"It's been a good run," said Gordon, who moved the shop from its original location in Cudahy, Wis., to Greenfield, another Milwaukee suburb, in 1998. "It's time. The wife and I have other things we want to do in our lives."

He maintained that the business is still relatively healthy. But, after 34 years as proprietor, he's ready to move on.

Efforts to sell the 12,000-square-foot store have been unsuccessful. "It's just not an easy thing to sell something like this," Gordon said. "It's kind of a big monster – it's not just a model shop, it's not just an R/C shop, not just a train shop, an art store or a magazine store. So, it's really hard for someone coming in fresh."

A closeout "retirement sale" will begin on Feb. 4 and continue to the end of March.