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For nearly 140 years, The United States Playing Card Co. has been a quiet fixture in Cincinnati. The products made in its Norwood plant, such as the best-selling Bicycle brand of playing cards, have been available mostly through retailers such as Target and Kroger. Now, largely because of the growing popularity of poker, the manufacturer has expanded its gift shop and opened an outlet store, giving card players an opportunity to buy both the widely recognized brands and some of the company's less well-known products and collectibles. Until February 2005, the gift shop at U.S. Playing Card's 4590 Beech St. location was what company President and chief executive Greg Simko described as "very low key." It was open for just a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it occupied a room of only about 200 square feet. That room is now the company's retail store. "It has fresh product, just like you'd see in any store," said store manager Brenda Flick. That means decks of cards with name brands such as Aviator, Hoyle, Bee and Bicycle. There are also specialty decks, like the company's new African-American deck of cards, featuring figures from American history. The store also sells T-shirts and hats with the U.S. Playing Card logo. There are card accessories, too, like a poker set that Simko says will be the big seller this Christmas. The real treasure trove, though, is in the new outlet store, which takes up about 2,500 square feet in an adjoining room. This is where bargain hunters can find those hot poker sets (which normally retail for around $100) discounted to $35 because the case is scratched or a few chips are missing. It's where card players can buy bulk chips, and families can replace all the dice lost from their board games. It's where avid bridge players can get a set of Congress playing cards for about half the usual retail price. And it's where collectors can find discontinued card designs. The outlet has puzzles and children's card games, too, which are also made by U.S. Playing Card. "There's a lot of fun stuff, mini decks, character cards. The inventory changes constantly," Flick said. "It's all scratch and dent, overruns, overstocks, at reduced prices." She said items are discounted at least 50 percent, often more. The old gift shop achieved notoriety in 2003, with U.S. Playing Card's production of the Iraqi Most Wanted Playing Card Deck, which quickly became a sought-after collector's item. "We had a tent sale with about 4,000 people here," Simko said. The outlet hasn't had those kinds of crowds; the atmosphere is a quiet one, conducive to browsing among the boxes, shelves and stacks of merchandise. Flick said that about 70 people shop at the outlet each week. The company hasn't done much advertising, and so far, the biggest customer base comes from the U.S. Playing Card's own employees. There are, however, other loyalists who frequented the smaller-scale gift shop and are now benefitting from the greater selection of items. "We have some collectors who come in who are always looking for the rare, the unusual," Flick said. The store has some unique collectibles for sale, including a 1981 reproduction of an 1881 Army-Navy card set and some gold and silver Bicycle anniversary decks. There are also copies of the escape route map that was hidden in decks of cards sent to American prisoners of war in German camps during World War II, and the Ace of Spades cards used in psychological warfare in the Vietnam War. There are, however, no more Iraqi Most Wanted decks available for sale. "That is now truly a collectible," Simko said. This is cache, read story here
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