Help make pdk NINE a real place!

Like most kids, all I could ever think about was toys.  I was fortunate enough to grow up in a great decade of toys… the 1990’s. I understand the 1980’s is considered the “golden era” of toys, but in the 90’s we had Gak! Creepy Crawlers, POGs, Super Soakers, Crossfire, Skip-it, Tomagotchi… and I feel the need to mention POKEMON!

Lets also not forget the amazing TV and Movies that sparked the nostalgia of today: Jurassic Park, Power Rangers, X-Men, Street Sharks.

When I would play with my toys, I would have specific toys that would never leave the box. They would stay pristine in their packaging. Nowadays, I don’t do much playing, only collecting…  I’ve matured.

For the longest time when I would walk into a collectible or comic book shop, my joy would be spiced with a pinch of jealousy.  I would think to myself, “Why can other people do what they love for a living? In an environment that makes them feel comfort, surrounded by people with similar interests.”

It wasn’t until a therapeutic walk with my dog after a stressful day at my corporate job that I said “Wait… that can be me. I have the ability and the skill set! Not only have I been managing small businesses for other people for the last 10+ years, I’ve had over 30 years of being immersed in the collectible industry: toys, board games, video games, art. I’ve traveled all over the country to different conventions and toy shows. I’ve worked San Diego ComicCon, traveled with Disney, cultivated my own collection, and had friends and private collectors ask me to procure specific items of their joyful past. 

I was also surrounded by wonderful, determined friends who shared my passions. 

So, on paper, I had everything I needed: knowledge, experience, drive, and a small start up team.

After months of collaboration, pdk NINE began to take shape.

Our management team is the best of young professionals:

- Joe Sabatino (that’s me!) is an avid collector, immersed in the culture for over 20 years. He has spent his adult professional life as an independent contractor and manager of small businesses. In his free time, he cultivates items for personal collectors.

- Kelsey Hebert has been leading several large corporations in their sales and visuals departments.  She is a knowledgable continuity director and knows how to organize a sales floor and sales team. Kelsey is also our link into the gamer world.  She will cultivate a vast, yet approachable, gaming area that is comfortable to shop in as well as play.

- Janine Merolla is a personable and artistic entertainment director.  She will organize, and sometimes host, our live and virtual events as well as sculpt our Social Media persona.  She will be responsible not only for our weekly schedule of community presence, but also for making our sales floor and company look friendly and welcoming.

For the last year and a half we have been working together to create a community. We started as a place to sell high-end collectibles, both new and vintage. Anywhere from 1980's Greek Batman toys, to certified autographs, to 1/6 scale collectible figures... and we’ve expanded our business to include the community that drives us. We grew our inventory to include art from our own community, to be a place for local artists to display and sell their art. Now we host a monthly on-line auction to foster the pdk NINE culture.

We want to grow our business to raise awareness of our community's talents. Sculptors, painters, sewists, digital artists... if it's an expression of nerdy art, we want to share it with the world! We hope to provide a platform for all artists in our community to display their work and we want as many people as possible to view and appreciate it!

To help with this vision, we plan on investing heavily in our employees. We will hire passionate, smart, eager people who not only are tapped into the nerdy knowledge we expect, but are willing to learn more about the always changing pop culture. We hope to forge relationships with local businesses nearby and create partnerships that provide community outreach and fun experiences for our customers.

We also want to interact directly with our community through live functions.  For the last year and a half we have included special events in our online auctions: themed gatherings, trivia, game nights, Dungeons&Dragons campaigns, etc. A large portion of our business will be dedicated to making these social events a recurring, high-quality experience in-person. Anything from a book club to larger tabletop adventures, we want our store to be the central HUB. Along with a buzzing social calendar, there will also be a permanent gaming area in the store, specifically designed for those who want to meet others and play! We will offer a safe space for anyone looking for like-minded people with kind and inclusive intentions. 

We're Pdk. NINE! We celebrate anything nerdy: comic books, movies, television, toys, board games, video games, music, collectibles, art... anything in the Geekdom that sparks joy! And now, that includes you! Thank you for reading, listening, donating or sharing with a friend—with your help, we can make this all happen and geek out together!