Today we’d like to introduce you to Dee Davis.
Hi Dee, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We started our family business with the dream of growing just that, our family. As an aside, we need to say that any way your family is formed is beautiful and unique; we acknowledge everyone has their paths and stories! After suffering infertility and several heartbreaking losses we began raising money for adoption expenses. In support, some childhood friends gave us the now infamous duffle bag full of Magic the Gathering cards.
At first, it seemed an odd show of solidarity, but it was the catalyst for Sarge & Reds. We began selling the cards online, buying more, learning the market, and then before long branching out into vintage toys. Oh yes, our family grew… first by our son, and then by our daughter!! We didn’t stop selling vintage toys and MTG cards online though. It was too much fun and we began dreaming of making it into something bigger.
As with so many major events in our lives, serendipitous events lined up – and it was ideal timing for John to retire from his career in law enforcement, our daughter’s adoption was finalized, and a house in his parent’s Michigan neighborhood was up for sale. We leaped and moved from WV to MI to be closer to a family with our babies and to take Sarge & Reds to the next level.
In a short time after getting settled in Michigan, we determined to open up a brick-and-mortar shop. The hunt for the ideal spot was on and we had a few things on our wish list – including the ideal window where we could put out fantastic Christmas displays, a spot for Santa, and a community feel. There were a couple of places we loved that just didn’t come through, but we’re convinced because we were supposed to wind up in “the old novelty shop.”
Somehow, John got in touch with the woman who owned the building that had housed the novelty shop where costumes, fake puke, and smoke bombs were sold in town when he was a kid. It had been closed, and abandoned, since 1992! She agreed to let him in to pick through the contents of the building – which was cool; we found a lot of old stuff still there. One thing you should know about John, he’s got a wide sentimental streak.
So the idea of housing our shop in the same building where he bought smoke bombs as a kiddo was so tempting. We made an offer, they accepted, and the renovations began. We anticipated a labor of love – it’s an old building that was abandoned for 30 years, but there were bigger surprises than we could have guessed. Structural beams had to be replaced, architectural and design changes and COVID hit right after we started the renovations.
We had to do a lot of the work ourselves and rely on friends. Blood, sweat, tears, and tons of cuss words. When we opened our doors on November 12, 2021, and the wave of excitement from the community who came to see us hit the snazzy carpet we waited for months to arrive… it was all worth it. At the time of this, we’re about to celebrate being open for a whole year and it’s been 10x better than we could have dreamed.
The stories that people have shared with us about what toys mean to them; and their expressions when they come in the door to see floor-to-ceiling toys – bring us so much pride and joy – sorry to sound cliche. And those babies…. they are showing kiddo how to play old school Mario Bros on the Nintendo, chatting Pokémon with customers, or helping us on the register (when they aren’t in school, of course). What better way to grow up than in a toy store!?
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We’re collecting our share of bumps and bruises as we learn as we go. As a small business owner, you get your hands into everything from plumbing to reading the fine print of security contracts. We also began the evolution from online to in-person during COVID, which was the opposite direction that so many businesses were going. Before you ask, of course, we were apprehensive.
However, John is a Marine and he dreams big we both understand the nostalgic power of toys, and how badly we all need that feeling right now when all the worries in the world were so much less heavy. During our renovations, we blew through budgets as lumber prices skyrocketed, redesigned things to use different materials where we could, hit delays when we couldn’t get materials, and broke our backs because getting contractors for reasonable rates was extremely difficult.
Now that we’re open and running, we are facing new surprises every week. Some have been amazing happy opportunities, and some have been some, ahem challenges for growth. We are learning to balance inventory, bookkeeping, logistics, and maximizing our space and time (both physically and mentally).
As you know, we’re big fans of Sarge & Red’s Toys and Collectibles. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Voted Best Toy Store in Macomb County Michigan! Premier vintage, retro, and new toy shop in Utica, Michigan (just 40 minutes north of Detroit). Sarge & Red’s is a nostalgic destination experience! We buy, sell, and trade many lines of toys including He-Man/Masters of the Universe (MOTU), G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), Star Wars, Lord of the Ring (LOTR), Wrestlers, Transformers, Marvel, McFarland figures, Dungeon and Dragons, NECA, MEGO, Super 7, Mythic Legions, Boss Fight Studios, Horror figures, novelty, gag gifts, Ghostbusters, Simpsons, Muppets, WWE wrestling, Power Rangers, Barbie, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Jurassic Park, Funko Pops and tons of vintage toys from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s. We also have custom and unique gumball vending machines.
Cultivating those feelings of nostalgia that only cherished toys from childhood can… it’s what makes us different. We talk and joke with every person that comes through our door. Read any of our 200+ 5-star google reviews about how they felt coming to the shop. We truly want people to enjoy walking through our doors. We put out a lot of social media – videos and posts – to share our adventures in picking toy collections, running the shop, and meeting cool & interesting people who share their stories. Storytelling is where it’s at!
This brings in people from far away to our shop because they get to know us and our story from YouTube and want to be a part of it. We love it – yes, come along for the ride! We partner with other local artists and creatives who jive with our vision and values – like Ted’s Custom Gumball Machines and Kyle Rise Irving’s Art. It gives us something different to offer our customers and puts their talents out in front of people (besides just at comics). We are community and small business-focused and look for ways to connect with the local businesses (some fun things in the works).
A couple of years ago, we purchased the entire contents of a home in Dearborn MI. (The backstory is very interesting and we can give you more detail – or you can send folks right to our YouTube channel to watch The House of 80’s Toys playlist) It was a time capsule where we uncovered tons of sealed Star Wars figures in boxes, some even still in the bags with the receipt from KMart! It was a literal treasure trove of toys and more. We have one of (if THE) largest vintage Star Wars collections in the region with some very hard-to-find pieces.
Another facet of our business is that believe in doing what’s right, no matter what. We buy collections of vintage toys and cards from people. It’s difficult to ascertain the precise value of every piece in a collection during some transactions. On more the one occasion we have gone back to an individual and given them more money when we determined what we bought was worth more than we originally estimated. We treat everyone fairly on all sides of any deal we engage in.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Serendipitous timing, karma, relationship building, and a ton of hard work have generated a great deal of luck for us. COVID was a stroke of bad luck and a major time and financial delay in getting the shop up and running, however – we ended up opening just about the same time as a competitor down the street; which has turned out to be a good thing since people frequent both of our shops. Someone knows someone who talks up Sarge & Red and then up pops some opportunity… and here is where we think the relationship building creates the luck. Truly word of mouth is everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sargeandreds.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarge_and_reds/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sargeandreds/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sargeandreds1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SargeRedsVintageToys
- Other: https://poplme.co/04GjGcm2
