A store with a few cards up its sleeve…

Have you been looking for a new hobby and some welcoming friendly faces? If you’re rekindling an old passion for Pokémon cards, or want to get into Playing Card Games, Card Merchant Hamilton has it all.

Located along Victoria Street in central Hamilton, Card Merchant Hamilton (CMH) opened its doors in February 2022. Over the last 3 years it has become a comfortable community space in Kirikiriroa.  

CMH has a variety of trading card games (TCG), board games, role-playing games and any accessories needed. The store has a large set up of tables and chairs perfect for hanging out and playing a few games with friends and for the weekly events they host. It is made colourful with TCG themed posters on the walls.

But it’s more than a store, it’s the heart of many TCG communities in Kirikiriroa Hamilton.

Store manager, Alicia Yap, has been with the business since September 2023. Alicia said the main events they host are the weekly local hobby leagues for a range of TCG, the most popular being One Piece, Pokémon and Lorcana. On weekends they also host bigger events like championships and formal competitions.

They also offer monthly ‘Learn to Play’ sessions run by locals in the community where people, who may be unsure about a game, can go in and give it a try.

Alicia said CMH has built a welcoming, friendly and kind community, “Everyone is just so happy to share their love of whatever game they’re playing with everybody else. They don’t care who you are. They don’t care that you’re a total stranger. They’re so passionate about the game that they play that they just want everyone like the whole world to be part of this community”

Alicia spoke about how CMH is a space for people to come together. That it’s not even about the games anymore, it’s the lifelong friendships that have been built through coming to weekly events and spending time together.

Alicia explained keeping the balance between store and community space isn’t easy, but the goal “is to always have the community at the forefront. Business is business, but at the same time we always feel like the business can’t thrive and can’t survive without the community. So, if we don’t take care of the community, then there won’t be a business. It’s a reciprocal relationship”

CMH is a welcoming space. It doesn’t matter if you have decades of knowledge or if you’re just curious and looking for a new hobby, there will always be friendly faces wanting to teach you the games they play and to build strong friendships that can last a lifetime.