Brothers From New Rochelle Put Together The World's Largest Gift Card Collection

The idea for what would eventually award a Guinness World Record to brothers Aaron and David Miller of New Rochelle came to them over eight years ago while dining at IHOP.

“We solidified our long-term plan one Sunday morning over pancakes,” David said. This “fateful day” (David’s words) began an eight-year venture that led to recent recognition from Guinness, which featured the brothers in the 2015 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest gift card collection in the world.

At the time of Westchester Magazine’s interview, the pair had gathered a total of 3,215 cards. Their collection hails from various stores and restaurants—the single most featured company is Target, clocking in at 110 cards—and from far-reaching countries (Canada, France, England, Spain, Israel, and Japan). Family and friends, excited at seeing the numbers grow, have also made contributions.

Aaron, an 18-year-old Harvard student studying government, and David, a 17-year-old senior at Solomon Schechter of Westchester High School with an interest in engineering, said the hobby was born ultimately out of middle-school dread.

“We knew we were going into the mall with our mom following breakfast [at IHOP] and we were dreading it,” said David. He continued that, after spotting colorful gift cards at the restaurant’s cash register, the idea “suddenly clicked”: When their mother brought them into a new store, they would ask the cashier for an addition to their new-born collection.

“It truly turned our mall visits into something like a treasure hunt,” David said. “We probably collected about 12 cards that first day.”

Now, to show off their persistence and celebrate the sheer volume of their efforts, Aaron and David have assembled an 18-foot long mural in the basement of their family’s home. The mural—a family-assisted, several-months-long production—contains an assortment of 2,400 cards, or about 70% of their current collection.

It the collage’s middle are four cards, each reflective of their four family members’ interests: a GameStop card for David, Nike card for Aaron, Barnes & Noble for their father, and a TJ Maxx card for their mother. And, in the very center, of course, lies the initial IHOP card.“It certainly gets a lot of attention,” said David.

What’s next for the team? They admitted that their gift-card pursuit has maybe slowed down slightly since being recognized by Guinness. Regardless, the collection will remain ongoing. “After all,” David said, “we need to make sure the collection continues to grow should there be any copycats.”