I hit the road to Oak Creek around 4 p.m. on Friday, May 3. Traffic was heavy with Illinois vacationers heading up north to fish, camp, and hike. We will have to deal with this type of traffic through October. The nice thing is that traffic heading home on Saturday is usually light. The heavy traffic is on Sunday when all the weekend vacationers are heading home.
We arrived at the Salvation Army around 4:45 p.m. Inside the building it was nice and peaceful. The calm before the storm! Soon our helpers Kristy and George arrived. We are now like a well-oiled machine. We had all five rooms set up with dealer name tags on all the tables and chairs by 7:15 p.m. -- a new record!
The crew decided that we would try a new place for dinner and we headed over to the Texas Roadhouse. This is a chain restaurant and I think I ate at one before. I am a carnivore and love menus like the Texas Roadhouse filled with steaks, ribs, and chops. I went with the steak and ribs combo. The steak was great. The ribs were okay. I don't think I would order the ribs again. I am going to try the grilled shrimp next time.
We spent the night down the road at the La Quinta Inn where we also stayed last month. Unlike last month when the hotel was peaceful, the La Quinta was loud as hell all night this month. We had a lousy night of sleep. Poor Lisa, she was really hurting in the morning. Well, that is the last time we stay at the La Quinta. Good thing there are tons of hotels in Oak Creek because it is basically next to Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport.
We arrived at the Salvation Army a little after 7 a.m. on Saturday. We parked in the Target parking lot while the Sal's lot was filled with Weight Watchers people and a few dealers who had started to load in.
Initially, I put my spot on the stage in the Chapel, which is essentially the worst spot in the building. Folks just don't want to go on the stage or they can't see me up there. So we waited until 8:30 a.m. until some space opened up in the back hallway next to my pal Josh Brothers.
I am so glad we moved! Sales were excellent! Woot!
Prior to the show, I reloaded 1963 Post and 1973 Kellogg's. I ended up selling almost all of the Post and all of the Kellogg's. Thanks Scott, who purchased most of it! A lot of my regulars purchased cards like Dean, Bob, Robert, Craig, Kevin, Jeff from Illinois, Jeff from Milwaukee, Scotty, some of my autograph hounds, along with a bunch of new guys, one who just about cleaned out my Exhibits. Thank you everybody!
On the buying front, I dropped some coin on a 1964 Topps Stand Ups Mickey Mantle PSA 4. Thanks Jason for the deal! Cool card!!!
In addition to buying and selling cards, the Oak Creek show has turned into a tremendous social event. I really enjoy seeing all sorts of friends that I've made over the years at card shows like Eric, Willie, Donny, Eddie, John G., the other John who gave Lisa a 1971 Topps Thurman Munson. Thanks John! There was big Mike, along with the other Mike who used to have a card shop in Lake Geneva. Then I saw my old friend Bill Downing and his lovely wife, who drove up from Elgin, Illinois. Great to see you guys! Bill is planning on setting up in Oak Creek soon. He is a clever guy and has devised a sports card bingo game that he plans to unveil at the show soon.
I also saw Stan the Man. Ken and a couple of other guys drove in from Madison. Thanks guys! I saw Terry Huseth. Thanks for coming Terry! Craig D. came up from Lake County, Illinois. Dennis drove up from Joliet, Illinois. He said it is a two-hour drive. Thanks for coming Dennis! Tony D. was there as well.
I also enjoy chatting with all the dealers. A couple of guys who keep me in stitches are Jeremy and Larry. Love those guys! Actually, I love all the dealers. Another guy I gotta single out is Tommy Larson, who not only has the best stuff in the building but he walks around and drops serious cash with other dealers in the building. Thanks Tommy!
Then there is my pal Bruce, who gave me an amazing autographed baseball he obtained at spring training as a kid. Some of the autographs on there include Red Schoendienst, Jack Buck, and Al Hrabosky. Thank you Bruce! I need to get a case for the ball and put it on display in my card bunker. Awesome!
