The Tenth Inning Card Store Goes the Extra Frame for Collectors in Virginia

Very few card shops provide for their customers what The Tenth Inning does for collectors along the east coast of Virginia. Boxes, packs, modern, vintage, sports, non-sports, TCG, comic books, memorabilia, pop culture posters and even vinyl, anything and just about everything a collecting enthusiast would want can be found at their Hampton location. Without purposefully trying, The Tenth Inning mirrors what the National provides without the frustration.

As some shops spread their proverbial wings too far forgetting the core point of a sports card store, The Tenth Inning hasn’t forgotten the focal point – singles in all sports for collectors in seemingly every era and by every manufacturer, coupled with a welcoming experience.

The Tenth Inning has been a landmark for collectors ranging from Richmond to Virginia Beach, and beyond, for 47 years. Started by Don Harrison and moved to a bigger location to house even more cards and collectibles, for current owner Debra Gilliam and partners since 2022, it is more than a business, it is a family affair.

Interview

How and when did you get into being a store owner of collectibles?

“I used to have a small antique shop. I noticed parents that brought their kids were distracted by their kids. I put in comic books and baseball cards, common things for them to buy. In two months, they took over my shop. I found that kids had more disposable income than their parents. After that, parents were not distracted by their kids when shopping and their kids were thrilled.

“That started customers asking, ‘Could you buy some of my old ones.’ I thought, ‘Wow, yes, I can.’ Organically, that is how my shop switched.

“I drew interest in sports by following my grandkids, for the most part, and learned about players was from my grandchildren. They have been collecting off and on for years. That is how I met the former owner of The Tenth Inning (Harrison).

“One day Mr. Harrison came into my shop. I didn’t have many cards, just what I was buying from the kids and from parents. I had two boxes; he asked, ‘How much are they?’ I told him the different prices.

“He replied, ‘I don’t have time to look through them. How much for the boxes? I will give you $800.’

“I told him that I only had $40 invested, but I said yes to the deal. That was a huge profit. We did it; he gave me eight $100 bills. That was the origin story of me buying and selling cards.”

Even though The Tenth Inning is a big store, it has a family feel to it. Who else is involved in the business?

“My daughter, Katie (Valdez), my son-in-law Partick (Valdez), and my boyfriend Jim Watters. I am one-fourth of the owner of the store. I run the shop because I am retired. They have great jobs with a 401K and paychecks. I am the logical one to run the shop. My grandson, Graham, he’s 16, he works in the store on Saturday.”

The Tenth Inning truly has something for everyone. How did you go about setting up the store for collectors?

“A lot of it was based on inventory, what we bought and what we already had. In the hierarchy, vintage baseball was the biggie; that was most of our inventory and things with that like memorabilia. Then we added things we liked that would sell part of the décor. Some of those items are still here.

“The thing we didn’t realize was that would change. Some things that didn’t sell we pivoted away from for space. For example, NASCAR. We had a lot of nice NASCAR display pieces and cards. It lost its charm or something; it stopped selling. We put half of that in storage for years from now when it, hopefully, all comes back.

“When we replaced that space, not like we had a spreadsheet, it just organically changed. Some of those changes were not related to sports; they worked their way in.

“An example, my daughter and I bought a small collection of comic books from a gentleman that walked in. All the comic books were nice and bagged. As we were getting the things out of his car, he had vinyl record albums. He asked if we knew anyone who would buy these. He mentioned he bought them at a yard sale.

“Katie said, ‘We’ll buy them.’ I asked her, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘I will buy them then.’ I said, ‘No, we’ll buy them.’

“Then we put them out; people see them and want to sell or want to buy them. That is already successful for us. Def Leppard to Peter, Paul, and Mary, it sells. It is about things that people remember. They remember the album covers and reading the liner notes. When I play Simon and Garfunkel in the store, everyone is signing along under their breath; that is really cool to see. Hard rock is what really sells.”

Each area in the US has a niche that does well based on local professional and collegiate teams; which sports, teams, and/or players sell really well at The Tenth Inning?

“The Tidewater Tides and the Admirals. The funny thing is, we sell a lot of soccer cards. Kids who are playing soccer are interested in the cards. They imagine themselves as soccer stars. It is a cool thing.

“People look back at the teams like the Virginia Squires (basketball); I sell a lot of their stuff. Teams from other cities and states, we sell online or trade with other dealers to keep things moving.

“For example, Jackson Holliday, we sell a lot of his cards. He started with the Tide; he got called up to the Orioles and he is doing really well along with younger brother, Ethan. I got interested in him because of my 12-year-old granddaughter. She thought he was 12 or 13. She liked him, so I bought cards for her, and his cards sell.”

What are some of the buying trends you have noticed from your customers?

Usually, what is in season sells. Baseball is always in season. The other thing we do is observe our customers; they push us to what we pivot to. We are trying to carry more new stuff, that is very popular and expensive. That is a challenge. It is hard to sell a $150 box of cards. It seems wrong, but that is the cost.

“People don’t know what they love when they walk in…. sometimes it is a program or a little statue of a player they remember. It is not all vintage, but it all has that feel.

“We bought a collection of ‘50s baseball cards and with that a small collection of football cards – vintage football is not nearly as popular as baseball. People are still drawn to baseball. A lot of it is name recognition, football is not always like that.

“Some of it grows organically, we don’t push anyone in a direction, but we watch them. We saw NASCAR disappear. We were surprised by vintage and non-sports items like Elvira, The Monkeys, and Three’s Company. It reminds them of what they loved a long time ago.

“We bought considerable amounts of non-sports cards in the beginning; they were not in the store before. The store was pretty much strictly baseball, but we branched out from there. We buy anything that is a bargain. My daughter bought Funko Pops, they make a nice decoration. It adds character around the shop. We have Wheaties boxes. They look great but they don’t sell, but people are touched by them when they see them. It is a great part of the charm of the shop. They still have Wheaties in them, maybe that is why they don’t sell (laughs).

“The diversity of product in our store, some are really surprised by the things they find in here. That is kind of why the shop is organized in a non-traditional way. You may find things not in the same line when you walk down an aisle. They may buy kumquats that they didn’t know they wanted (laughs). When they see it, it strikes them. It is cool to watch.

“People are happy when they walk in and happy when they walk out, it is very rewarding for me. They tell me, this is our favorite place, but they can’t always articulate why but you can see it.”

How can customers find you online?

“Google is our friend. When people come to our town, they search for sports cards, we are at the top of their list. Google has called us a number of times to sell us an account, but I tell her, ‘I would love to contribute but we are organically at the top of your list.’ Most people come in after looking us up. We’ve had no negative reviews.

“We have one customer that comes down every summer. He said to us the last three times he visited, ‘I drop them off and come here. They go to the beach; I look forward to coming here all year.’

“I’m not sure his wife likes us but he is a good customer and an ambassador for our store. He tells people about us. He says we are the best in the country; I like that. I don’t think it is true, but we do like that.”

The Tenth Inning is located at: 3305 W Mercury Blvd, Hampton, VA 23666.

Follow The Tenth Inning on Facebook.