Four hours before Lewis Hamilton and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin were due to cut the ribbon for Friday’s grand opening of the Fanatics Collectibles London flagship store on Regent Street, over 100 people from the U.K. and Europe were already queuing.
First in line was Nem, an avid F1 collector, who claimed pole position at 3:45 a.m.
“I’ve seen worse queues at other events,” he said. “I’ve done double this before for Williams Racing fan events. I’m a mini helmet collector, where I’m trying to collect all the drivers’ autographs and Hamilton’s the only one I’m missing.”
Further along the queue, with an arrival time of 5:30 a.m., WWE fans Kenny and his nine-year-old son Lucas had travelled almost 300 miles from Newcastle in search of elusive boxes of trading cards which had sold out online in minutes.
“We’re here solely for WWE cards,” Kenny said. “We just started collecting when the new Topps Chrome WWE product came out. We’ve only managed to get cards in breaks so far, so we’re looking forward to getting our hands on a box.”
WWE collectors Kenny and Lucas at the opening of the Fanatics Collectibles London Flagship Store. (Photo: Andy Mackie)
By noon when Hamilton arrived, over 2,000 people were wrapped around the entire block, with queues reaching Piccadilly Circus and hordes in front of the store hoping to catch a glimpse of the British Formula 1 legend. The Formula 1 superstar cut the ribbon with Rubin, before opening a box of store-exclusive F1 trading cards that retails for $566. Hamilton stopped for autographs as he was paraded around the store (and yes, Nem got what he came for).
After Hamilton had departed for his next race destination in Miami, the ribbon was replaced with a police line at the entrance, in fears of crowd and store safety, with shelves being emptied by staff as a precaution. It took almost another three hours until more collectors were welcomed to the store.
It was a scene reminiscent of when Apple opened the doors to their first store outside of America back in 2004, and an estimated 5,000 people queued for hours to experience the tech giant’s plunge to disrupt Regent Street.
It quickly became the most profitable shop in London for its size. In the 21 years since, other global brands like Microsoft and J.Crew have been and gone from the shopping mecca, where the average annual rent costs upwards of £1 million for a 5,000-square-foot store on the land owned by King Charles III.
Seven hundred yards south of the Apple store, positioned between Mayfair and Soho, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin thinks he’s found the crown jewels for the collectibles segment of his business.
The crowd that gathered to watch Lewis Hamilton cut the ribbon on the Fanatics Collectibles London Flagship Store. (Photo: imagecomms)
“We don’t even have a store like this in America,” Rubins said. “This is our first store in the world we decided to open here in London.
“In America, there’s more than a thousand hobby shops. And when you look across the rest of the world, there’s maybe a hundred stores. This is really about everyone who comes through and passes the store and open their minds to this. I think it’s gonna be incredible.”
Those passing the store amounts to 70 million people each year. But Fanatics’ challenge is converting a nation where collectibles has only reached the mainstream through sticker book collections for the Premier League, UEFA, and FIFA competitions since the 1970s, whereas trading cards have been collected in America dating back to the 1800s.
“Today in America, it’s a small single digit percentage of people that collect. Here, it’s a fraction of that and this is how we introduce everyone else to the hobby,” said Rubin.
Stepping into the store you see the walls are lined with an eclectic mix of sealed boxes of trading cards, signed memorabilia, apparel, and individual graded cards from soccer to baseball, WWE, Star Wars and more. You can even buy Pokemon and Panini cards, which aren’t under the Fanatics umbrella, a surprise move to showcase competitor products.
“It was an easy decision,” said Rubin. “We’re all about growing the industry and anything we can do to grow the industry, we’re going to do. Pokemon’s an incredible product that my almost five-year-old daughter collects.”
On the shop floor surrounding the array of products is an immersive experience. Tables for opening boxes, a 3D holographic display with star athletes, a 100-inch TV screen to broadcast live sports, a sound-proofed studio for Fanatics Live box breaking shows, and a photograph booth to create your own Topps one-of-one metallic trading card for £20 ($27). All of which prompted curious passersby to wander in days before the grand opening.
“I’ve had people walking through the store. Not realizing it, not being noticed. We’ve seen everything,” head of retail for Fanatics Collectibles Simon Rosenberg said.
For hobby newcomers, in addition to observing the theatre of those brave collectors ripping open boxes of cards that can cost thousands, there’s touchscreens and displays to educate.
“It’s all about education,” said Rosenberg. “And what we find with collectors is actually they like nothing more than to educate other people. You’ll find that as collectors are opening packs, they’re more than happy to educate those who don’t know everything about what’s going on. It’s part of the attraction.”
A touchscreen and labeled card display to help newcomers around the store. (Photo: Andy Mackie)
A clued-up retail staff was also a necessity, which hasn’t come easy in a country with little hobby presence.
“For our store manager position, we had to find somebody that is a incredible collector,” Rosenberg added. “Somebody that is as passionate about the entertainment or the sport that they love. Somebody that’s got a social content creation background. Somebody that is also a retail expert. We needed to find that unicorn.”
Fanatics hope their biggest pull to convert British sports fans to the hobby will be their Premier League trading card and sticker rights, which begins on June 1.
European-headquartered Panini have been the rights holder for the past six years and kept their distribution to online and partnerships rather than any physical stores of their own.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, along with current Premier League stars Dominic Solanke and Tosin Adarabioyo were in attendance at the launch party a day before the grand opening. While Adarabioyo has been deeply involved in the hobby for years now, Solanke confessed to recently being sucked into it.
“I love the thrill of opening boxes. I think I need to change my strategy because it’s gonna be expensive.” said the Tottenham Hotspur striker.
“I mainly collect One Piece anime trading cards at the moment, but I started collecting a bit of football as well. I’ve bought my own cards not long ago. I want to collect all of my cards, so I need to track them all down.”
From left to right: Solanke, Adarabioyo, and Ferdinand at the Fanatics Collectibles store in London. (Photo: Harvey Aspell)
In the middle of the store is a stunning visual centerpiece with a circular walled display of the most high-end trading cards, from a Stephen Curry on-card autograph for $3,500 to a top-PSA-grade Tom Brady rookie card for $8,700. It’s not all four-figure collectibles though, as Lucas shows his dad what would make this landmark day for the European hobby much more memorable; an autographed-relic Panini card of Cody Rhodes for $513 (just don’t tell mum, Kenny and Lucas).
“I’ve been to quite a few hobby shops in America and a few here in the UK and Europe. This is Champions League level. Just because of the detail, you look everywhere, they’ve done it the best they could.” said Harry Reynolds, founder of the London Card Show.
His friend and collectibles YouTuber Jack Whyte added, “People from all over the world will come in. And they won’t leave disappointed.”
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(Top photo of Lewis Hamilton cutting the ribbon: Fanatics)