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The increasingly rare magic shop

Garrette

Penultimate Amazing
G
Joined
Aug 7, 2001
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In Detroit for work and as is my won't since my the magic shop near my hometown closed I Googled for local shops. Ended up at Wunderground for over two hours including a long time in the restricted basement where the collectors' items are kept. I spent under $100 but was tempted to spring more for some of the old books, especially Complete Invocation and a hardbound collection of Apocalypse. Sadly, my wallet and thoughts of my wife's reaction stayed my hand. Still, it was interesting to see what they were asking for some of the volumes I have.

The local IBM Ring president was there, and the owner was scheduled to present a lecture on the History of Magic tonight for a meeting of the American Museum of Magic. Work kept me from accepting an invitation to that.

The owner informed me that according to Magic magazine there are only 69 brick and mortar magic shops remaining. I wept.
 
They've always been pretty rare, at least for me. In Michigan, we had Fox's shop off Woodward in Royal Oak, one in Ann Arbor that came and disappeared again, and Abbotts, which is still there, in Colon. A trip to Toledo or any other major city meant checking the Yellow Pages for anything in town or a reasonable drive away, but often, in the 70's, there was nothing.

There were "Meccas" - New York and Hollywood (at least in the States), but it was always a treat to find a magic shop.

What troubles me rather more is a modernization of brick and mortar shops that has them trying to be something other than a place for magicians to hang out. Mass appeal was never good for magic shops. Or pool halls. Or any of a number of businesses with true character.

I miss having a computer joint where amateurs can hang out and work on their own machines or help others with their machines. Good times. Good people. No one making any money.

Money kills a lot of things that grow better on love.
 
marplots said:
They've always been pretty rare, at least for me. In Michigan, we had Fox's shop off Woodward in Royal Oak, one in Ann Arbor that came and disappeared again, and Abbotts, which is still there, in Colon. A trip to Toledo or any other major city meant checking the Yellow Pages for anything in town or a reasonable drive away, but often, in the 70's, there was nothing.

There were "Meccas" - New York and Hollywood (at least in the States), but it was always a treat to find a magic shop.

What troubles me rather more is a modernization of brick and mortar shops that has them trying to be something other than a place for magicians to hang out. Mass appeal was never good for magic shops. Or pool halls. Or any of a number of businesses with true character.

I miss having a computer joint where amateurs can hang out and work on their own machines or help others with their machines. Good times. Good people. No one making any money.

Money kills a lot of things that grow better on love.
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Agreed on all points. btw, I'm in Royal Oak for work, though leaving soon and with my time accounted for. The shop owner tried to talk me into visiting Abbott's and the other shops near there; I knew of Abbott's, of course, but hadn't realized it was near here. But I had to decline on that, too.
 
Garrette said:
Agreed on all points. btw, I'm in Royal Oak for work, though leaving soon and with my time accounted for. The shop owner tried to talk me into visiting Abbott's and the other shops near there; I knew of Abbott's, of course, but hadn't realized it was near here. But I had to decline on that, too.
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"Near" is a bit relative. It's on the other side of the state (almost). I'm midstate and I only get there every couple of years or so, usually for an event.

The thing I most remember about Abbott's is paging through their black and white print catalog as a much younger man. My eyes were much, much bigger than my wallet, but dreams were free.

Now I get their emails. :)
 
That's too bad. Magic shops were a great place to pick up chicks when I was in school. I couldn't tell you how many times I met young women at the shop who told me they needed help getting selected cards back to the top of the deck undetected. I would then demonstrate my classic pass. :rolleyes:

The good old days!
 
I wonder sometimes if I'm the only magician who didn't get into it for the chicks.

Probably the same mechanism as the garage band singer, or guitar player.
 
Here in Minnesota we have a magic shop in the mall of America. It has a limited selection of high quality magic tricks with a staff of trained magicians to show you how to work them.
 
MNBrant said:
Here in Minnesota we have a magic shop in the mall of America. It has a limited selection of high quality magic tricks with a staff of trained magicians to show you how to work them.
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Another reason to visit the MoA, I suppose.

What's the name of the shop?
 
Is the Eagle Magic Shop still in Minneapolis? I remember going there a couple times when my family visited friends there.

A
 
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Near where I lived, a ways west of Cleveland, there was a place called Yellow Barrel of Magic - excellent magic shop, and they even held bi-weekly meetings for magicians to talk shop or teach or show off new effects to each other. I don't know if the place is still around, but it was as of four years ago. However, it supplemented its income by selling/renting costumes, so perhaps had a bit more solvency than some strictly-magic shops.

Of course, I'm sure everyone knows about the shop at the Monte Carlo.
 
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