It was Kaymar Magic in Billericay, Essex, England. Founded by one of my magic heroes, Harry Baron.

It was an absolute treasure trove. And Harry was the kindest wizard.

I ended up working there on occasional Saturdays. I loved looking after the stock and occasionally demo’ing. I helped move the magic from a big shed near Harry’s art shop (the shed served as the magic shop: not exactly bricks-and-mortar, more wood and metal] to a shop on the High Street.

This was in the mid 1980s.

Somewhere I have photographs of the Kaymar magic cabin. If I find them, I will post them on the Café!

My buddy Bruce Calver had a magic shop here in RI for a number of years. But sadly with not a lot of magicians here in RI... We move on to the what was the biggest around here... and that would be Hank Lee's Magic Factory. I remember driving up to Boston every 2 weeks to see my friends Steve, Skip, Bob.. and it was always a fun time. Hank's conclaves were not to be missed... Now the old-timers here will know the back story here.. It was sad to see him go. But some great memories.

The Wunderground in Royal Oak Michigan. This was my 2nd parlay into magic (the first being at age 6 with the Hat O’ Magic). I had just been to a 4th of July party with a magician (his name was Michael Mode. He co-created the trick Caugh Red Handed).

The next day I begged my mom to find a magic shop and we found the Wunderground. And behind the front desk? Michael Mode. It was crazy.

I bought a hot rod, an invisible deck and a Svengali deck that day.

That place is still great to go in to. I just wish I could make it in there more often.

When I lived on the mainland, in San Francisco, I loved Misdirections Magic Shop. Joe, the owner, was great! Really helped me learn the basics and get off the ground.

Archie's Fun Shop in Pasadena, TX. The great Bill Palmer has written about it here in several posts. If I'd have known he and Paul Driscoll were hanging around there I would have tried to go more often. As it turned out, I only went there a few times in the mid 70s when my best friend's mom took us to see his grandmother, who lived in an apartment complex behind or near the shop. He was also into magic.
Man, what a place. I only remember going there 3-4 times although he I'm sure went more.

I remember one time, Zig-Zag Girl was on all the TV shows and I desperately wanted to know how it was done. The guy behind the counter talked to me about it and said, just think about it...think about if you were the girl in the box, how would you be positioned....and I sort of twisted my side and he said "you're pretty close" which I thought was ridiculous at the time. Ha! He then gave me a pre-printed piece of paper that said something like "for all the great magical secrets revealed, dial this number!" and the number was coded in letters, something like 800-JKL-QGEB and of course there is no Q on a dial phone. Curses!!!

Circa 1970 or so: The Trick and Puzzle Store on First Avenue in downtown Seattle. A real vintage vibe, to be sure.

First shop I ever visited was Tannens in NY. Then a couple of others in india when visiting family - Tayade's Magic Shop and Patil Magic

Al's Magic Shop in Washington, D.C. in 1968.

Don't have my own but tannen's magic shop is cool