The most decorated quarterback of all time is taking his talents from the gridiron to Windy City retail.
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Tom Brady is opening a new sports card and memorabilia shop at 1027 W. Addison St., across from Wrigley Field, CardVault by Tom Brady. The store will be the company's sixth location and its first outside the East Coast. The Chicago location will open Aug. 1 as Brady's company sets its sights on aggressive expansion throughout the country.
“We're excited to open our doors in the heart of Chicago — a city rich in sports history and home to one of the most passionate fan bases in the world,” Chris Costa, co-founder of CardVault by Tom Brady, said in a release.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion acquired a 50% stake in CardVault in February, adding his name to the company as part of the deal. The plan for expansion is about one store per month, Brady told Fox Business in April.
Brady told the outlet that the company intends to continue to move west in its expansion. CardVault by Tom Brady currently has two locations in Massachusetts, one in Connecticut, one in New Jersey and another in New York.
The chain is eyeing markets from coast to coast and potentially the UK, Costa told Sports Collectors Digest.
“We have a number of other locations in major markets near flagship locations around the country,” Costa said. “We’re not announcing those yet, but they’re in the works. You’re going to see CardVaults spanning America by the end of this year.”
Many of the locations have small footprints in areas adjacent to sports traffic. The card shop at the American Dream megamall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is just 1,200 SF.
The global sports trading cards market size is to expected to grow from about $13B in 2023 to $27.5B by 2033, according to a report from Spherical Insights.
“That’s what it’s all about, man. Creating new fans, creating people who love this industry but also love sports,” Brady told Fox Business. “I think for me it started with a love of sports and the logical thing at my age was to collect cards and now here we are 40 years later ... We want to grow it to the best possible business we can.”
