Player 1 Services With Co-Owner, Ben

In this episode, we're talking with Ben, co-owner of Player 1 Services in Kensington, Maryland. Ben is a big-time Pokémon collector. In fact, according to Guinness World Records, he has the largest Pokémon card collection at 50,000 cards which he expects to exceed by the end of 2024. A unique aspect of Ben and co-owner Rose's store is they specialize in Pokémon. They take special orders for products like Lorcana, Magic: The Gathering, and One Piece, however, their retail space is all Pokémon. The demand to play Pokémon at the store is high. Events will max out at 50 players resulting in Ben's desire for more gaming space. He would love to have sanctioned events that could support hundreds of people, but finding the same to do so is no easy task. He'd like to purchase the space from three businesses that occupy the same building. While Ben is hopeful, only time will tell if those businesses move locations. Ben and Rose employ a very knowledgeable staff. They all know how to play multiple Pokémon formats. The staff holds events every Wednesday teaching kids and adults how to play the game. Rose spearheads these teaching events through the "Pokémon Club". With 2 million Pokémon cards in store, Ben wants to make it easy for his customers to acquire the cards they desire.