A local collectibles store recently opened by two cousins originated from their childhood thrill of breaking open packs of sports cards
Franco Cuglietta and Stephen Pozzebon were born 16 days apart and grew up more like brothers than cousins. The pair have great memories of shopping at local sports card shops, like the former Twin City Card Shop
“It’s just our passion. It just makes you feel like a kid again,” said Pozzebon of collecting sports cards and the thrill of opening a pack and finding something special
They are passing on that love of the hobby to a new generation at the newly-opened One of One Cards & Collectibles shop on Gore Street
Nineteen months ago, while living in London, Ont., Pozzebon had a health scare when he contracted viral pneumonia — something that changed the direction of his life
“I got rushed to the hospital and when I got there they were like, ‘your blood oxygen level is so low’ — I couldn’t breathe the whole time. So, I spent about four days in the hospital on oxygen,” Pozzebon said
Although he has almost fully recovered, Pozzebon found the long hours and night shifts difficult to manage
“I said to myself, ‘Something’s got to change,'” said Pozzebon
Around that time, Pozzebon and Cuglietta began a long-distance YouTube channel together, centred around their love of sports cards, called Bounty Kingz. They livestreamed from their homes at the time, with Pozzebon in London and Cuglietta in the Sault
“Every Friday, we’d rip boxes and do stupid things and act like idiots, right?” said Pozzebon
On a phone call at the time, Cuglietta recalls his cousin saying, ‘I just can’t wait to be around cards.’
“So then the thought hit me, I said, ‘You know what? Why don’t we try our hand and maybe open up a sports card shop?’ Legitimately, that was the whole conversation,” said Cuglietta, who also owns and operates Identity Salon in the east end
Pozzebon said it took his wife about five minutes to say yes to the plan, which required their family to move from London to Sault Ste. Marie
Open for almost a week, Pozzebon said he’s thrilled with the community’s response to the store
“The Sault is incredible. The support and people that came through these doors in the first few days has been unreal. People from high school I haven’t seen since graduation coming in and supporting us and welcoming me home,” said Pozzebon
“They brought their kids in, because of course we’re all old now.”
Pozzebon said some people collect sports cards and collectible card games like Pokemon solely in the hopes of making money finding rare cards, while others chase the feeling you get when you find something rare in a pack
“When you pull it out, you’re going to remember where you pulled it, who you were with and the excitement you felt. It doesn’t matter how many times you look at that card — it’s kind of a nostalgia thing,” he said
The store name ‘One of One’ is actually based on a completely unique card Pozzebon got from a pack a few years ago, which rekindled his interest in the hobby
“I think I paid $50 for the box and I ended up pulling a one of one David Beckham autograph. That’s what got me going again. I’m like, ‘really? You can pull this out of a $50 box?'” he said
One of One even has a table for customers to do their own card breaks and box breaks, if they choose to
