The Shinders chain of newsstands, a fixture in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area for over nine decades, has closed all eight of its remaining stores. Founded by the five Shinder brothers in 1916, the Shinders newsstand on
Under the leadership of Joel Shinder, who ran Shinders from 1976 to 2003, the chain expanded from one to 13 stores and was a key venue for the sales of both comic books and cards. During the sports card boom of the 1980s and 1990s Shinders was a national player and a key sub-distributor in the volatile sports card market where Shinders exec Steve Kupitz was widely recognized as one of the savviest players in the business.
The troubles for Shinders began with the sale of the company in 2003 to attorney Robert Weisberg, a distant relative of the Shinder family. Weisberg, who is currently facing disciplinary action from the State Bar over charges of negligence in his law practice, was arrested last year and police found methamphetamine, Ecstasy, needles and a .40 caliber rifle in his possession. Weisberg has failed to appear at two hearings resulting from his arrest, but has another court date on August 27th. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a company V.P. told Shinders workers that Weisberg removed everyone's name but his from the company's bank accounts, which made it impossible to cut paychecks for the employees.
