I am here on business and wanted to know if there are any hobby shops worth visiting. Preferably off I-275 west of Detroit. Thanks.
I’m not familiar with the west side, but if you like O scale, P&D hobbies is on groesbeck 3 miles north of 696. One of the best oscale hobby shops in the country.
Thanks El but I’m looking for HO. I should have indicated that in my post.
I can’t vouch for it but I do know that Merri-Seven trains does carry HO. I’ve never been there though. Take I-275 to seven mile rd, east 4 miles and it’s at the corner of 7 mile and Merriman. Happy hunting.
Thanks El. That’s close to where I am. I appreciate the tip.
Joes Hobby on Grand River, just west of Farmington has a real good selection of HO stuff. Get off I-275 at the Grand River exit, or maybe it says M-5. The store is in a strip mall just east of Halsted Road.
Merri-Seven does have HO, but Joes is bigger and has a much bigger selection. Huge glass case, full of HO locos. Both are good stores.
You actually WANT to get out of your car and go shopping in Detroit Metro?
Chicago is a hop skip and a jump away and alot easier. Safer too.
I second Joe’s Hobby. Grand River at Drake in Farmington.
On the west side near 275, Joe’s, Merri-Seven and Nankin Hardware are pretty much all there is for HO. There’s a Rider’s in Livonia, but their train selection is, shall we say, lacking.
Nankin Hardware (Ford Road, just east of Wayne Road) is an unusual place. They have a pretty decent-sized hobby shop in the back of the hardware store. It’s one of the few places with a decent selection of blue box Athearn kits, but it’s pretty strictly a rolling stock shop, with Athearn and MDC being their high-end material.
Farther west, in Pinckney, is Michigan Model Train Center, but it requires a much greater commitment of time to get there (about an hour each way from Farmington/Livonia).
As one who was asking for this info a while back regarding Pittsburgh, I feel an obligation to help out back here at home.
I would highly recommend Joe’s Hobby as well. I very well stocked store for HO, N and O. Also a very well stocked place for plastic models and R/C stuff.
The staff is very helpful as well. Here is their address so that you can mapquest the actual location and a road map from your location: 35151 Grand River Ave. Farmington, MI 48335 (248)477-6266
the MerriSeven store is also well supplied but much smaller and more cramped. I think also that their publication selection is very restricted.
“Metro Detroit” is not the City of Detroit. The suburbs are quite safe. If you haven’t been here, keep your opinions to yourself!
Oh Ive been through and downtown many a time, I wise up in later years and focus on the Customs into Canada.
I think Winsdor has a hobby shop as well, but the exchange rate is about even this year.
Cheers.
What does I-275 West of Detroit (from the original post) have to do with ‘downtown’???
Go to Great Lakes Hobby in Utica. The best one around!!!
Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate the help.
What a completely ignorant statement. Thanks for your valuable input.
Is Great Lakes the shop that just moved into a new building about a mile from the old shop? I had a day two weeks ago after a class in Troy to go hobby shop searching and found what I think was Great Lakes in the middle of a major move. Looked like it would have been a nice shop except everything was in boxes. Ended up way over at Joes and bought a bunch of scratchbuilding material. Lots of nice HO selection but I couldn’t drag much on a plane with me. Also found the Original Soupman hole-in-the-wall and had some darn good dinner.
If you happen to see this and still haven’t gone to Joes, it’s worth the trip… If you are near Merri-Seven, then take Merriman up to 8 mile (Baseline), turn left. Go to Farmington Road and turn right. You can then take that up to 9 Mile and turn left. -OR- You can go a little further up to Freedom road and turn left. You’ll see what looks like a pedestrian walk across bridge right there. Which ever you choose, go to Drake which will be the first light you come to (on Freedom) and turn right. WATCH YOUR SPEED on Drake, it is a 25mph limit and they DO hand out speeding tickets in this area. When you get to Grand River, turn right. Joes is in the first strip mall to your right on Grand River. 275 to Grand River is Way out of the way if you happen to be near Merri-Seven. The address is 35151 Grand River Ave and the phone # is 248.477.6266 . Enjoy your visit.
Yes they did move a mile and a half. I went to the old location and saw that there was nothing there; initially I thought they were closed for the day, then much to my relief, they were just closed for the day. They were still working on opening and putting the stuff away from the boxes, but I managed to find what I needed and then some. It’s too bad that the store is 90+ miles away from me or I would go visit it more often! The closest store to me is 20 minutes away in Tecumseh and it’s not the best of stores I think. I travel to the suburbs of Detroit sometimes and that’s how I know of Great Lakes. I love that store!
There are many you pick one good luck.
Thanks for the suggestions. I went to Joe’s and Merri-Seven and liked both of them. Joe’s seemed like a well stocked general store with about half of the store devoted to trains with a very nice selection. Merri-Seven is a smaller store but absolutely packed to the rafters with merchandise. From the outside it didn’t look very promising but inside its a good old fashioned well stocked shop with a helpful staff. I bought a couple of things that I had been looking for and could have easily spent a lot more money. I’ll be going back to both when I’m back in the area.