I will be in the Chicago area from near O'Hare airport to around Elgin next week. I will visit Des Plaines Hobbies and Greyland Station. Are there any others I should see? Prefer 1. Good N Scale selection. 2. Ones carrying Fox Valley Models. 3. Selling at a discount. I know, picky picky. Thanks, Pete
Hi, I'm not sure if Hill's is still open in Park Ridge Illinois - not too far from O'Hare. There's also one near Itasca (American Hobby or something). There's a hobby shop on NW Highway - Chicagoland? I'm not sure. I mostly focus on O scale. There also may be a hobbyland usa - try their website.
Hobbyland's in NW Chicago are R/C focused and MSRP priced Bachmann. Des Plaines and Chicagoland are the best I have found so far. If you want to take a Trip, Greenfields in South Suburban Milwaukee is fabulous. Ron's Hobbies in Mundelien on route 45 has a decent set of N Scale stock, sometimes on sale but usually MSRP. BTW you just missed Des Plaines 25% off entire store sale
All of those already mentioned are your best bets, with the exception of Hill's. Definitely Des Plaines, Greyland, and Lombard are the best for N scale. Chicagoland is on Northwest Highway only a stone's throw from Greyland Station, worth stopping in since you're right there at Greyland. America's Best is also very good. Hill's in Park Ridge is not worth a stop anymore. New owners or something, not what it used to be.
Discount? N scale? Chicago?! I wouldn't say you're being "picky" at all. You simply listed three prerequisites for a hobby shop to earn your business. All three would be found on the list of any discerning n scaler. Unfortunately, Chicago (and the entire Chicago-Twin Cities-Seattle corridor) are reknown for NOT offering n scale supplies at any kind of a discount. Some in Chicago will negotiate price as long as they're no locals within earshot AND you show them the cash. Easily your best buys are to be found buying from etailers.
If you are in Greyland, Ram Hobbies on Higgins (about 6600 always has stock and discounts and is nearby. Chicagoland is about 6000 NW highway, across I 94, close and sometimes they have things that others don't, esp. in books. If you go north to Ron's in Mundelien, then visit Destination Train Center in Libertyville. Dicounts are on a frequent buyer plan, IIRC, but they usually have fair stock and their N scale layout was in MR a few years back.
Destination Hobbies closed up about 18months ago. I wanderd in roughly a week before he shuttered the doors and all transactions were for cash becasue the power had already been turned off. RAM has been discussed in another thread here, the place is a definate through back to hole in wall, hobby stores with stuff stacked from floor to ceiling. Be careful not to wear any scented deoderants or cologne when going there as the owner has a significant respitory issue and will escort you out, as I saw him do with one patron while there.
Sorry to hear about DTC. When it was in KC, it was kick ass! Yes, the Ram Hobby owner has signs posted about colognes, deodorants, etc. I admit I have forgotten I was going there and worn deodorant and he seemed fine. Colonges on an open neck would certainly bother him..... Both Greyland and Ram are the "watch where you walk" type of shops. Tripping over boxes is a definite possibility while looking up at stock!
I won't argue your point in general, however, both Lombard and Greyland are the exceptions to the rule and sell at a substantial discount!!! Steve at Greyland will even round things down if you show him the green stuff instead of the plastic! No negotiations necessary...
Thanks for all the good info. I have changed my itinerary so I can have maximum train shop time. Arrive ORD, PU car, hit Des Plaines, then Greyland. Do business. Drive to Freeport. Spend the night. Drive to Monroe, WI visit Train Depot. Back to Lombard Hobbies, time permitting. Spend night, back to ORD. Funny thing is, I don't really need anything. Just looking. I better take some cash for all the deals I will find.
Pete, I guarantee you it will be difficult to pass up the loco prices at Greyland, even if you have 100 locos already......don't ask how I know this! Happy hunting!
I have a feeling this is going to be one of those "Don't open the suitcase in front of the wife" trips.
While in Monroe, you may find some good places to eat. Get a good cheese product. THe Swiss Colony should help you pack it & ship it home. (less baggage to carry).
HIT GRAYLAND this past weekend, holy schmolies, I am sort of glad I had not been there earlier or I would have dropped a ton a cash there over the last two years...tons of good finds, but as stated before watch where you step. Owner was super friendly, too bad we are moving to KC this week, but if I ever come back to Chi town this is a definate place to stop....
Hills Hobby was sold some time back and has moved from their Park Ridge location. They are about a block west of Venture Hobbies on Dundee Road just west of Buffalo Grove Road, and most of their merhcandise is what they moved from PR. Some used brass at good prices. new and used rolling stock, but the two shops together are marginal but worth stopping if you are driving through. B&G Hobbies in Elgin itself is worth visiting. Charlie Vlk+
Trost also closed An article in the Metro section of the Chicago Sun Times of January 1, 2006, it was reported that Trost Modelcraft and Hobbies will close its retail store on West 63rd Street in Chicago. The hobby shop has been in business for 78-years at the same location. "I didn't want this to happy on my watch," said Roy Trost, 62, the son of co-founder Edward Trost. "I gave it a couple of years to make it, but there wasn't a month in those 24 months that we made a profit. My pockets aren't that deep." "Mike Trost, whose real name was Marzell, is credited as being the founding father of the hobby industry. He had a sign in his office that read: "We are in the hobby business 14 years before it became an industry in 1941." In a 1997 profile in the trade magazine Model Retailer, Mike Trost was hailed as the "Father of the Industry." Chicago has lost another landmark business. First, Marshall Fields is taken over by Macy's and the Marshall Field name will disappear. Then, Berghof Restaurant in downtown is closing and, now, Trost Hobby. Trost was an old line hobby shop with a wood floor & most of the merchandise in the display counter if not behind it. Last I was there about 10years ago, it could be a museum for the hobby. Sticking to the high MSRP prices kept old stock on the shelves for a long time. It's sad that the shop fell victim to the changing neighborhood.
