For decades, the Ace Hardware store in Bonita Springs, Florida had an amazing display of Lionel Trains.
Maybe they still do, but it is not on their website.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
MidlandMikeWhile not my first hobby shop, there was an Ace hardware in Traverse City, Mich. that at Christmas would sell model trains.
That reminds me, when I was six years old (or so) my Dad went to a local hardware store around Christmas time and I went along with him. As was typical of the time this hardware store sold Lionels and there was a wall behind the counter FULL of them! Wow! To say that impressed me was an understatement! In fact, I've pretty much replicated what I saw as a six-year-old on the walls of my train shed.
As I understand it Mr. Menard is a fanatic O Gauger hence his involvement in retailing O Gauge trains, in fact I've been told Menard purchased all the modern era trains Williams tooling and dies from Bachmann. Beyond that I know nothing, Mr. Menard is kind of a "mystery man" who never grants interviews to the hobby press.
While not my first hobby shop, there was an Ace hardware in Traverse City, Mich. that at Christmas would sell model trains. They had a small O gauge layout, and as I remember, mostly sold O gauge. After Xmas they would be relagated to a back corner until sold out. New owners discontinued this anout ten years ago.
Now I see Menards home improvement stores (a midwestern chain and 3rd largest behind Home Depot and Lowe's) has a model railroad line of products. All this kind of reminds me of the old Madison Hardware. Another hardware owner who had a thing for model trains.
DonRicardo My current hobby shop is Centerline Hobbies on Cape Cod, near the Hyannis Mall. Excellent in service and stock!
My current hobby shop is Centerline Hobbies on Cape Cod, near the Hyannis Mall. Excellent in service and stock!
Mine too.
Pete.
My first hobby shop was not a hobby shop at all. Even though we had a large Lionel empire in the basement, my dad got us boys into slot cars. Once a week we would go into Cleveland to a slot car emporium to race on the big track. There they sold cars, parts, and accessories for the slot cars. In the back of the emporium there was a small HO scale layout. Looking and studying that layout is what really kicked off the model railroad bug. Sure we had the Lionel, but it really wasn't modeling. Then the plastic model kits bit me. After building many models of cars, trucks and a 1/16 scale funnycar that won several blue ribbons life took over.
The shops I remember the most was a Lionel shop in Akron. Owned by a grumpy old guy but had everything you could want in Lionel. And a large multi scale shop in the west side of Cleveland. Sorry but I can't recall the names. We're talking 50 to 60 years ago. I'm lucky to remember my name.
maxmanNot sure if I agree with this or not. If they keep their personal beliefs to themselves is one thing. If they hit you in the face with them is another. Local (non-hobby) place very close to me had a very large sign in front of their place supporting their political choice. Then when you went in they had what I would call a shrine to the same individual. No thanks. I'll get my tractor oil elsewhere.
Oh brother. I have to agree, if you're a retailer it's best to keep the politics OUTSIDE the front door, especially if you're a hobby shop. Most folks into this hobby look at it as a refuge from this crazy world we live in and don't care to be reminded of it in what should be "neutral ground." It's a mistake to assume we're all of one mind, which is why political discussions here are an invitation to an immediate thread-lock. ALL should be welcome no matter what their personal or political beliefs are. If you've got the "Stars & Stripes" hanging on the wall that's fine, it's everyone's flag, but go no further.
richhotrainMy guess is that they move to Lee County, Florida from whatever town maxman lives in.
Probably correct. I noticed a recent decline in population.
"I'll drive the 70-120 miles to spend money at a store where they are glad I came in to shop, whether or not I agree with their personal beliefs."
Not sure if I agree with this or not. If they keep their personal beliefs to themselves is one thing. If they hit you in the face with them is another. Local (non-hobby) place very close to me had a very large sign in front of their place supporting their political choice. Then when you went in they had what I would call a shrine to the same individual.
No thanks. I'll get my tractor oil elsewhere.
My first hobby shop:
don't remember the name, but it was in Ventura county, California in the late '60's. I bought the Revell engine house.... for$1.98. This was a groundbreaking kit at the time, we were getting a lot of building kits from West Germany, and the Revell kit was U.S. prototype. Bought some Atlas switches there too. I was running Tyco/ Mantua engines at the time, they still run! This store had a little bit of everything; ships, planes, cars, and some trains. Long gone now....
