MOUNT VERNON — Behind a window painted with Pokéballs and comic book-style sound effects lies a new Mount Vernon business: Nick & Melvin’s Collectibles.
After customers enter the building at 1 Public Square, they are guided down a stairway to the lower level, which one of business’s owners, Nick Sexton, said is fitting for the collectible shop.
“We didn’t plan on it, but there’s a stairway that kind of looks like you’re walking into your parents’ basement, ready to just hang out, have a good time,” Sexton said.
Sexton and the other store owner, his brother Zakk Wilson, have long been collectors — comics, Pokémon, vinyls.
“We’ve been collecting since probably ‘98, really when Pokémon and video games got popular with our generation,” Wilson said. “We’ve always had a dream of turning our hobby into a way to make a living at the same time.”
Last year, they decided it was time to make their dream a reality.
“Our mother actually just passed away in March of 2020, and we just thought, why wait? Life’s short,” Wilson said.
Sexton and Wilson spent their early childhood in Mount Vernon and moved back in their 20s, they said. They hope to feed the community’s hobbies with their collectibles store.
“This past year, year and a half with COVID, everybody has kind of rediscovered their hobbies and my brother and myself are no exception to that,” Wilson said.
The owners plan to host game nights in the near future, where community members can get together to play games such as Dungeons & Dragons. The first game night is tentatively planned for the first week of August, Wilson said.
“We want people to feel that they can come hang out here even if they’re not buying something,” Wilson said. “In the back, we’ve got a listening/reading corner set up, where if people want to put on a record or sit in the chair back there and read a comic they can.”
Sexton’s first name, Nick, is clearly included in the store name, but Wilson has not been left out. Wilson’s middle name is Melvin, which is also their grandfather’s name.
While the name, Nick & Melvin’s Collectibles, may seem simple, Sexton said the shorthand name “NM Collectibles” is a play on words avid collectors will understand.
“NM for comic or trading cards means near mint, condition-wise,” Sexton said.
Within the first half hour of the store’s grand opening at 11 a.m. on Friday, people of all ages had arrived.
A young girl clutched a Pokémon lunch box filled with cards. Brothers pointed out items in a display case, exclaiming that they had a specific card at home already or hoped to buy another. Families browsed the shelves, some noting that the free t-shirts and raffle being offered drew them to visit.
Throughout the grand opening weekend, the first 100 guests through the door can enter a raffle to win a Suicide Squad certified comic and other related items in advance of the new movie coming out. Additionally, the first 15 customers to spend $15 or more will receive a free “Nick & Melvin’s Collectibles” t-shirt.
Sexton and Wilson began the process of acquiring a space and collecting merchandise for the store in January 2021, and officially opened the store on July 6.
With a seven-month turnaround, Wilson said he and Sexton have been busy.
“But none of this has really felt like work to us so far,” Wilson said. “We’re just having fun.”
