I agree with the card show idea because it can be done on the weekends, costs very little , and you get your customer base built up. Then after you've done that a while start mentioning to them that you are thinking about opening a small shop in the area and see what their feedback is. If you get a lot of good feedback then it can't hurt to try a short term lease on a place and if things work out you can extend it later on.
I will say this though stay away from the high dollar stuff because most of your customers that come in aren't going to lay down that kinda cash on 1 pack of cards with 2-3 cards in it. You can always customer order something from a secondary dealer for a client if they ask for it. That way you are ordering only what the customer wants and aren't stuck with a bunch of high dollar stuff nobody wants.
I will say this though stay away from the high dollar stuff because most of your customers that come in aren't going to lay down that kinda cash on 1 pack of cards with 2-3 cards in it. You can always customer order something from a secondary dealer for a client if they ask for it. That way you are ordering only what the customer wants and aren't stuck with a bunch of high dollar stuff nobody wants.