Playing on early 2000s nostalgia and collectability, Flip Retro is a new buy/sell/trade store in the West Stadium Shopping Center for gaming cards, video games, toys, figurines, precious metals, and more.
Owner Yousif Alghazaly, twenty-three, lives in Ypsilanti but was born and raised in Ann Arbor, attending Logan Elementary, Clague Middle, and Skyline High.
The youngest of three, he has fond memories of playing Pokémon at tournaments with brothers Bilal and Ali. “Back in 2020 when everyone was home, I was just going through my stuff, and I found a box of Pokémon cards,” he recalls. “It was when the craze was happening, when everyone’s opening packs, first time, so I kind of just started the hobby again.”
Stocked up from card shows, and with considerable contributions from his brothers, cousins, and their families, Alghazaly’s first store is filled with an eclectic assortment of merchandise both new and old—games and consoles from PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo; movies on DVD; gold, silver, and coins; plushies and Funko figurines; and toys from the liquidated XIMI-V store in Briarwood Mall.
“The more you buy, the more you make, is what you can say. You just have to know what to buy,” Alghazaly says. He hopes to eventually open a second store in Manhattan.
Several brands of cards are on hand for both casual play and high-end collections, with graded examples behind glass priced up to $6,000.
“We’re in the era for Pokémon right now,” says Ali, the middle brother. “All the people that grew up with Pokémon, like us, we’re willing to spend thousands to get that Charizard. So it’s competition between all the grown kids with money, basically.”
Such nostalgia-driven demand starts by simply having fun, so tables near the front window are set up for players to partake, with packaged snacks at the ready.
Flip Retro, 1910 W. Stadium. (734) 340–0222. Daily 9 a.m.–9 p.m.
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