Pop Culture Art HQ Opens in St. Joseph

“If they’re collectors and they understand the art form of it, they flip out. If they are statue collectors already, they completely flip out!” – Marcos Matijevic, Owner, CollectorZown

For 10 years, Marcos Matijevic worked for the State of Michigan as a child abuse and neglect investigator for the Department of Health and Human Services. Now he spends his days with Superman, Elvis, Darth Vader, Harry Potter, and a Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 autonomous cyborg.

During his time working for the state, Matijevic picked up what he called a “side hustle,” spending his evenings and weekends selling digital trading cards online.

Finding, trading and selling the cards of baseball players and Star Wars characters on eBay soon grew into more than a side gig and it made Matijevic a good amount of money. It also gave him line of sight into a niche market for certain kinds of collectables that few had tapped: high-end, high-quality, pop culture artwork.

After the market for digital trading cards began to fade, Matijevic and a few of his friends invested in several pop culture statue companies — the first being Funko. If you’re familiar with Funko Pop figures, they’re the few-inches tall vinyl figures based on all categories of pop culture – characters from film, tv, music, sports and anime. That’s what Matijevic calls starter statues, the entry into the kinds of collectibles people really enjoy getting their hands on and are willing to pay a premium for to get the exclusives.

Not content to stop at Funkos, Matijevic had a dream to corner the market for high-end collectables. “In the beginning of it all, I always wanted to sell the stuff you can’t really find, like the really expensive, well-made statues and high-end collectibles you put around like (the) artwork of pop culture,” Matijevic said.

Dream in hand, Matijevic quit his job with the state and opened a storefront in Three Oaks, MI, called CollectorZown. Between his physical store presence and online sales, the investment paid off and his client list continued to grow.

By late 2019, CollectorZown was experiencing great sales and bursting with inventory. Responding to the need for more space and custom display areas for his statues, Matijevic drew up plans for a new headquarters.

After initially planning to build his new headquarters from the ground up in Stevensville, Matijevic eventually decided the perfect location was an existing 7,500 sq. ft. warehouse space in St. Joseph.

“I wanted (to be in) St. Joe because in my eyes, it’s a little more local. There’s a lot more of the local population here. I wanted to bring a place where people understand that, ‘Oh, the headquarters of Whirlpool is here. The headquarters of CollectorZown is here.’ So people can have another staple of pride,” said Matijevic.

Matijevic’s sense of community is evident through his charitable activities including the annual Toys for Tots drive and donations to the Boys & Girls Club – Benton Harbor. A percentage of all sales during his grand opening will be donated directly to the Boys & Girls Club.

If not for the hundreds of statues and action figures in boxes and on display, the life-sized science fiction characters, and several one-of-a-kind artworks, the main level could hold a small intergalactic space cruiser. The upper level has several multimedia areas designed for hosting unboxing videos, visiting YouTubers, and celebrity signing events. There’s also a relaxation area where collectors can socialize and play video games.

“It’s a gallery, it’s a place you can buy them, it’s a hangout, and it’s a shipping-receiving place. It’s all in one little spot and that’s why it’s so big. That’s the unique part about it,” said Matijevic.

Matijevic is still busy unboxing statues and setting up displays, getting ready for his new location’s grand opening weekend slated for May 12 and 13. Even so, the store is currently open to the public. He calls his grand opening a test run on several fronts to see how well the space can handle simultaneous guest YouTubers, celebrity talks, catering, and people of all ages browsing their favorite characters.

Asked where he sees his company in the next five years, Matijevic said, “We’re evolving so fast, it could be anything. Maybe it’s not 7,500 sq. ft., maybe it’s bigger. Or in another section of the company, we could be producing something. We’re very unique and we’re like the only company that does this. That’s what we’ve always strived to be, a pioneer in something. That’s what we’ve strived to do.”