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A child’s paradise, from LEGO sets to Pokémon cards. It has a lot of what many children would wish for. Anyone born in the 2000’s would be all over this store, but instead, not many people know about this new place. It’s a small Pokémon and LEGO shop on main street called Packs & Brix.
“I’ve always dreamed about owning a card shop,” Packs and Brix owner Thurmond Dressen said.
Dressen lives part-time in Mt. Pleasant, part-time in Salt Lake City, but his wife’s family is from North Sanpete and he loves it, so once the opportunity came, he decided to buy a place and open shop in Mt. Pleasant. It is a semi-big shop with Pokémon cards in the front and LEGO sets towards the back or the shop.
He mostly opened his business to teach his kids how to manage business and to help support the community, but also because his kids love Pokémon and LEGO’s and started collecting them. They originally started selling online, but business was pretty good so they decided to open a shop. Their most expensive LEGO set is around $400-500. Their most expensive Pokémon car is around $600-700. They have many LEGO sets and Pokémon cards and Dressen, the owner of the shop, is a very fun, lively, and energetic guy.
“He is one of the best bosses I’ve ever had,” said employee junior Kortney Mitchell, who has been working there from when it opened.
Most days when Thurmond is there, his kids are as well. They are very energetic and fun to be around, and both Thaddeus and Kortney have grown to love them.
“Thurmond is a great guy,” sophomore employee Thaddeus Kimball said “Most days there are 10-25 kids who come in here.”
They tend to have the same kids come into the store and, occasionally have other, newer kids who, when they come in, just tend to look around not really looking for something but not really having an objective to what they want to buy or if they are even going to buy something.
“It was a quiet, fun, energetic place,” freshman Zoe Evens said.
Most people come in with others so, when they come in they tend to have a lot of fun. When kids come into the store they usually don’t buy the most expensive things because they are online on eBay or on a Lego app called BrickLink. It’s a great thing to be able to sell online and in store.
Having an online store at first was very helpful, but over time Thurmond wanted to open a shop in town. When Thurmond was a kid, he loved collecting cards with his dad and wanted his kids to experience that. They have around $400-500 Pokémon collectibles and LEGO sets.
“My dad and I used to go shopping for baseball cards all the time.” Thurmond said. “I loved it! It’s in my blood and it’s something that I really enjoy.”
It is a one-of-a-kind store. A lot of the time when kids come into the store they pay one cent per card and usually pay 25 cents for 25 cards. When they are done buying, they go to the Mercantile or the High Five Arcade, or the other way around.
