The Direct Market Juggernaut You Never Knew

Back in the go-go 80s and 90s, one of the most massive movers of the direct market was a 14-store juggernaut that sold millions of dollars in comics, was a broad-based hobby game store, and sold tens of millions of dollars in sports cards.

Then a new owner got busted on a variety of drug and weapons charges, and the chain went through a very public humiliation and twist in the wind until it finally, mercifully, died.

So why have you never heard of Shinder’s?

For the past few years, our immediate family has gone on a trip to Sheboygan. There’s a small collectible shop in town that gives me the same feelings of joy I got as a kid visiting the Schinder’s in Edina.

I never knew the national significance or sordid history that retail chain had!