Best Hobby Shops In Minnesota
While binging on TV shows seems to be the most popular hobby these days, you have to find something else to keep you occupied in your free hours. It's especially crucial during these winter months when we're all stuck inside. Whether it's model trains and planes, games on screens, on cards, or on tabletops, vintage and modern cars, Civil War battlefields... we all have our passions. Maybe it's even something of your own design. No matter what you're looking for, these Minnesota hobby shops will have the parts you need.
Scale Model Supplies
458 Lexington Parkway N
St Paul, MN 55104
(651) 646-7781
www.scalemodelsupplies.com
It's a shop hidden on Lexington Avenue in St. Paul, home to an ever-changing array of businesses, but once you're inside you'll know why this is one of the best hobby shops in the state. Shelf after shelf is stocked full of models and parts for planes, cars, ships, rockets, dollhouses and memorabilia of all collectible sorts. For model train enthusiasts especially, this is about as good as it gets. Whether you're building an entire set from scratch or just looking to supplement your collection, there's always some hidden gem tucked away for you to find.
Mead Hall Games
1425 Lasalle Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55403
(612) 315-3945
www.meadhallgames.com
Almost lost among the hustle of Minneapolis, this basement is a temple to everything comics, tabletop games and magic. Games like Abyss, Alien Uprising, and the ever-classic Dungeons & Dragons are all available here, as well as countless others, and you can keep an eye out for events throughout the week to meet up and play with other gamers. Enthusiasts know right where to look, but beginners can cut their teeth perusing the enormous selection as well.
Ax Man Surplus
1639 University Ave W
St Paul, MN 55104
(651) 646-8653
www.ax-man.com
You could spend hours (or days) just rifling through all of the different odds and ends found at this University Avenue institution, from misprinted pint glasses to magnets, electronics, cords and wires, tiny coffee mugs, mannequins, plastic bits of things you aren't quite sure even what they are, and that's okay. Walking in often feels like walking into the backstage of a carnival sideshow. You can visit the location along the Green Line or head out to Fridley or St. Louis Park to get your odds-and-ends fix.
Related: Best Places For Stylish Used Furniture In Minnesota
Carr's Hobbies
2009 Superior St W
Duluth, MN 55806
(218) 722-7129
www.cpinternet.com
For years, Carr's has set the standard for hobbyists in the northern part of the state. Planes, trains and automobiles, sure, but also ships abound at this little shop in the port city of Duluth. Pretty fitting. The largest inland body of water on the continent is greatly served by the selection of both RC and stationary ships. For model builders, there is just about everything you'd want to get your hands on (and put together).
Hub Hobby Center
6410 Penn Ave S
Richfield, MN 55423
(612) 866-9575
www.hubhobby.com
This is the kind of place you walk in to, stop and reevaluate your life. Do you really need to spend all that money on an RC airplane? Probably, as the skies are looking clear. Do you need another puzzle? Well the last one is all finished. And what to buy the kids? The options are endless, it seems, for things you didn't know you needed, but are more than willing to drop a little cash to get. Everyone's inner child will come out perusing the selection of toys, games, collectibles, and useless-but-oh-so-necessary trinkets. Have fun.
Adrian Schramm is a resident Saint Paul writer with a passion for all things local. Through his work with Saint Paul Almanac and Minneapolis Examiner at Examiner.com, as well as in the kitchens of bars and restaurants around town, he has discovered what truly makes the Twin Cities tick.