House of (Baseball) Cards

By Kim Dunbar

If you don’t pay attention, you might miss The House That Tim Built.

“It’s really easy to walk right past it,” said Tim Herron, owner of Tim’s Baseball Card Shop on Western Ave. “It’s one of those stores that’s kind of overlooked a lot.”

The shop is nestled between local businesses and the occasional apartment building, still marked with a hanging banner rather than permanent lettering. However, the modest store has become the stuff of legends: Chicago business owner hits big time with Super Bowl commercial.

During the big game in February, Miller High Life used one of its 30-second commercial spots (which cost a cool three million dollars) to promote four small American businesses. Herron’s was one of them and his small shop turned into an overnight success thanks to three seconds of exposure during the most-watched television program in America.

Well, almost. In reality, Herron’s life isn’t all that different since the commercial. He’s just a little bit overworked.

“Business was decent before the ad,” Herron said. “But now it’s just overwhelming. There is so much you can do in a seven-hour day.”

Herron, who is still the shop’s only employee, prepared for an influx of post-Super Bowl business by recruiting his mother to help out around the store and by stocking his inventory. According to Herron, his suppliers were so elated about the ad that Upper Deck even sent along free trinkets for him to pass out to customers during the shop’s pre-commercial party.

“Everyone in the industry was excited for it,” he said. “There aren’t usually ads for places like this.”

Exposure and advertising for baseball card shops are so rare, that when Miller approached Herron about being in the commercial, he thought it was a scam.

“It was a random thing,” Herron said. “I got a call one day asking if I wanted to be a part of it. They wanted my social security number and I figured it was someone who wanted to steal my identity.”

Herron gave the proposition some thought and sent in his information at the last minute. He decided to give it a shot, even if it did cost him his identity. Luckily, the only thing it cost was a week of business; he was closed for a week while shooting the commercial over five days in California.

Now Herron and his shop are known across the country—and even other parts of the world.

“These kids visiting from Japan came in and wanted to take a photo with me,” Herron said. “The commercial definitely put the store on the map. People used to think I was the comic book store up on the corner, but now they know who I am and that my store is here.”

While a new wave of customers is beginning to visit Tim’s Baseball Card Shop, the store has been a local stop since it opened in 2004. Herron opened his shop when he was 19-years-old, fulfilling a passion that had been burning since his youth.

“I always thought they were neat,” Herron said of baseball cards, which he started collecting when he was younger because they seemed like a good investment of his allowance. “If you buy clothes, you end up throwing them away. Baseball cards are something that always maintain value.”

Jamie Bhatty, who lives two blocks from Herron’s shop, is one of those regular, pre-Super Bowl commercial customers.

“There used to be baseball card shops on every corner,” said Bhatty. “This is the only one open these days. I think there are two card shops in the whole city.”

Herron and Bhatty credit the downfall of baseball card shops to online giant eBay.

“It’s so easy to get any cards from any era on eBay,” Bhatty said.

Herron keeps a close eye on the website, and is sure to price his cards around the same value.

“If customers find out they overpaid for something they could have gotten cheaper online, they probably won’t come back,” he said.

According to Herron, customer satisfaction is one of the secrets of making it in the baseball card industry. He follows a few important guidelines to make sure people come back, like keeping his store hours and always having something new for customers to look at. The business model seems to be working because even in a lagging economy, Tim’s Baseball Card Shop saw its best and most profitable year in 2009.

While Herron plans to open an online store in the near future, he is quite content with the status quo, with one little stipulation.

“I’ll definitely only drink Miller for life,” Herron said.

He reveals a supply of bottles in a mini-fridge below the cash register of The House That Tim Built. No doubt on hand for those overwhelming days. Thanks, Miller.