Photo by Mike Lamb Card Farmers owner Lucas Christoffer stands behind the counter inside his new location on third Street in Marshall.

I remember not too long ago on my way home home from the Independent office each evening walking past the RLC office building on Fifth Street and noticing lots of activity.

People walking in and out of the entrance on many evenings. I could see through the windows along the suite occupied by a business called The Card Farmers, people sitting at tables.

Even during my lunch hour walking past the office building, parents were walking inside with their children of all ages.

I was curious about what was going on inside but never took the time to check it out.

That was until I received an email from Lucas Christoffer.

“This is Lucas Christoffer, the owner of The Card Farmers here in Marshall,” the email stated. “We are going to be doing a reopening of our card shop on May 1. We are going to be moving into a bigger location and are going to be able to offer a lot more different things. We have seen great growth in our two years and we would love if you guys would be interested in writing a story on us or about our move and grand reopening to a new spot. I believe we will bring more business to downtown Marshall and we can’t wait.”

His shop opened at a retail building on Third Street. I finally found the time to check it out this week and discovered The Card Farmers is harvesting trading cards of all kinds and now board games and much more.

“I always went to card shops growing up,” Christoffer said. “It was something I enjoyed walking down with my grandma down Fourth Street down to Denny’s Card Shop to get a pack of cards. So (now) have a place and provide it for other kids and see them happy.”

The card shop became reality for Christoffer a couple years ago when he opened up the store at the RLC office building.

“Probably three years ago, I looked at doing a shop. Just didn’t really feel comfortable with it and finding a good place. And then decided, all right, I’m going to go for it. So then I opened up there. We were open for two years. Our events were starting to get like 40 to 50 people for some events. Forty people in there playing the Magic card game. Then people came, kids coming wanting to buy sports cards,” Christoffer said.

He said kids would peek in and turn around and leave because there too many people.

“Now in this spot we have room. We have puzzles, board games, we do Warhammer it’s called. We have room for everything,” he said.

Now at this point some of you are probably wondering what are Magic cards and what is Warhammer.

I’ve heard of Pokémon cards, but wasn’t familiar with Magic cards or Warhammer.

Magic cards are a collectible trading card game where players take on the role of powerful wizards who battle against others by casting spells, summoning creatures and using artifacts.

And Warhammer. That’s apparently a tabletop miniature war game. Players collect, build and paint physical model armies to wage strategic battles.

Of course, The Card Farmers also provides sports cards for trading, buying and selling. And then Christoffer told me about the trading cards of famous people with their autographs that can go for thousands of dollars. He talked about a Thomas Edison card worth $4,000 and a Rosa Parks worth $1,000.

Christoffer is partial to the Thomas Edison card.

“It’s just cooler and more unique to me,” he said. “I’ve had plenty of Jackie Robinson cut autographs. Clemente autographs. They’re all eight to 20 thousand (dollars). I have a Bob Marley autograph I sold for 18 thousand.”

“When they are pulled from a pack, they’ll say authentic autograph on the back. So whatever company gets the autograph, they make sure it’s authentic,” he said.

Then there is a set called “Declaration” which has one autograph of every person who signed the Declaration of Independence.

“I think it’s (trading cards) definitely grown. I used to be one of the few people in town that probably collects big time. It’s probably 100 people now that really collect,” he said.

He revealed that he used to keep somewhat secret about trading cards when he was younger. However, times have changed.

“Shouldn’t say a cool thing, but a popular — everybody does it type of thing,” he said.

Besides online activity, Christoffer attends card shows in Sioux Falls and other larger cities.

“It’s massive. When I was probably 15 years old — so over 20 years ago — I’d go to a card show and there would be 20 different tables of people with stuff. Now they’re supposed to be shows with 300 tables. Some weekends, there are 450 tables in Sioux Falls. All sports cards and people will go in and ‘wow, I’m just shocked at how crazy it is.'”

Christoffer says some people like to collect Twins cards. Others are looking for a Michael Jordan card.

“Then some people just like the rush of opening a pack. Some people want to gamble — buy a pack — I could hit a one-hundred thousand card,” he said.

Who would of thought trading such cards was big business. It also turns out it’s good for downtown business. The kind of business that puts a smile on a chamber president’s face.

“If there’s a baseball tournament here in town, we get pretty busy,” Christoffer said. “You’re waiting hours between games, what else are you going to do.”

He said people traveling to Marshall for events will find his shop by just Googling for card shops. He said he does the same thing when he coaches basketball and ends up in a different town for a game.

The Card Farmers is open everyday but Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He keeps his shop open on the weekends because that’s when people travel.

As for the future, Christoffer plans on providing more trade nights.

“More Pokémon events, more Magic events. Having a place where they can have birthday parties and stuff like that. We’re looking to get into that kind of stuff,” he said. “I think it’s a good place for everybody. Even moms will shop at shops next to us, drop their kids off. We love that. We like to teach kids how to learn and stuff like that. It’s not all about money.”

He also plans on holding events to teach youngsters how to spot a fake card and how to take care of cards. Give them insight on how to know if a card might be worth something.

Christoffer is pleasantly surprised with the success of his business so far.

“In a smaller town or Marshall size, if you expect people to walk through your door, it’s probably not going to happen. I mean it’s been a good surprise. Wonderful. It’s good to see kids not on screens. … They’re touching cards and talking to each other. A hangout for kids to go,” he said.

And I imagine for few adults as well.