We are at that point with our family where our kids are starting to build their own lives. One leaving for dorm life, another leaving for their first apartment, and one still at home.
We needed to help our son looking to furnish an apartment. This generation is pretty cool in that they use Facebook marketplace and other resources to find lightly used stuff. I’m so thankful my kids love a bargain and are fairly thrifty.
As my wife was looking online for bargains, she found a place in the McKinley Heights Neighborhood maybe five minutes from our home.
The place is called Timeless Techs and it is the perfect spot for college students and parents alike. They have great deals on laptops and MacBooks. There is a lot of quality furniture for dorms/apartments….and there was a rather unexpected draw: pinball.
They are located at 2035 Shenandoah at McNair, just off of Gravois (near Hodacks if you need a landmark).
I am a pinball freak and this place has several contemporary pinball machines for sale and fully operational on the floor. Best thing is, they are on and in free play mode. The owners encourage customers to play and welcome neighborhood kids to come in and spend some time. When my wife went with our oldest to buy some furniture she said a mom and her kids walked over and talked to the owners and the kids played pinball for awhile. There is a large garage door off of McNair that is wide open, so the neighborhood kids can wander in and indulge.
They also have some really cool stuff like guitars, motorcycles and a hotrod stingray Corvette to slobber over when what you really need is an end table.
This whole scene is ideal in my simple mind. Small, independent business, refurbishing used but realistic stuff that people actually need. Offering it at reasonable prices and in good quality, while being respectful and welcoming of the neighborhood people.
Why buy new? Why go the burbs and support them with tax dollars? Keep it in the city, keep it close to your home…and have a little fun at the pinball machine.
I’m sold. We’ll be getting our newest college student a laptop here as well. The price is right, and they are warrantied.
I wandered around and found a Hurricane pinball machine (inoperable). When I told the owner that was one of my favorites from the early 1990s, she said it was actually owned by the Silver Ballroom guy who has a pinball tavern on Morgan Ford in the Bevo Neighborhood. They fix them up for others, or offer them for sale on their floor room. We talked pinball for a few minutes and she showed me an Elvira poster for the Elvira and the Party Monsters pinball machine from the late 1980s. I loved that one when I was in college and the owners have all kinds of memorabilia from that era.
The owners are nice, down to Earth and worthy of our support. Go check them out when you need to help out a friend or family member looking to start a new life on their own, or looking for a new living space.
Shopping the city is the way to go! Especially places with soul and character.
