Card Collectors' Haven: Private Stock Hobby Shop Unites Trading Cards and Community

Marty Salisbury, 66, owns Private Stock Hobby Shop, located at 318 S. Saginaw Rd., next to Eudici's Pizza.

Private Stock is primarily a trading card store that buys, sells and trades a variety of new and vintage cards from classic baseball cards to Pokémon packs. The store also has some sports memorabilia as well as a few drinks and snacks for sale.

"About 90% of what we have is sports cards and other trading cards," Salisbury said. "One thing we try to do a lot of is single cards - so people can find different players and different teams for their collection."

The business has three employees and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The store can be found online at privatestockhobbyshop.com as well as on Facebook. They can be reached at 989-378-0330 or by emailing privatestockhobbyshop@gmail.com.

Salisbury lives in Mount Pleasant with his wife, Andrea. He has two sons, Luke and Adam. His dog, Frankie, has become a mascot for the store, with plenty of customers coming in just to see Frankie.

Salisbury is a 1977 graduate of Shepherd High School. After high school, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1977-81. He retired in August 2023 from Nexteer Automotive in Saginaw.

How long have you owned your business? We got our business started in April 2023, though we didn't open in the brick and mortar location until March 2024.

What inspired you to own this business? I've been collecting cards for about 50 years. After I bought a couple of other collections, my pole barn was almost full and I knew I had to do something. I found this space and worked with the building owner to get a year lease in order to give it a try. Before our year lease was up, we extended it because it's going so well.

What makes Midland a great place to own a business? We've been really happy with the support from everybody here. Whether it's a customer coming in or the businesses next door, it's been very welcoming. We're treated like we've been here for 20 years. We set up a membership service that earns our customers points on their purchases, which then leads to rewards. We have over 610 members signed up in just a little over a year – so we're excited about that.

What are some ways your business is active in the local community? We've put some items into auctions that the Great Lakes Loons put on. We've recently had pictures signed by basketball players from the University of Michigan that we donated. Any time there's something charitable going on, we try to help out.

We're also a proud member of the Midland Business Alliance. What's funny is that after our first breakfast event with the MBA, we left and opened the store for its grand opening. They have been a tremendous amount of help in supporting our business in many different ways. I'm a firm believer that if you're in Midland and you're in business, you've got to sign up (with the MBA).

What are some of your interests and hobbies? Collecting cards is always fun, and I've been doing it for a long time. I've also got an old 1968 Ford Shelby GT500 that I like to mess around with. Otherwise, I really enjoy my family time and spending time with my wife when I can.

What are some local businesses that you work with that help make your business a success? We have a good support system with our neighboring businesses like Eudici's Pizza and Big Apple Bagels. We've also got the post office across the street and we do our banking through Fifth Third Bank just across Saginaw Rd. So we can really walk to just about any place we need to. That always helps us get things done faster.

Final thoughts to share? When we started, we wanted to make the store feel like an old-time barber shop where you could just come in and hang out. You don't have to buy anything, you can sit and chat about cards, sports, whatever. When a game's on, we put it up on the TV and we'll have people come in just to watch. We like that we can have a nice comfortable environment here for people to enjoy.

We also try to have something for everybody here. When kids come in, we never let them leave empty-handed. It's really rewarding to be able to help out with something simple like that.

Max Milne covers community news as community editor at the Midland Daily News. Have an idea for the next Business Matters? Email him at max.milne@hearst.com and let him know!