When he was younger, Chris Erickson spent much of his spare time on eBay getting involved in the buying and selling of LEGOs and other collectibles, and he has since graduated to owning his own store where he can do so for a living.
Showroom Collectibles has been in business in Vancouver for almost two years, and has been growing continuously since it came into being. Knowing Erickson’s background, it becomes clear that the business has succeeded largely in part to the owner’s knowledge of the trade.
“Ever since I was a little kid, my family would have these massive garage sales, either my mom and dad or my grandparents,” recalled Erickson. “We were known for those garage sales. We had people knocking on our door in the middle of winter asking ‘when’s your next garage sale?’ My mom would buy and sell toys on eBay and she’s been doing it for the last 15 or 16 years. Even when I had a job, on the side I’d buy and sell stuff too, either on eBay or Craigslist. It was kind of inevitable for me to get into what I’m doing now. Once I opened the store I realized this was my destiny. I’ve been doing it for so long that this makes sense.”
Challenges
Before establishing Showroom Collectibles’ brick-and-mortar retail space in 2013, Erickson said that his main challenge was simply finding a site for the business (most places wanted a longer rental commitment than he did, and many of the prices at the time were relatively exorbitant). Once he found his perfect location (off of Northeast 78th, right off Highway 99), he said the challenges were few.
“The good thing was that I didn’t have a lot of challenges in the beginning. Without knowing it, I had been stockpiling so much inventory that the only challenge was finding a place where the rent was a decent amount,” Erickson said.
When it comes to marketing the business, Erickson said that he has done some paid advertising and has posted ads on Craigslist and Facebook. Additionally, he said other local businesses have been keen to help him out; he has fliers in shops in Vancouver and Portland, even as far down south as Milwaukie.
“Other local businesses help me and I help them,” he said.
Internet vs. in-store
At the beginning, Erickson said, most of his sales came from online shoppers, but now in-store purchases are outnumbering Internet purchases – so much so that Erickson said his most pressing issue is finding and hiring new staff.
“It’s been really busy in the store, and that’s why I need to hire employees to help deal with that really essential stuff,” Erickson said. “I guess that would be my next challenge.”
Popular products
When Erickson opened Showroom Collectibles, he was certain the shop’s LEGO-related inventory would easily outsell everything else. As it turned out, the most popular items have consistently been action figures. However, rather than simply focusing on one or two brands of collectibles, he’s tried to cover all the bases.
“I’m like a one-stop shop,” said Erickson. “I want to have everything: action figures, movie posters, art, et cetera. I’m finding out that there’s a lot of other stuff in this area that’s very popular. I’m still figuring out what’s good in this market.
“It helps that in this area, there’s no other stores that do what I do,” he added.
So what is Showroom Collectibles’ rarest and most valuable item?
“I have some vintage Star Wars figures that are still brand new, in their packaging. Those are pretty rare to come by,” Erickson said. “I also have some Ghostbusters props, those are pretty expensive but not that old – they’ve only been around for a couple years. They’re just sitting in the store. The Star Wars stuff, especially the vintage stuff from the ‘80s, I’ve got some of that in there. Those are definitely some of the more expensive collectibles.”
