Homewood Toy and Hobby

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Photo by Sydney Cromwell.

Homewood Toy and Hobby 2014

Manager Julie Marix and employee Kirsten Smith ride PlasmaCars around the store.

Tricia McCain’s family has always owned a business on 18th Street South. It started in 1950 with her grandparents’ shop selling bicycles and lawn mowers. Over the next two generations, the family business changed locations and developed into Homewood Toy & Hobby with its well-known carnival tent exterior.

McCain took over ownership from her father two years ago, but said she has been working in the shop “since I could reach the cash register.” She has grown up alongside her customers, many of whom now buy toys for their children in the same place their own parents shopped for them.

Homewood Toy & Hobby is all about a fun and casual atmosphere. Plastic palm trees reach to the ceiling and model planes hang suspended over the aisles. The store carries toys for every age, including stuffed animals, figurines, Legos, dolls, games and educational toys. The hobby section includes electric trains, drones and remote control cars and planes for customers to build and drive. Manager Julie Marix referred to the hobby area as the “big boy toy section.”

Marix herself has been part of the Homewood Toy & Hobby family for 18 years. She said there are few difficult parts to the job except the Christmas rush, and she loves working in retail.

“I just kind of stuck around and I really liked it,” Marix said. 

Since the shop is considered a specialty toy store, it does not carry the same brands as chain stores. Marix goes to toy shows across the country each year to find new and interesting products for the store.

After so many years in business, McCain and Marix both have considerable knowledge about toys, and their customers frequently rely on them for purchasing advice. Marix also said the hobby staff are “real pros” when it comes to planes, trains and cars. 

Homewood Toy & Hobby is also invested in the community it has served for more than half a decade. Marix said the store regularly donates to schools, churches and children’s organizations. The shop also participates in the annual Sidewalk Sale and has “great neighbors” on its street.

Just as McCain grew up in her father’s store, her 8-year-old son Tripp is a frequent fixture in Homewood Toy & Hobby. He hangs out sometimes in the summer or after school and recently went with them to a toy show. Marix said Tripp isn’t shy and is turning into a brilliant young salesman.

“He’s actually pretty good with customers because he knows exactly what he likes,” Marix said.

For Tripp and the adults who run Homewood Toy & Hobby, there’s something undeniably fun about the work they do.

“You can’t really complain about working in a toy store every day,” Marix said.