James Fuad Khuri serves as the CEO at FJ Holdings. He is a serial entrepreneur and has been building successful businesses and business models for over two decades. James lives in Beverly Hills California with his son, from where he shares with us, more information on the success of his trading cards business and his mission at FJ Holdings.
What is FJ Holdings and what unique services do you provide?
FJ Holdings is an industry-leading category manager in the field of trading cards and related accessories. We focus primarily on merchandise distribution based on a vendor-managed inventory/pay-on-scan process. Our firm oversees, services and distributes a variety of popular lines of merchandise for top trading cards manufacturers around the world. Some of the industry-leading names we work with include Konami, Topps, Pokémon, and Wizards of the Coast.
Since the beginning, FJ Holdings main objective has been to cultivate solid, robust relationships with trading card vendors and clients around the world. It is these relationships that empower our team to continually reach and exceed sales and merchandising goals and deliver an exceptional experienxe to all. Presently, FJ Holdings manages and distributes inventory to prominent retailers across the U.S., including, but not limited to, Wegmans, Dunham’s, FYE/TransWorld Entertainment, Spencers Gifts, and Walmart.
What are trading cards? Could you give us a walkthrough of the trading cards merchandising business and how it works?
Trading cards are collectible items that have been around for over 100 years. People can play games with brands like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Trading cards also are highly collectible and historically have made an enormous return on your investment.
How big is the trading cards market and what is the level of demand for the services you provide at FJ Holdings?
Trading Cards is a multi billion dollar marketplace. It is a complicated business as there are thousands of releases a year and has to be managed in a timely manner. Think about it like the movie business, except that it’s much larger. Managing the time sensitiveness of the releases and making sure the releases go to the right demographics is critical for our services at F.J Holdings. It’s also essential to the long-term success of our firm and the trading card industry.
Could you tell us about the brands you have worked with at FJ Holdings, any success stories you would like to share with us?
We have worked and continue to work with the top name brands in the trading card industry. These include, but aren’t limited to, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Ohi, Magic The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Stencil, Upper Deck, Panini, Hasbro, Garbage Pail Kids, Ultra Pro and Topps.
FJ Holdings also ships to thousands of brick-n-mortar stores, providing replenishment on an item specific basis that coincides with past history sales per item.
Where do you see the future of the trading cards market and what values can investors or trading cards buyers get from FJ Holdings?
Without a doubt, Pokemon and Baseball Cards are the future for the Trading card industry. Those brands have and will give a great return on people’s investments for the foreseeable future.
Our team is working tirelessly to expand further into the global GLOBAL Marketplace for Select Brands.
Who are the brains behind this business? Could you tell us about your team and customer support?
I am the brain behind this business and my father, Fuad James Khuri, taught me very well about the trading Card Industry. FJ Holdings has a great staff that is committed to providing the best service and support to every brand and retailer we work with. We strive each day to cultivate and maintain the relationships that make our team and our partners successful.