I received more free stuff when one of the guys in the kitchen gave me his brother-in-law's collection of 1990's and early 2000's Packers cards. Lisa and I are thinking that we'll create packs of cards out of the collection and hand them out at future shows to all the kids.
As far as attendance, we broke our string of three months in a row of 1,000-plus attendees, which was to be expected with the nicer weather. Final number was 767, though, once again, I observed customers coming into the show as early as 7 a.m. and those customers were not counted in the attendance totals. The show opens to customers and 9 a.m. and I would appreciate it if all non-dealers arrived at 9 a.m. I may have to start locking people out if this continues.
Another ongoing problem is theft. I really need the dealers to be more vigilant. Guys must place expensive cards in a locked display case. They should not be surprised when this stuff gets stolen when the cases are unlocked or the cards are placed out on their tables with no protection. I gotta get over to Best Buy and start purchasing cameras. I am so tired of the thieves.
A wax dealer in the Chapel observed a guy take a box off his table and try to walk out with it. It was great to see everyone in the Chapel shout and try to chase this guy down. It just happened that one of the dealers in the Chapel knew the guy. She went to high school with him. Below is a photo of Peter Larsen, the alleged thief. Peter Larsen is no longer welcome at the show! If you see him in the building, please come get me or one of our police officers and we will escort him out.
The following soccer cards were stolen from a dealer set up in Fellowship Hall.
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Pictured below is a CJ Stroud rookie stolen from a dealer in the gym. Please be on the lookout for these cards and contact me if anybody tries to sell them to you. Thank you!
I really bust my tail to put on this show every month and it really takes the wind out of my sails when we have thefts. I just hate it!
I also dislike when dealers complain to me about their sales. I have 120 dealers every month and there are always a handful that complain about their sales. Most guys do very well and have nothing but compliments and truly understand and appreciate my efforts. These complainers are just lousy dealers. If you can't make a profit with 767 customers in the building after spending a paltry 30 bucks for my table fee, then there is something seriously wrong with you and maybe you should reconsider setting up at the show. I have a huge waiting list and there are guys chomping at the bit for a chance to set up at this show.
Despite the thefts and the dealers who complain, I did have a really great day. Next Oak Creek show is slated for June 1, 2024. Once again, I will be going through the waiting list and adding new dealers to the show. To be added to the waiting list, send your contact info to [email protected]. Once on the list, no need to constantly contact me. I will let you know when space becomes available.
In the meantime, I am trucking out to Kalamazoo, MI, on Saturday, May 11, 2024, for the show at the Kalamazoo Expo Center. Kalamazoo is about a three-hour drive for me. I have been eyeing this town for years and am overjoyed to be finally setting up there. I am bringing out my display cases. If anyone wants to see some binders, please let me know.
A huge thank you to the Salvation Army, all my dealers and everyone who attended the show Saturday (except the thieves, you guys suck!).
Now for a few photos from the show...
I also dislike when dealers complain to me about their sales. I have 120 dealers every month and there are always a handful that complain about their sales. Most guys do very well and have nothing but compliments and truly understand and appreciate my efforts. These complainers are just lousy dealers. If you can't make a profit with 767 customers in the building after spending a paltry 30 bucks for my table fee, then there is something seriously wrong with you and maybe you should reconsider setting up at the show. I have a huge waiting list and there are guys chomping at the bit for a chance to set up at this show.
Despite the thefts and the dealers who complain, I did have a really great day. Next Oak Creek show is slated for June 1, 2024. Once again, I will be going through the waiting list and adding new dealers to the show. To be added to the waiting list, send your contact info to [email protected]. Once on the list, no need to constantly contact me. I will let you know when space becomes available.
In the meantime, I am trucking out to Kalamazoo, MI, on Saturday, May 11, 2024, for the show at the Kalamazoo Expo Center. Kalamazoo is about a three-hour drive for me. I have been eyeing this town for years and am overjoyed to be finally setting up there. I am bringing out my display cases. If anyone wants to see some binders, please let me know.
A huge thank you to the Salvation Army, all my dealers and everyone who attended the show Saturday (except the thieves, you guys suck!).
Now for a few photos from the show...
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