Paul
maxman SeeYou190 My experience is that for some reason in Lee County, Florida only a certain type of personality opens a hobby shop, and they are not welcoming places. Have the new owners just moved there from Chicago?
SeeYou190 My experience is that for some reason in Lee County, Florida only a certain type of personality opens a hobby shop, and they are not welcoming places.
Have the new owners just moved there from Chicago?
Rich
Alton Junction
Too long ago, I don't remember.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
maxmanHave the new owners just moved there from Chicago?
Most people on the West Coast of South Florida have moved here from the midwest, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois mostly. I guess that is a good possibility.
It just amazes me that I can walk into a hobby shop in Sarasota or Tampa and get greeted with "welcome, what do you model, and how can we help", but in my back yard I get greeted with "let me give you a quick reaction test to hot-button issues so I can see if you are the kind of person I want shopping in my store".
So weird.
I'll drive the 70-120 miles to spend money at a store where they are glad I came in to shop, whether or not I agree with their personal beliefs.
SeeYou190My experience is that for some reason in Lee County, Florida only a certain type of personality opens a hobby shop, and they are not welcoming places.
richhotrainKevin, that may be true down where you live.
Yes, that is why I tried to make it clear that my comments were only about Lee County, Florida.
SeeYou190 richhotrain Rent and retirement, the two most prevalent reasons that local hobby shops close. Rent and retirement are not the problem. My experience is that for some reason in Lee County, Florida only a certain type of personality opens a hobby shop, and they are not welcoming places.
richhotrain Rent and retirement, the two most prevalent reasons that local hobby shops close.
Rent and retirement are not the problem. My experience is that for some reason in Lee County, Florida only a certain type of personality opens a hobby shop, and they are not welcoming places.
Mine has to go with an asterisk I guess. My first hobby shop was Hub Hobby in Richfield MN in the 1960s. However, that was when it was in the Hub Shopping Center about a block from my house (and the MN&S "high line"). Hub Hobby is still in Richfield but it moved a mile or two west in the 1980s.
richhotrainRent and retirement, the two most prevalent reasons that local hobby shops close.
Down here we go through Hobby Shops at an alarming rate... Just off the top of my head...
Clear Track Ltd.
The Hobby Hound.
Metro Trains.
Caloosa Hobbies.
Prestige Models.
The Enginehouse.
I am sure there are a lot more.
I live literally less than two miles from a model train shop and a game store, and I never go to either one of them. The atmosphere in both make me feel unwelcome.
If I drive to Sarasota, Melbourne, Tampa, West Palm Beach, or Orlando I can go to a hobby shop that is warm, helpful, welcoming, and they appreciate me shopping there.
Flintlock76 NorthsideChi According to their website the building is being sold and the owner is retiring. Seems to be a routine thing lately to decades old family businesses being replaced by condo buildings. Sadly, that's a fact of life, not just now but always. When the owner wants to retire and no-one in the family (or anyone else) wants to take over the business that's the end of it.
NorthsideChi According to their website the building is being sold and the owner is retiring. Seems to be a routine thing lately to decades old family businesses being replaced by condo buildings.
Sadly, that's a fact of life, not just now but always. When the owner wants to retire and no-one in the family (or anyone else) wants to take over the business that's the end of it.
NorthsideChiAccording to their website the building is being sold and the owner is retiring. Seems to be a routine thing lately to decades old family businesses being replaced by condo buildings.
Sadly, that's a fact of life, not just now but always. When the owner wants to retire and no-one in the family (or anyone else) wants to take over the business that's the end of it. And not just hobby shops, it happens to restaurants, diners, bakeries, burger joints, "mom & pop" hardware stores, you name it.
It's understandable really, the owner works his (or her) butt off for years so the kids can go into better paying professions and have a better life and not have to work so hard.
And of course if someone made the owner an offer for the property he couldn't refuse who can blame him for taking it?
Was planning a bike ride this week to Chicagoland Hobbies. According to their website the building is being sold and the owner is retiring. Seems to be a routine thing lately to decades old family businesses being replaced by condo buildings. They had a great selection. Everytime I went there the place was busy. They had an excellent selection and always kept the place well stocked.
I give them all the credit for helping me restart my interest in the hobby in 2015
Davis Trains in Milford, Ohio. Sadly it closed in 2007.
Dave
USAF (Retired)
I finally found the time to read this thread. What a treat. Mini Wayne gets the prize for his picture on the pedal car .
