A Family Legacy in Trading Cards
It’s late morning on a Friday, and Paula Nakata is preparing to open the doors at Paula’s Sports Cards, Etc. That wouldn’t be unusual because Paula did that routine every Friday for 34 years. However, at the end of December last year, Paula “retired” from the sports card business.
“I come to the store every day,” Paula said. “I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and I’ve never had employees besides my sisters, so I’m the only person that’s mostly serviced the customers all these years.”
Paula, 62, recently handed off her shop in Makiki, Hawaii, just outside of Honolulu, to her younger sister, Reyna. She still comes into the store to help with operations, but the hours she spends working aren’t nearly as long.
“It’s been a huge adjustment,” Paula said. “However, I will tell you, the ability to come and go is exhilarating.”
Paula hasn’t had much time to teach and train Reyna about the business because customers are always in and out.
“It’s a nice problem,” Paula said. “My goal is someday for her to do everything.”
Building the Store Up
Paula opened her first card store in 1990, and her sisters, Reyna and Marla, helped with the business for about the first six years. Over time, Paula — who is exuberant, outgoing, and a self-proclaimed workaholic — built her store the right way. She connected with her customers and always made them feel welcome.
“This has been beyond my wildest dreams how this store has been and how business has been and how kind people are to us,” Paula said. “It’s humbling. I hope I bring back to the community the amount that I’ve been given.”
Paula found a niche specializing in Pokémon and rarer boxes in that sector. Cards of athletes from every sport and team have always been good sellers. That’s an advantage of running a card shop in Hawaii where there are no professional teams — customers collect a lot of different things.
Paula and her husband, Keith Suemori, don’t have any kids and planned on retiring early since they were financially stable. On Aug. 15, 2018, Paula posted a sign on her shop door stating that in two years to the day, she would be retiring. But then the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Paula decided to continue working.
“It was for something to do,” Paula said. “COVID lasted like two years after where things were still kind of dicey and not a whole lot to do, and travel was not advised.”
Paula logged her best sales year ever in 2021; the shop hasn’t slowed down much since.
There aren’t too many card stores in the country run by women. Paula feels like it was a huge advantage for her to own a store.
“There are plenty of Michaels and Garys and Jeffs, but to have a woman’s name was big,” Paula said. “I think sometimes people might think, ‘Ah, what could she have.’ But if you have a good reputation, I think it really helps you, because you stick out. When they talk about ‘the lady,’ it’s probably me.”
Getting Up to Speed
When Paula decided to properly retire, she called her niece, Skyler, to see if she was interested in taking over the shop. But Skyler had other career plans. Next, she reached out to Reyna, who jokes with her sister about not being the number-one option.
Reyna left the card shop in the mid-1990s to concentrate on college. After graduating, she used her computer networking degree to get into the video conferencing field. Sports cards went on the backburner. Now 55, Reyna took over the shop after being away from the business for three decades.
“I knew it was going to be challenging, because I’m kind of an introvert,” Reyna said. “When all the customers are in here, it gets a little overwhelming.” With time, though, she’s become more comfortable. “I’m getting more used to it as I get to know the customers,” she said. “I know Paula’s made a lot of relationships and friendships during her career, and I hope to continue that.”
Reyna is trying to build her knowledge in The Hobby. Things have changed quite a bit in the 30 years since last handled expensive cardboard.
“A lot of it is just good customer service that I try to provide,” Reyna said. “Most collectors know what they want. It’s just the newbies that have a lot of questions.”
Paula has been impressed by her sister in the first few months she’s been running the store.
“My sister is absolutely killing it in sales and customer service,” Paula said. “I always joke with people that I’m super friendly, but my sister is pleasant. There’s a difference between friendly and pleasant. She has better manners than I do. The people that come here are used to me.”
Future Plans
Reyna isn’t sure if she’s going to be the one running the shop in the future. She and Paula have another niece, Sierra, who is currently in college and majoring in business. One day, she might be interested in taking over.
It’s important to the sisters that the card shop stays in the family. According to them it’s practically a second home.
“Our family has had a lot of family businesses,” Reyna said. “My grandfather had a refrigeration business, which my uncle and dad worked at and ran. My aunt had a floral shop, which I think all of us worked there at some point. It would be nice if that were to happen.”
A changing of the guard is never simple, but the legacy of Paula’s Sports Cards, Etc. is in excellent hands moving forward.
“Paula definitely left some big shoes to fill,” Reyna said. “But maybe we just try to do our best to keep the store how it is.”
