Collecting transcends borders and can be found worldwide! At Upper Deck, we’re proud to partner with and support local card shops through our Certified Diamond Dealers (CDD) program. We have over a thousand CDD stores throughout North America but today, we’re excited to announce a brand new CDD shop in Greece!
Trace ‘n Chase P.C. in Thessaloniki, Greece officially opened its doors last week and is the newest Upper Deck Certified Diamond Dealer. This marks the company’s third CDD shop in Europe – Hockey Heaven AB in Sweden and Hokej Karty in the Czech Republic are the other two – and the first in Greece.
Trace ‘n Chase features a wide variety of products throughout all major sports, which includes Upper Deck’s popular NHL® and Goodwin series trading cards. Greek collectors will be able to find autographed memorabilia from local icons, NBA® and NFL® superstars and several other notable professional athletes.
Now, you might be wondering where the name Trace ‘n Chase comes from? It stems from two different components of the trading card and sports memorabilia industry; tracing prospects, releases and the draft, and chasing players, hits and rookies. Their vision is to re-introduce sports card and memorabilia collecting to the Greek and European markets through online marketing initiatives.
Ioannis Sompolos, the founder and managing director of Trace ‘n Chase, has a detailed digital marketing plan to help spread the word and reignite interest in the sports trading card industry within Greece. The plan includes blogs, vlogs, podcasts and much more. All of this and other information can be found on their website, TracenChase.com.
(Side note: the shop opened on Ioannis’ birthday! Hence the balloons and cake.)
Sompolos’ goal is to build a community of educated collectors in Europe. To accomplish this, the store will feature a unique headquarters where collectors can meet and exchange cards, conduct live breaks and network with one another.
Check out the lounge at Trace ‘n Chase below. Their state of the art facility will certainly pique the interests of sports fans and collectors everywhere.
Trace ‘n Chase also has a museum-style miniature basketball court that features several autographed jerseys from current and former NBA® superstars.
Sompolos is also working with local sports leagues and experts to increase the store’s product line and appeal to every type of collector.
You can follow Trace ‘n Chase on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
If you live in or are visiting Greece, be sure to stop by and check out Trace ‘n Chase! It certainly is an exciting destination for any sports fans or collectors.