There is just no substitute for a small shop with nice vendors that are there both for the hobby and the money. Online shopping is really killing that... Anyway, there were two "real" hobbyshops downtown Ottawa in the 70s that everyone went to, Hobbyhouse and Hobbyland. The original owner of Hobbyhouse passed away, but his son took it over. And he is just as nice as his dad, so we are very lucky. I try to spend there as much as I can to keep the tradition alive. Another hobby store (Hobby Centre) openned I don't know when at the other side of town. They are also very nice folks, and I go there on occasion. We are really well served in Ottawa. At least in HO scale...
Simon
My first hobby shop was in Dunellen NJ, just out side Plainfield. that was in the late 40's. Long gone now.
I'm still wistful that I never had a hobby-shop experience like the one at Frank's.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=56S9hM2PBW0
Bayway Terminal In the early 1990's I started purchasing at The Model Railroad Shop in Piscataway NJ, it originally opened in 1932 and amazingly has never stopped operating, its one of the few remaining full service RR stores in the Garden State. In-store face to face customer service / the old fashioned way, be prepared to spend a lots time there if you decide visit ths small store, they actually write down your pre-order in a book with your name, and call you when it eventually arrives at the store, original wood strip floor and cast metal ceilng tiles, truly a unique shopping experience in today's fast paced world. Bayway Terminal NJ
In the early 1990's I started purchasing at The Model Railroad Shop in Piscataway NJ, it originally opened in 1932 and amazingly has never stopped operating, its one of the few remaining full service RR stores in the Garden State. In-store face to face customer service / the old fashioned way, be prepared to spend a lots time there if you decide visit ths small store, they actually write down your pre-order in a book with your name, and call you when it eventually arrives at the store, original wood strip floor and cast metal ceilng tiles, truly a unique shopping experience in today's fast paced world. Bayway Terminal NJ
Also my first, and still only, shop for HO trains.
I started going there in the '60s ... on many Saturdays after I finished my bicycle paper route, my father would take me. Very old school shop, jammed with everything you need, run by really nice people. Specializing in new and old NJ railroads, plus the rest of the "Anthracite Roads."
Sadly, one of the owners, Jack de Rosset, recently passed away. Super nice man.
My 1st hobby shop was in Decatur, IL. Must have been in late '72. I still remember the wood floors.
My 2nd hobby shop was in Decatur as well, but farther out of town in a building I also got my haircut, (I was maybe 10 yrs old). This one was "cooler" though, 100% trains, had a "huge" layout, ok, only a 4x8, but big to me! I got scolded a few times for spending my allowance in secret after sneaking down as dad was getting his haircut.
In the 1960's / 70's / 80's up until the mid 90's I went to Fishkins Dept. store in my home town of Perth Amboy NJ, it had everthing for the hobbist, from camera's and film developing, hunting & fishing equipmnet including live bait, sheet music & LP records, Schwinn & Raliegh bycycles, and best of all a large selection of model car kits , die cast+slot cars, Lionel/Marx/Tyco trains. At Christmas time the huge store front window had continuous run of Lionel trains.
It closed for good some years back and is now a Laundry Mat.
I was also a big fan of the original Caboose Hobbies in Denver. We live about 550 miles from there but anytime we'd be in Denver I demanded that we go to Caboose. The store closed, moved to a different location with a new owner and reopened as just "Caboose" and it looked great, but it didn't catch on and is now gone, sad to say. Well I spent what I could every time I was there, at least!
drgwcsOnly went to Caboose Hobbies once on a whirlwind trip through Colorado.
Caboose Hobbies and Allied Trains are two places I wish I could have visited in their glory days.
Steve's Hobby Shop, Pelton Center, San Leandro, California, 1960
WP Lives
Ahh, one never forgets their first - hobby shop!
Mine was Bell's Hobbies, located across from Lane Technical High School on Belmont Avenue in Chicago. I believe my first visit was in 1957, and my interest was the Lionel train section. As I recall, the store was split in half with the left side being trains, and the right side being other models and such. I bought a Lionel #64xx boxcar - a Baltimore & Ohio.
I was in 8th grade that first visit, and started high school at Lane Tech in Feb. 1958. I made a few visits to Bells while in high school, but didn't really have the time or money to spend.
Bells, like so many others, is long gone. But I'll always remember the first few visits when I looked in awe at all the trains they had on display.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central