Small stores hoping to take advantage of the Pokémon card craze

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Pokémon is back in a big way, maybe too big. A growing number of stores are choosing not to sell the cards because fans are losing their minds. The latest is Target, which made the announcement just days after four people assaulted a man over the cards. Local gaming stores say this may bring more stock to their business.

“It makes our business better. It should since the supply isn’t going to them hopefully that means there should be more supply going to local comic game stores so we can sell more product to the people and get more people into our stores to see what else we carry,” said Matthew Hunt with Summit Comics and Games.

Owner Matthew Hunt says they keep their cards behind a counter and sell certain amounts per day to give everyone an opportunity. He says they sell out within a week of receiving a shipment, sometimes within a day.

“It kind of breaks my heart when little kids come in to get Pokémon cards, because that’s really who the cards are for, and they can’t buy any because we’re out so we started doing this to make it fair to everybody,” said Hunt.

Pokémon players say they’re disappointed with Target having to suspend sales.

“I’m more so disappointed with other people and the things they did to get Target to get to this point as opposed to Target themselves. Cause regardless of the motivations behind it I am glad it will lead to less employees getting harassed because of it,” said Christopher Antrim, local Pokémon player.

Antrim says he doesn’t buy from larger stores due to low stock.

“I actually don’t get them at Target I usually find them at smaller stores. Sometimes Rite Aids or Walgreens will have them or maybe even book stores because people don’t usually look there. I haven’t really bought at any of the bigger stores,” said Antrim.

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