Real Sportscards brings card collecting to downtown Waupun

Tom Kulczewski needed some extra income in 2016 with a fourth child on the way, so he decided to try his hand at selling sports cards online.

At the time, he had no idea it would lead to a retail store and business partnership with Ryan Holland called Real Sportscards, which today employs 30 people full time and ships cards worldwide.

Selling cards online involves buying a box of sports cards that is offered to buyers before the box is opened in a livestreamed video called a card break. Card values can vary widely, with boxes potentially including various souvenir cards, numbered cards and autographed cards.

Card breaks were relatively unknown outside the collector world a decade ago but have since grown into a giant industry.

When he started, Kulczewski was working as a facilities manager for Fort Atkinson School District and doing card breaks at night on Facebook.

“I was basically working two full-time jobs,” he says, which led to a decision to move into the card business full time.

Kulczewski initially worked from home, which proved challenging as his business and family grew. By 2019, the card business was operating in the basement of a home they had built in Brownsville.

“The industry had been rising since 2014,” Kulczewski says. “In 2019, it was in a really good place.”

But then came the COVID-19 pandemic, and card collecting experienced explosive growth. Demand was so high, Kulczewski says, he was working 20-hour days and had employees who would come and go from his basement to help.

“Looking back, that was crazy,” he says. It also led to the realization that a brick-and-mortar store would be a good investment.

Michelle and Tom Kulczewski of Real Sportscards were honored by Envision Greater Fond du Lac and the Waupun Chamber of Commerce in fall of 2022.

He found an historic building at 324 E. Main St. in downtown Waupun that needed plenty of work. Excel Engineering was hired to turn the original 1892 drug store into a modern retail shop.

The business opened in fall 2022 and includes retail displays, space for the online operation and room for events like a “trade night,” which earlier this year drew around 70 people.

“The thing about this hobby is there’s so many ways to collect,” Kulczewski says.

He says it is a very inclusive business with price points for all customers and products that match their interests.

“We’re getting people to drive an hour to buy cards,” Kulczewski says, adding that brand awareness is growing, especially in the Madison market. He said it’s added to the buzz in the community. “Downtown Waupun has really turned a corner in the last year.”

Kulczewski expects the industry to keep growing, especially since it has started to draw interest and investment from card companies themselves, as well as from various sports leagues.

Real Sportscards is evolving with the industry too. The company worked with Nerdery to launch The Uncommon App, which allows card trading to move away from social media platforms.

According to a press release in February, Real Sportscards expects to save 10% to 20% in operating costs through automation using the app. It also will free up staff time to produce more live sales events, thereby increasing revenue.

Kulczewski said the key to Real Sportscards’ success has been a willingness to treat card collecting as a business. And on the eve of the National Sports Collectors Convention in July he said his hard work has been rewarded with the relationships he’s made.

Article originally posted on Insight in Business