Sports Card Alley has been a fixture for several decades at its Beban Plaza location near Quality Foods. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Sports Card Alley

‘It was just amazing:’ community rallies behind hard-luck Nanaimo sports collectible store

Jan 14, 2026 | 5:33 AM

NANAIMO  — Following a rough end to last year, 2026 is off to a much better start for a longstanding Nanaimo business. 

Three days after longtime popular owner Bill Whitten passed away, a lone male thief broke into Sports Card Alley, located on Bowen Rd. in the early morning hours of Nov. 26, 2025. 

An estimated 600 sports trading and Pokemon cards were stolen during the early morning smash and grab, worth roughly $25,000 of inventory, according to co-owner Corey Rothwell. 

“He didn’t take any sealed product, nothing was taken off the shelves, it was just the cabinets,” Rothwell told NanaimoNewsNOW. 

An exterior steel gate and front door were both smashed, Rothwell said, who noted $2,500 in cash was also stolen during the heist. 

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 He described the break-in as “a gut punch” at a time when Sports Card Alley was reeling from the recent loss of Bill Whitten, known as Wild Bill. 

Whitten had owned Sports Card Alley at Beban Plaza since 2000. 

Rothwell, who worked side-by-side with Whitten for a decade, said it was hard to accept such a callous break-in at such a sensitive time.  

“It was like ‘Really? This is really happening now?’ It felt like someone was taking advantage of us. And then someone was clearly looking out for us in the end because we got all of our stuff back where most stores when this happens you’re not getting it back.” 

Break in the case 

Having the significant haul of sports trading cards returned to Sports Card Alley can safely be described as a minor miracle. 

Two days following the break-in, the collection of cards were intercepted at a Port Moody traffic check stop.  

As relayed in early December by NanaimoNewsNOW, a 40-year-old Nanaimo man wanted on a province-wide arrest warrant was stopped by Port Moody Police Department officers during a late-night Nov. 28 enforcement blitz. 

Port Moody police officers found additional items (unique coins and tools) beyond the sports collectible cards that were believed to be stolen. 

Rothwell’s business partner described their missing cards to Port Moody investigators, which included highly unique and valuable cards.  

A visit to the Port Moody Police Department detachment by Rothwell’s colleague confirmed the inventory belonged to Sports Cards Alley, including handwritten price labels on basketball and football cards. 

Rothwell suspects the thief was attempting to quickly sell the items off Vancouver Island to minimize suspicion. 

“It was a big relief for us and just a surprise we got them back,” Rothwell said, estimating about 95 per cent of the cards were returned. 

Rothwell said many of their customers displayed in-store and online support in response to Whitten’s loss and the break-in, with some shoppers strongly suspecting the Port Moody traffic stop was linked to Sports Cards Alley. 

He said some of their customers even offered to soften their financial losses in the days and weeks following the break-in.

“It was just amazing,” a visibly moved Rothwell said from behind the front counter of his store.

Whitten’s impact on the business he cared deeply for resonated with their customers, Rothwell said. 

“I don’t think Bill understood how much of a community he had built here because it was amazing the response we got from the public,” Rothwell said. “Even the RCMP in Port Moody they were all really good at communicating and it all just worked out really well for us.” 

According to Rothwell, Nanaimo RCMP assumed control of the theft investigation from Port Moody investigators and will be tasked with recommending charges since the crime was linked to the Harbour City. 

None of the allegations detailed in this article have been proven in court.  

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