With “Le coin des barons”, the madness of playing and collecting cards takes over Narbonne

Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, Dragon Ball Super… Does this mean anything to you? If you collect playing cards, you probably know them. As well as the sign “The Barons’ Corner”. It specializes in collectible cards from playful worlds and has built a solid reputation among enthusiasts. Originally from Bordeaux, the boutique has spread to Brussels, Paris, Périgueux, Lyon, and recently to Narbonne. It has taken over the premises of the historic Nivelle sports store, which recently closed its doors at 26 rue de l'Ancien-Courrier in the city center.

He launched a card business in his bedroom… and created 6 stores!

At the origin of the “Barons’ Corner”, we find the founder Svetlan Brizini, 29 years old. A passionate card collector himself, the gaming community nicknamed him “the Baron”. “I've been a fan of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! since I was 4 years old. I started collecting Japanese cards in 2000-2001 and it escalated. In 2015, I won the equivalent of the French Yu-Gi-Oh Cup in Paris. I traveled all over the world to participate in tournaments and in 2017 I created the Coin des Barons to meet the requirements. enthusiasts.

After visiting countless specialized stores in many countries, Svetlan Brizini launched his first card business, first from his bedroom in Bordeaux. Supported by business creation support structures in his region, he opened a first physical store, then a 2^ea 3^e…that of Narbonne is number 6^e. “The Barons’ Corner” is now “128,000 sales in 2024 and 35 employees”, with the ambition to develop internationally.

Narbonne, a strategic city

To establish himself in Narbonne, the founder placed his trust in Axel Coli, 30 years old, who became the manager of the brand on rue de l'Ancien-Courrier. “Ten months ago, I sent a message to Svetlan to ask him to open a store in Narbonne. Because until now, there was no place to meet enthusiasts and I was going to Montpellier to meet other players. Finally, the founder offers to live the adventure with him. “So I spent 8 months at the Bordeaux store to dedicate myself fully to this activity, then create the store in Narbonne.”

“Statistics indicated that Narbonne was a strategic location between Toulouse and Montpellier, with strong local demand,” justifies Svetlan Brizini.

Game room and card redemption service at the right price

Please note that the Narbonne store also has several spaces for sitting down and playing with enthusiasts. It is also a collectible card redemption service “at the right price”. Knowing that playing cards can be the subject of financial speculation, “Le coin des barons” focuses above all on “on the values ​​of kindness and fair play to support players by offering them a quality of service. We consider our customers almost like friends, because we are all collectors: with us, we don't get scammed!”.

Raise funds to build a “factory of the future”

“Le coin des barons” is one of the rare specialized shops in France, “because the trading of collectible cards is generally associated with that of board games.” Moreover, the game has only just begun, because the “baron” has more than one ace up his sleeve: “For the 2^e or 3^e quarter of 2025, we are targeting openings in Lille, Rouen and Strasbourg. We are also raising funds to set up a factory of the future: this will involve automating the complex and tedious logistics of receiving and sorting collectible cards, which we receive by the millions. This with the help of artificial intelligence and robots.”