I certainly had my share of fun experiences over the years on 48th St. and at Mandolin Brothers.
One of my other hobbies is collecting old Lionel Trains. Every trip to NYC included a mandatory stop at Madison Hardware store located at 101 E. 23rd St. It was mecca for Lionel Train lovers like me. But the owners got really old and sold out to Richard Kughn, then owner of Lionel Trains. With 11 fully loaded big rigs, they moved everything from the store to Mt Clemens, MI where Richard lived. He literally reassembled Madison Hardware Store in a building he owned! Some years later, Kughn fell on hard financial times and sold the company to Neil Young and Wellspring Mgmt Co. Neil still owns 22% of Lionel today.
http://tcaetrain.org/2d-articles/col...ME/TIME012.jpg
Great stores, great folks… all will be missed.
The world just keeps on changing and it's not always for the better.
Bill