New Hobby Store Sells Fun for Children, Adults

Most people these days just don’t know what a true hobby store is, says Frank Kozuch.

“They think of a hobby store, and they think of Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, and those are craft stores,” said Kozuch, owner of Whistle Stop Hobbies on North Quaker Lane. “As a hobby store, we have model kits, we have paint, we have rockets, race cars, trains—from a hobby standpoint. And we have toys.”

“You don’t see this that much anymore,” he added.

Whistle Stop Hobbies, located at the Fairlington Shopping Center, also sells games, puzzles, kites, toy trains, paint-by-number sets and—for children and adults alike—bulk M&Ms. The store was located in Old Town from 2005 until 2012, when it closed. Kozuch reopened the shop in March in the West End.

Since the move, the store has added more toys, particularly toy trains, to appeal to younger children and families.

Kozuch, an Alexandria resident, formerly worked in computers as a contractor and decided to open shop on his own in 2005. A collector of Lionel trains, he he began selling trains at shows up and down the East Coast in 1993.

“I literally took an 8-foot table and built it into this,” he said, motioning at the store.

Working as a store owner allows Kozuch to interact with people, which he loves and didn’t get to do with his old job. He hopes the new location, with its greater accessibility, will bring in more traffic traveling Interstate 395 and people traveling in cars.

Whistle Stop Hobbies in located at 1535-A North Quaker Lane. The store is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.