Elite Talent Collections Sports Memorabilia store owner Mark Hartburg will be the first to admit that calling himself a sports fan is an understatement. The Kent native has brought his passion for sports to Ravenna by opening his sports memorabilia shop, which hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday afternoon at 137 East Main Street in Ravenna.
“This is very exciting and unbelievable,” Hartburg told The Weekly Villager. “I started doing this back in August next door in the Chamber of Commerce, but I just moved in here Black Friday of this past November. It has been good, the traffic has been a little slow, but I am hopeful about the grand opening, and it will pick up.”
ETC Sports represents another successful business that was spawned from the Ravenna Area Chamber of Commerce’s Business Launchpad, a business incubator that resides in the RACC headquarters. As The Villager previously reported, the RACC’s Business Launchpad has given birth to new businesses since being launched last summer.
Hartburg tested his sports memorabilia business in the RACC office last August and soon found a storefront, right adjacent of the RACC office, in November.
The sports memorabilia store offers sports trading cards, some which are autographed by famous athletes, as well as other sports merchandise such as jerseys and batting helmets, all signed by famous athletes including former Buffalo Bills’ wide receiver Andre Reed, former Bills’ tailback Thurman Thomas and an Oakland Athletics’ batting helmet signed by former MLB slugger Jose Canseco.
“I think it is awesome because it is something different and unique and that is something that Ravenna needs to have,” RACC Executive Director Ryann Cline said. “Those little unique or boutique shops that people can get gifts or for some of their hobbies.”
According to Hartburg, his passion for sports began when he was a child, competing in football, wrestling and baseball since he was 5-years-old.
“I lost my father when I was young, so I played sports and had a lot of surrogate fathers,” he noted. “I played some football in college, so I grew up in sports.”
Hartburg said his favorite athletic event to participate in was wrestling but football was a close second.
Growing up in Western New York, just south of Buffalo, Hartburg collected several sports memories, rooting for the New York Yankees and Buffalo Bills.
He began collecting baseball cards when he was young and kept that collection in his possession until he enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he was primarily responsible for constructing missiles in the silos and operating satellite launches while earning a degree in missile and space systems maintenance.
Hartburg said that he and his wife, a native of Kent, arrived in Kent in 1999 after he completed his service.
Although he was new to Portage County, Hartburg said that he found Ravenna similar to the small town where he grew up in Western New York.
“I grew up in a very small town, very similar to Ravenna,” he said. “There were 220 students in my high school class and my first job was throwing hay bales in the back of a wagon, so I am very small-town.”
After enjoying a long career in education where he served as the Director of Admissions for the ITT Technical Institute, University of Phoenix, and National Institute of Technology in Cuyahoga Falls, Hartburg resumed his previous hobby in collecting sports memorabilia several years ago.
Belonging to several auction sites, Hartburg said that he has spent many weekends purchasing new sports memorabilia and has gone to numerous trade shows to highlight his merchandise.
He said that he has enjoyed having the chance to share his passion for sports with the local community.
While he has much sports memorabilia autographed by famous athletes, he has made sure to offer plenty of Cleveland-sports merchandise.
“I know that I need to carry Cleveland sports stuff whether it is the Guardians, the Browns, or the Cavs,” he said. “Cleveland loves their sports. As a Bills fan, I understand loss the same as Cleveland does, we still have not won that big one yet as far as Super Bowls go.”
In addition to offering a variety of autographed sports items, Hartburg is also launching a seven-month long raffle, offering 14 framed autographed jerseys as prizes which will be awarded at the RACC’s annual Midnight Madness Celebration on Nov. 27.
The autographed jerseys will be those of Thomas, former Cleveland Browns’ running back Nick Chubb, former Miami Dolphins’ quarterback Dan Marino, former New York Giants’ linebacker Lawrence Taylor, former NFL running back Eric Dickerson, former Chicago Bears’ linebacker Brian Urlacher, former Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Jim Kelly, former NBA center Shaquille O’Neal, former MLB player Pete Rose, Detroit Lions’ defensive end Aiden Hutchinson, 2026 Super Bowl LX MVP running back Kenneth Walker III, Bills’ running back James Cook, Reds’ shortstop Elly De La Cruz and three-time Stanley Cup Champion Chris Chelios.
