DiPietro said he had several parties interested in buying his store but ultimately sold to what he called "a good group" behind House of Cards and Collectibles in New Orleans. He noted that the group includes New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President and General Manager Mickey Loomis.
Sports Cards Plus will change its name to House of Cards but keep its location at 2251 Lockhill-Selma Road. The rename is not to be confused with the existing House of Cards and Collectibles in San Antonio at 2105 Vance Jackson Road.
DiPietro caught the card-collecting bug in 1958 while growing up on the city's West Side, collecting bottles in a red wagon with his brother to cash in for money to buy baseball cards. In the early 1980s, DiPietro turned his childhood hobby into a burgeoning card show business. Then in 1992, he opened his brick-and-mortar store.
Over the years, DiPietro has seen sports card collecting shift from the hunt for rare old cards to rare new cards, but the thrill of the hunt remains the same for older and younger collectors alike.
"Today everybody wants the heroes of today, but in rare cards, those one-of-one cards," DiPietro said. "We're both looking for something rare. Everybody is out looking for something to buy that nobody else has."
Sports Cards Plus may get a new name but it will stick to its family-run roots. The shop will retain DiPietro's son and longtime partner, Jeff DiPietro, as well as his grandson Jordan Correa and granddaughter Elizabeth Riddle behind the counter.
As for Charlie DiPietro, he leaves the trading cards business with countless memories and several personal collectibles.
The former include the many customers who have pulled rare cards such as autographs by Michael Jordan and Victor Wembanyama, while Charlie DiPietro's treasures include a few documents signed by presidents of the United States, rare baseball cards going back to the 1860s and original storyboards from the 1975 classic "Jaws."
"And I have a few Wemby cards," he said.
