PITTSFIELD, Mass.—Berkshire Sports Cards and Coffee opened on Friday, providing the collector community a place to hangout and add more to their collection.

 

The store is located at 147 Tyler Street and will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

 

Owner, Ryan Thebeau, is no stranger to the card collector world and is excited to bring a new spot to the city. The card and coffee shop carries various Pokemon and sports related cards.

 

"I started as a kid. I used to mow my lawn for cards and Pokemon cards [and] baseball cards," he laughed.

 

Thebeau was raised in Pittsfield and moved to Arizona, where he started his business, Desert Sports Cards. 

 

The pandemic hurt sales, so he moved back to Pittsfield and sold online while going to school for Human Services, later becoming a mental health therapist at Berkshire Medical Center.

 

Thebeau still sold on different online platforms and decided he wanted his own shop like the one he used to visit when he was younger.

 

He use to go to Bassball Sports Cards, owned by Pat Bassi, which closed in 2010. 

 

Bassi "did really well for a while, and card shops have done really well here," Thebeau said. 

 

"I got into the love of Pokemon cards and all that, especially when the boom started back in the 90s."

 

Thebeau also grew up playing sports and currently coaches many little league and older teams in the community. He wants his location to be a safe space and hangout destination for youth.

 

"Where you can trade, sell, hang out, watch a game, play Pokemon—just a safe space for kids, my little leaguers," he said.

 

"It's wild, because now I'm old enough, they come and say, 'Hey, Coach, I'm going to come see you, right?' It just feels really good. Like it's wild."

 

Thebeau also hopes his business helps revitalize Tyler Street.

 

"I always wanted to be on Tyler Street with a revitalization. I wanted to be a spearhead of that. I think it's really cool, the vibe, the new things that are coming in, almost like kid oriented [with all the] hangout spots," he said. 

 

"We got the arcade across the street. I'm also trying to collaborate with a lot of local businesses."

 

One thing that makes his collector shop unique is its collaboration with Chicago based roasters, Connect Roasters, so the shop can also serve coffee. 

 

While his space is still being worked on for his coffee lounge he will begin serving drip coffee and some of Connect Roasters cans and other materials. He will also have a discount for medical and first responders.

 

Thebeau eventually hopes to expand his store as well as be an active member to help the community.

 

"The biggest thing is just growing this community with baseball, myself, with my teams, and I eventually want to have a nonprofit for mental health and sports. And hopefully the city of Pittsfield will see what we're doing here, business wise, and grow," he said.