Rider's Hobby Shop on Carpenter Road plans to close within weeks

The store, located at 3140 Carpenter Road near Ypsilanti, is selling all of its inventory, equipment and fixtures at a reduced price, said owner Brent Martin.

Inventory includes model building supplies, wooden ship models, model rockets and kites. Once everything is sold, Martin said the store will close.

Customers wait outside a former Rider's Hobby Shop location on West Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

Photo from Rider's Hobby Shop website

“We’re hoping to have everything sold by the end of the month or mid-August,” he said.

The hobby shop first opened in an old Ann Arbor carriage factory in 1946, selling mostly pens and stationery. Many long-time local residents would remember the shop's former location on West Liberty Street.

At one point, there were 16 Rider’s Hobby Shop stores in six states: Michigan, Texas, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia and Virginia. The Ypsilanti area shop opened in 1988, and Martin bought the store five years ago.

But after the shop closes, only two Rider’s Hobby Shops locations will remain: one in Grand Rapids and one in Flint. Those will remain open.

Model planes inside the store.

Courtesy of rosefirerising via Flickr

“Rider’s got quite a reputation with hobbyists and people from all over would come there, so the owner eventually expanded,” Martin said.

Martin said the business fell prey to the economic downturn because the shops “don’t sell anything people can’t live without.”

“It’s a bad combination when sales are declining but expenses just keep going up,” Martin said. “The Michigan economy is obviously tough on everybody and we’re seeing that money has gotten so tight that people don’t have extra income.”

Since announcing that the local store will close, Martin said he’s heard feedback from customers that are upset to see the shop close after being such a long-time fixture in the area.

“We’ve been getting a lot of people coming in and saying, ‘I used to come in here with my grandpa,’” Martin said. “Our customers have been shocked, disappointed and supportive.”

Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.