Do you remember the feeling of opening your first pack of collectible cards?
Jon Doell and Colby Wall aim to provide that feeling of excitement for new collectors and to give seasoned collectors a place to show off their collection and expand it with their rebrand of Winkler Video into WV Cards — a fresh face for a store with deep community ties.
WV Cards offers sports cards, trading card games, and collectibles.
Doell and Wall took over the store in early November of 2023. The previous owner, Randy Rietze, was a fixture in the community of collecting and movie rentals in the Pembina Valley. Rietze, who ran Winkler Video and Randy's Cards for many years, was known for his business acumen and his sports knowledge — many people with interest in cards and collectibles or movies crossed paths with Rietze.
“[O]ur whole lives we knew [Rietze], and I can remember him bringing videos of WrestleMania back for my brothers and me to watch when we were really young,” says Doell. “We thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and I started buying . . . comic books and hockey cards from him like so many other people back in the late 80s, early 90s.”
When he was growing up, Doell lived next door to Rietze.
“I can clearly remember being probably 12 and walking home from school and just thinking about what a cool job the guy who lived next to me had, and [I] just loved all the things about that. I remember exactly where I was and I was thinking 'someday if I could ever be so lucky, I would have a store just like that,’ and I'm just lucky enough that now I get to live out the dream of that 12-year-old.”
Wall also has fond early memories of renting movies and buying cards from Rietze. In the wake of Rietze’s passing, Doell and Wall are picking up where he left off in fostering a community for collectors. For the pair, the updated name of the store is meant to embrace a new chapter while still being mindful of its roots.
“We wanted a name that kind of honoured the tradition of the business [and] kept that memory alive in us . . . in a way that we weren't also getting people calling us and asking us about season 7 of Little House on the Prairie,” laughs Doell. “[We] kind of established what we are in the community, and that's going to be a cards [and] collectibles kind of a hobby store; [we’ll] move away from the videos and into what our vision of the story is.”
Wall says that WV Cards seeks to create a space for collectors to gather.
“We're slowly cleaning [the store] out and getting it a little bit more homey . . . so we can maybe even put some tables in there [and] offer some trade nights for sports. [We want to] get the sports guys down there, trade some cards, open some cards, get the TCG players there, [and] have some game nights . . . and just get more people in the community involved in it.”
Doell says that WV Cards “really wants to be a fun place for [people] who like the [collecting] hobby to be able to come . . . and just talk about cards or sports or comic books or trading cards.”
WV Cards will have its grand reopening week from June 25th – June 28th. Through the week, Doell and Wall say there will be in-store sales and giveaways on their Instagram page leading up to the official grand reopening on June 28th. Children who bring their parents in on the 28th will receive a gift from WV Cards.
Wall says that it has been enjoyable to get to know people since the purchase of the store and that WV cards is looking forward to meeting even more people who are interested in collecting.
"[O]ne thing we want to stress is that we want this store to be about the community. We want people to feel comfortable coming in [even if] it's just talking about cards if you're not buying something that day. Just come meet us and show us your collection. We always love to look at those and kind of share in the enjoyment of collecting.”
Ultimately, Doell and Wall are contributing to the well-entrenched tradition of collecting in the Pembina Valley.
“I think the message is that collecting is fun,” says Doell. “[W]e hope that we can put people together, because half the fun of collecting is sharing it with other people, and we want to be a place that's actively involved with that in the community.”
See WV Cards’ Instagram page (wv_cards_collectibles) and visit their storefront at 254 Main Street in Winkler.
