State of Local Card Shops 2026

1. 3,989 qualifying local card shops operate across 1,289 US municipalities.
2. 16% of shops run a buylist or buy collections — selling locally is a real option in most metros.
3. 33% of shops carry Pokémon and 23% carry sports cards; 26% stock Magic: The Gathering.
4. 85% of shops have a working website, but only 0% maintain an active social profile we could verify.
5. 24% of shops host organized play — the local game store remains the hobby's event infrastructure.
6. 477 recurring card shows have 948 confirmed upcoming dates; 33% are free admission, averaging 191 vendor tables.
7. The median shop holds a 4.7 public rating across 1,135,548 total reviews — local card retail is unusually well-loved.

Services are verified from each shop's own website where possible, so these are floors, not ceilings — shops that don't publish a buylist online aren't counted even if they buy over the counter.

85% of local card shops have a working website and 100% publish their hours, but only 0% maintain a social profile we could verify from their own site. The median shop holds a 4.7-star public rating — collectors love these stores, but a large share remain hard to find online. That gap is the reason this directory exists.

477 recurring shows have 948 confirmed upcoming dates on the calendar. 33% are free admission, and shows that publish table counts average 191 vendor tables. The busiest show states: California (52), Texas (36), Florida (26), Arizona (22), Indiana (22). Browse the national show calendar.