Early Tuesday morning Trade Oak Park, a trading and sports card store and lounge, owner Matthew Greenwell got the news every business fears: there was a burglary at his store.
Around 4 a.m. on Oct. 13, Oak Park police arrived at Greenwell’s home to notify him of the incident, and he quickly went to the business at 163 S. Oak Park Ave. and prepared himself for the worst.
When he saw the damage, he said it was not as bad as it could have been, but it was still devastating. The front door was pried open with a crowbar, and the front two cases had been smashed. The cards inside that were stolen are worth an estimated $30,000.
The crowbar was left inside, there was blood from what is assumed to be an injury sustained when the glass was broken, and police were able to obtain fingerprints, according to Greenwell.
“There’s hope that these people will be caught,” Greenwell said. “Whether or not we get any inventory back, it’s probably a very long shot, but no one was hurt and none of the exterior windows were broken, so these are all really positive things.”
Similar thefts have occurred at multiple card shops around the Chicago and west suburban area including Heroes Sports Cards in North Riverside, Bridgeport Hobby in South Chicago, and Elite Sports Cards and Comics on North Harlem Avenue.
Greenwell said the increase in participation around the hobby and awareness of how valuable items can be, mixed with the current state of the economy, can “bring out bad actors” and make card shops a “natural target.”
“I think card shops and collectors, we have to reconcile with that and understand that and protect ourselves from that while at the same time knowing that it’s inevitable,” said Greenwell.
Trade Oak Park opened less than two years ago, quickly becoming a staple in the community for all ages. However, the store has faced added difficulties with the ongoing construction on Oak Park Avenue.
“It’s very difficult to operate a business where it is a destination business where people do travel from outside of the city limits, Oak Park, the village limits, to come to the shop, where they cannot park or drive to the shop,” said Greenwell.
Through it all it is the people and interactions that keep him motivated, and the strength of the community he has built became apparent with the break-in. Greenwell shared a post on Instagram detailing the dame, which quickly spread to Facebook and he said the amount of support was almost overwhelming.
“It’s blown us away with how immediate the traction was from just the one Instagram post,” said Greenwell. “It was a really emotional day because I’m so devastated that it happened, just the violation of trust and security, but then the silver lining is just how much support that we got right away.”
Greenwell started a GoFundMe which will be shared on social media and through emails they have on file, something he said he was “hesitant” to do as he feels so supported already. He said coming into the store or leaving a Google review are also really valuable ways for people to show support but can’t do so financially.
The burglary is not stopping the store’s momentum as they try to recover, and multiple events are still taking place throughout October and November which can be found on their Trade Collectors app.