J&J CELEBRATES 35 YEARS

A childhood love of collecting and trading sports cards inspired Jason Schill and his brother Jim Schill to turn their hobby into a business. This month, they are celebrating 35 years of operating J&J Cards & Collectibles in Waterloo. The business has grown from sports cards to become the region’s go-to spot for everything from board games and Dungeons & Dragons to puzzles and card games.  

Jason Schill was in college when they had the idea of opening a store. The brothers were setting up booths at card shows to buy and sell, and Schill said their success at the time showed them a different path than they were on. 

“We just jumped into it. We did sports cards at the beginning, and then quickly got into comic books. From there, we just kept diversifying…It was when we got into board games that really changed the dynamics for us,” Schill said. 

J&J’s addition of board games to its shelves in the late 1990s happened at the same time European board games like Settlers of Catan were gaining popularity in North America.  

“Catan and Carcassonne kicked off the European explosion. Those were the gateway games, and then it just took off,” he said. 

J&J still carries family staples like Monopoly, Scrabble and Uno. Schill said those games inspire a love of playing that can evolve into interest in more strategy-based games. 

“Young families will start out with Life, Chutes and Ladders, Uno. From there, people then come in asking for advice on what to get next. Once people dive into that realm, it blows it wide open. They have fun with one game, and then they want to see what else is out there,” Schill said. 

In his 35 years of business, Schill has faced competition from big box stores and online shopping giants like Amazon. He said the secret to J&J’s longevity is in its customer experience. 

“Customer service has always been number one. We want to make sure that everybody coming in has a good experience,” Schill said. 

Part of that experience is pricing. As an independent store, Schill said they work to be as competitive as possible by focusing on low margins and high volume.  

“Pricing—coupled with selection and customer service—has been the key to our success. We have an awesome community and a tremendous amount of regular customers that have kept us going for 35 years,” he said. 

It is not only regular customers that have supported the store. Today, there are second- and even third-generation customers in its packed aisles. 

“We have people coming in now who came in when they were eight. Now they’re bringing their kids in. It’s fantastic to see adults coming in that came in as kids. It also shows that we’re getting older,” Schill said. 

While the store still carries sports and trading cards, Schill said that his and his brother’s interest has waned in the pastime their personal interest in which had originally inspired J&J Cards and Collectibles. 

“I’ve always said, if you want to cure a hobby, you do it as a business,” Schill joked.  

J&J has been around to see challenges for attention from video games and smartphones, and Schill said he speaks with many parents who are looking for ways to connect in real life with their children.  

“Board games get kids off devices. They bring family and friends together where they have face to face time, instead of having your head buried in a screen. There are a lot of parents that love that aspect,” he said.