A new player is stepping up to the plate in Downtown Brooklyn’s booming collectibles scene.
CardVault by Tom Brady, the industry’s premier national retailer of sports cards and memorabilia, soft launched its new store at 80 Flatbush Ave. this month, marking its latest expansion into the New York market.
Collectors can expect to find all the premiere card brands stocked at CardVault by Tom Brady including Panini, Topps, Upper Deck, and also non-sports options like Pokémon. The new location also features a vault as the centerpiece of the store, where rare and exclusive memorabilia and collectibles will be displayed.
Beyond products, each CardVault by Tom Brady location also serves as a place where fans can also sell, trade or grade their cards and collectibles.
The Brooklyn store will be CardVault’s 13th location in the U.S., and the second in New York City. The first Big Apple location opened in SoHo in October 2025. The retailer also operates stores in the Hamptons and New Jersey that serve the greater New York market.
“We love New York, it’s a big market for us,” said co-founder Chris Costa in an exclusive interview. “What we’ve seen in our existing [New York] stores are really loyal fanbases, really educated fanbases when it comes to sports and sports collectibles…but beyond that, because of the diversity of New York, we also see amazing consumer bases across non-sport collectibles.”
Brady bought 50% of CardVault in February 2025, after which his name was added to the company. However, Brady’s involvement in the business and the hobby goes far beyond branding.
“This isn’t just a Tom Brady name deal,” Costa explained. “Tom is a collector and Tom has a significant position in our industry and in this hobby. If we’re going to put his name on the business he better be participating and active and that’s been the case since day one at ten-times beyond what our expectation was and what Tom promised me and our team.”
“He gets it and he’s got a really, really sharp mind for business and then I would say, most importantly, the biggest thing, I’ve never met a motivator like Tom Brady in my entire life,” he continued. “Whether it’s across our staff, our retail staff in our stores, our leadership team, our executives, our directors, all it takes is one call from Tom Brady and you’re going to complete the mission.”
The card industry has surged in recent years, aided by trends in social media and high-profile figures like Brady getting involved in the hobby. Celebrity content creator Logan Paul recently sold a 1998 PSA 10 Pikachu for $16.492 million, showing the higher-end possibilities for certain ultra-rare cards.
Though the Downtown Brooklyn location is now open for shopping, it’s planning a grand opening celebration for March 17 at 10 a.m. The first 25 customers in line will receive a free New York CardVault branded hat and the brand is also giving away a mini football helmet signed by New York Giants legend and two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning.
