History of Ab D Cards
Ab D. Cards has been the Sports Collectibles business since January 1981.
They were the 2nd or 3rd oldest store in Canada and played a major role in developing the sports collectible market in Winnipeg for the 20 years that they were located there. It took quite a few years, but they were finally successful in getting the heading of Sports Cards & Memorabilia in the yellow pages of the Winnipeg phone book.
Ab D Cards started out on the north side of Portage Ave (downtown) at 363 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB in the back of Book Fair Comics.
Book Fair got expropriated to make way for Portage Place Mall, so both Book Fair & Ab D Cards moved to 305 Portage Ave, which was the old CIBC building (later known for A&B Sound) on the north corner of Portage Ave and Donald St across from Eaton's (now the current MTS Centre). Ab D Cards was located in the back of Book Fair in their own room.
A number of years later, the hotel who owned the building wanted to expand and Book Fair & Ab D Cards was on the move again, this time to the south side of Portage Avenue to 376 Portage Ave, the old Wilson`s Stationary store, across from Portage Place.
Ab D Cards was in the back of the store on the main floor and up on the mezzanine. Book Fair`s used bookstore was on the main floor and the comic shop was in the lower level. They were at this location for quite a few years, carrying sports cards, posters, pins, pucks, jerseys, caps, t-shirts, jackets and other sports memorabilia.
When rumors started that Manitoba Hydro was looking for a city block location in downtown Winnipeg, the landlord did not want to renew the lease, in case they would be successful in selling out to Manitoba Hydro. At the end of the lease, Book Fair moved a few doors down and stayed there, until it was confirmed that the city block was bought out to make way for the new Manitoba Hydro building. Ab D Cards had moved out of downtown to 1317 Portage Ave, across from Advance Electronics, which was closer to Polo Park.
While at 1317 Portage Ave, a number of years after losing the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix, AZ - Dale from Ab D Cards opened up a 2nd store in Calgary at #9-3616 52nd Ave NW in Calgary, AB (across from Winston Churchill High School). They kept the Calgary location open for about 18 months, then closed it and Dale returned back to Winnipeg to be in the main store.
Ab D Cards supported the Winnipeg Jets with advertising and in-store player autograph sessions. Ab D Cards had Winnipeg Jets season tickets for 16 years, with as many as 5 seats.
They knew the hockey lock-out was inevitable, so at the end of our lease in Winnipeg in 2001, they closed the store and the owners moved to Calgary. They do not have a physical store anymore, but do some of the major sports collectible shows in Calgary & Edmonton. Instead, Ab D. Cards works full time from their website online at www.abdcards.com .
Appointments can be made for customers in Calgary to pick up items with advance notice.
In October 2011, Judy moved back to Winnipeg to run the Comic department of Book Fair 340 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB (just 1 block West of the MTS Center). She brought back with thier thousands of Sports Pins, 8x10 Photos, 3x5 NHL & CFL Banners & Flags, Mini Flags, metal License Plates, Key-Chains, Lanyards, Luggage Tags as well as some other Sports Memorabilia.