Florida Card Shops and Businesses Prepare for Hurricane Milton
As Hurricane Milton sweeps through the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida, collectible shops and businesses are closing down in preparation for the storm. On Tuesday, many local card shops began posting updates regarding business hours and possible service interruptions.
The storm has wavered between Category 3, 4, and 5 as it barrels towards the western coast of Florida with the eye of the storm tracking towards Tampa and southward. Hurricane Milton is the second storm to strike the United States southeast in a two-week period after Hurricane Helene tore through the region in late September.
As evacuation notices and warnings continue to be stressed in the final hours before landfall, many hobby businesses are announcing their plans on social media. Authentication and grading company SGC, based in South Florida, announced the closing of their offices for Wednesday, October 9th, and Thursday, October 10th, with plans to be back in operation on Friday, October 11th. In the announcement, SGC apologized for potential delays in service and reassured customers that all cards had been safely stored.
Layton Sports Cards, located in Central Florida, announced on Tuesday that they would be closed Wednesday and Thursday, October 10th and 11th, due to Hurricane Milton. Layton Sports Cards have a brick and mortar store, but also produce live breaks which were cancelled Wednesday and Thursday as well.
Live breakers Backyard Breaks, another Florida-based company, carried on with business as usual before announcing late Wednesday afternoon that they would be closing their offices at 10:00 PM and reopening on Friday morning when the storm is expected to have passed. The cancelling of live breaks is not taken lightly by these companies, especially as a massive debut product, Topps Mercury: Victor Wembanyama, was released on Wednesday.
Many professional sports teams are postponing games and evacuating as well. With the NBA pre-season starting this week, both the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic announced the postponement of their Thursday and Friday home games, respectively. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers left Florida for New Orleans on Tuesday in order to evacuate for their Sunday away game, and the Tampa Bay Lightning left for North Carolina on Monday to face, oddly enough, the Carolina Hurricanes for the start of the NHL season. With the MLB in its post-season, Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, was converted into a first responder base camp in St. Petersburg.
For the latest information and resources regarding Hurricane Milton, check local news sources and usa.gov/hurricane-milton.
Lauren is a writer, collector, Orlando Magic basketball fan, and artist. Her writing can also be found on Hobby News Daily. You can follow her at instagram.com/laurengoeshere.