“There are not a whole lot of stores that do this anymore,” he said.

Wiederrecht has spent most of his life around toys. He said there were a lot of hobby shops when he was growing up in the Detroit area, and his father was a Lionel train wholesaler. Coming out of college, Wiederrecht was manager of a Toys “R” Us store in the New Jersey area.

He said in the past he enjoyed trains and putting together models but jokes that because he spends his days around them, he prefers to do other things in his time off.

Wiederrecht came to Iron Mountain in the early 1980s to live in his wife’s hometown.

Super Hobby U.P. is at 102 W. Ludington St. in Iron Mountain.(Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

When a friend was closing up a hobby shop in 1990, he was offered the remaining inventory at a great price and Superior Hobby U.P. was born.

Wiederrecht would operate Superior Hobby U.P. out of his house for two years before shifting to 102 W. Ludington St. in Iron Mountain, where he also sold carpeting.

As people moved away from carpeting towards hard-surfaced floors, the carpeting business tapered off while the hobby side of his business continued to grow. So Wiederrecht got away from selling carpet seven years ago.

He said that in the years since he started Superior Hobby U.P., most of his competition has died off and his could very well be the last hobby shop left in the Upper Peninsula. These days, most of his competition comes from online retailers. Wiederrecht noted that stores such as Hobby Lobby and Hobby Town really cater more toward arts and crafts.

He does offer some things the competition can’t, he said.

“Now you have to go to Green Bay, so it is the convenience of not having to travel,” Wiederrecht said. “And the convenience of walking in here and talking to somebody who might know something, whereas ordering online you have to wait a week and it may not be what you really want.”

Wiederrecht said as one of the last hobby shops, he draws customers from distant cities such as Marquette, Houghton, Sault Ste. Marie and Green Bay, Wis. They often are surprised by the extent of what he has in stock.

“People say, ‘I saw your store on eBay and I was coming through the area and I wanted to stop in and see what you have,'” Wiederrecht said.

Even though the shop offers the selling point of customer service, most of Superior Hobby’s transactions are done online. He has 90% of his inventory — nearly 1,800 items — listed on his eBay store.

Wiederrecht said while he does his best to keep up with the current hobby trends, it does not always pay to add them to the inventory — his standbys are what sells.

“A lot of stuff when I first bring it in it sells like hot cakes and then after it’s been around for six months it sits around forever,” he said.

The customer base at Superior Hobby U.P. might come as a surprise — it is not children. Wiederrecht describes his main customers as males age 40 and older, many looking to get back into a hobby they enjoyed when they were young.

For the young at heart, Superior Hobby has models and modeling supplies from cars, planes and ships. Wiederrecht is proud to sell Tamiya models, joking they are so great to work with you just have to shake the box and they come out practically assembled.

Super Hobby U.P. recently added Vallejo model paints, which come in more than 200 colors. They only recently become available in the United States after being popular elsewhere for years, he said.

Model trains are available from Lionel, MTH, 0 and S gauge.

The shop also carries diecasts, metal signs, coins, railroad and military books and other military items.

Superior Hobby U.P. is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

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Jim Paul can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85229, or jpaul@ironmountaindailynews.com.