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Phillips Toy Mart has been a Nashville institution and a Lionel dealer since 1946. When I arrived in Nashville in 1970, there were two locations, one located on 8th Avenue South and the other on Harding Road. Mr. Powell Phillips Sr. ran the 8th Ave. store, while his wife operated the Harding location. Both locations stocked the latest Lionel and MPC ptoducts as well as HO trains and accessories. Phillips later became an authorized Lionel distributor and remained so for several decades until the Lionel restructoring a decade or so ago.

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During the seventies, I purchased my Lionel MPC sets, engines, rolling stock and track from Phillips. In later years, the 8th Avenue location was closed. In the late eighties and early nineties, I purchased several Lionel Classics standard gauge sets and rolling stock. Later in the nineties, and after the death of Mr. Phillips, Sr., his son, Powell and daughter, Cynthia would build a new modern store at the 5207 Harding location to better serve a growing Nashville.

My daughter has been employed by Phillips for more than a half dozen years, and is currently their shipping and receiving clerk. Their service and toy selection  are without parallel. Their train dept. has a huge wall mural of a Hudson locomotive as a backdrop to the display layout. Phillips is worth a visit when in Nashville, TN.

Last edited by Tinplate Art

Tinplate Art, thank you for mentioning our local Lionel dealer, Phillips Toy Mart, one of my favorite train stores and actually the closest one to me, from Clarksville, Tennessee. Ive been buying from Phillips since August 1967…. Powell and Cynthia have one, if not the best Family Owned toy stores in the USA. They’ve out lived “Toys R Us”, and “The Great American Train Stores”, and are located in one of the richest areas of Nashville, “ Bellemeade “ Yes, Kent Cooper built Powell a beautiful layout. We are blessed to have them, and they give us great early order prices. Happy Railroading Everyone     (Pictured is our buddy Owen Fox, one of Powell’s favorite customers)5EAAB8E3-FA9A-4048-A885-EF671290D9D5887FBB29-62CE-4685-85DF-85041FCE0DE1C2BA517B-E661-4D69-A98D-C73FDE06BC24

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Larry and I should also mention that the 2022 TCA National Convention will be held here in Nashville next year. Phillips has many unique toy items (other than Lionel trains) not usually found in toy departments of other well known stores. Plan to visit Phillips if you will be attending the TCA convention here next year. You will not be disappointed!

Last edited by Tinplate Art

Phillips already has a large Lionel customer base both local and mail order over several decades. This base is loyal and has been very supportive over the years.

It never hurts to add to your customer base.  Even if you don't do a full ordering website, some more information about trains would be a plus.  I don't even see a Lionel Logo on the website.

Last edited by MartyE

Phillips toy Mart is a local owned store that is noted for quality. They also have a Bunny Area around Easter that is also built by Kent Cooper. It is a great store for children of all ages. Powell and Cynthia also have a large Doll section that many train collector wives are interested in. Looking forward to the TWO CONVENTIONS next year. The 576 locomotive is being restored now and they just sent the wheels to Chattanooga to be cleaned and made ready. I am hoping that Lionel or one of the other dealers will produce a model of the 576 so visitors can purchase a model. The train has already received two million dollars for restoration and will need about one million more to complete the process. I am 99% sure that I rode a train pulled by the 576 while going back and forth to Memphis.  I think all visitors will enjoy MUSIC CITY . Come say HOWDY.

I discovered Phillips while working in Nashville. It’s a wonderful store with a fascinating stock of traditional toys including Lionel, MTH and Williams trains. I found some nice items, mostly trains but also dolls and games for my daughter. They had a large selection of 1/43 vehicles. I found a 1957 Chevy sky blue station wagon that matched our family car. Got a nice reaction from my dad and brothers when they saw it on the Christmas layout.

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