Welcome to the year 2018. When I lived in the Twin Cities metro area in the 1980s, there were roughly a dozen shops. They dwindled with the times. Gone are Woodcraft Hobby (both in Minneapolis on Lake Street and in the Har Mar Mall), Osseo Sports & Train World (which stocked postwar trains), Hobby Depot, University Hobby, Tinkerbell in Wayzata and others in Eagan and Hopkins that I can no longer remember by name. That’s not counting Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby, the chain that then became just Kay-Bee Toys, then KB Toys and then nothing.
But what remain are sizable shops.
When I worked at Hub from 1988 to 1996, it had three stores, and my store in Richfield was about 5,000 square feet. Today, the Richfield store consists of about 14,300 square feet of floor space, plus a shipping and receiving/office/breakroom area that brings its leased space close to 20,000 square feet. Hub also has a Little Canada store (a suburb north of St. Paul) of about 12,500 square feet. Despite what Matt says, the train department isn’t at all small — roughly 2,000 square feet. Some 3-rail, but not a lot. You have to see the general department near the front of the store. It’s huge!
Scale Model Supplies fills an old basement bowling alley. I estimate the square footage at about 11,000 square feet, with a lot of trains. The store also leased space on the main floor to the rear of the building years ago, but I’m not sure that’s the case now.
I have never been to Steve’s Train City, but, if I recall correctly, it was a K-Line superstore prior to 2008, so toy trains were part of its specialty.
But the Twin Cities isn’t known for its selection of 3-rail trains. What you’ll find at Hub in Richfield and SMS in St. Paul are stuff you’ll find anywhere.
Still, all three shops are worth a visit. You really can’t expect to find more than that, and often less, in any metro area these days in the U.S.
