Want a Steph Curry signed basketball? How about your favorite old team jersey?

You can find them and hundreds more sports collectables at Thats Kool, a small business in Soquel owned by 21-year-old Nick Gonzales and his father Leo, that offers vintage sports items ranging from small players figurines to jerseys.

Nick’s father started collecting items in the early 2000s and eventually introduced his son to the trade when he was about 12. “It was mostly him at the start but I would go searching with him. We started to get a bunch of inventory in,” Nick said.

In 2012, the duo started an eBay account selling all the vintage collectibles they had gathered. Although items were selling quickly, they found the need to expand. “These last three years we just had too much stuff,” said Nick, “The items were just taking over my dad’s house, it was getting ridiculous.”

They both continued to operate online until November of 2019 when Nick’s father found a vacant storefront on Soquel Drive. He locked in the deal and That’s Kool became a brick and mortar business.

“We have a buy-and-sell kinda deal,” Nick signals to a customer in the store, “Tit right here brought in a jacket and a couple of jerseys and we worked something out and I bought them from him.”

The walls of the shop are adorned with autographed items, small figurines, life-size stickers of players, and many other pieces of sports memorabilia that’ll have collectors and sports fans reaching for their wallets.

“A lot of this stuff is decorative but if somebody says they want it we can work something out.” Nick often gets asked how he comes across so many different items. He said, “ Honestly, we just literally pick up almost everything we see.”

“Our most valued possession right now is probably the Steph Curry signed basketball. Someone asked if we were selling it but I’m gonna have to wait on that one,” Nick said jokingly. “It would have to be a really high price.”

That’s Kool has recently reopened after having been shut down for the COVID-closedowns, but Nick found a way to keep his shop running through it all. 
“After a month, I tried a local delivery setup where I would post the inventory on Instagram, and people would Venmo or Paypal me.” Nick would then deliver the items, driving between Watsonville and Santa Cruz to make the sales, “It was tough for sure, but we had some good moments.”

Nick is a recent Cabrillo graduate who majored in Communications and works part-time at a local Foot Locker store. He plans on continuing his education at San Jose State. His father works full-time with the Santa Cruz City schools.

Between the two of them, they find the time to keep the store open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays 12-5 pm, but because of their busy schedules, it is best to check in with them on Instagram at _thatskool or by phone at 831-535-9126.
“Our whole thing is we wanted to be here for a year. That was me and my dad’s goal. After a year, really it was just up in the air, depending on if we were gonna do well. We’ll see what happens.”

Nick’s collection has been gathered from various locations ranging from Los Angeles to the Bay Area. The store is small but well-stocked. “There are weekends where we won’t pick up anything but there are also weekends where we get a bunch of stuff. It takes time but we get the stuff.”

Find That’s Kool at 4624 Soquel Dr, Soquel, CA 95073.

Ivan Rocha finished his journalism classes at Cabrillo College, and sadly, is moving down south for fall.