Kitstop Models and Hobbies in Birkenhead feels like a throwback to a bygone era, and that’s exactly how its owners intend to keep it. Martin Richardson took over the running of the Oxton Road shop from his mum and dad in 2015, alongside his wife, Antonella De Riso. Model shops are an unusual sight on today’s high streets, but the quiet success of the business demonstrates there is a booming market for traditional hobbies.

The shop is a modeller’s paradise, selling everything from model airplanes, cars and ships, to specialist paint and brushes. Martin, a former mechanic who once worked for Pirelli, also carries out repairs, fixing radio-controlled cars, model tanks and anything else his customers bring in – even garden ornaments.

The interior of the shop has hardly changed since the 1970s when Martin’s parents bought the business. “It’s had small alterations,” says Martin, “but it’s retained its original charm”. Martin’s dad died a few years back, but his mum Jennifer still pops in every Saturday to check up on the place.

Martin, 55, and Antonella, 47, have an unusual business policy for this day and age. Although they have a Facebook page, they are not interested in selling their wares online. Speaking to the ECHO, Antonella said: “We want people coming in through the door to keep the high street alive. You’re just going to lose it otherwise.”

While we are inside the shop, a steady trickle of customers head through the door. Bob Clayton told us he comes in almost every day for “trains, chit chat and old-fashioned service”. Martin tells us: “The most important thing to us, whether a customer buys anything or doesn’t, is to leave that door happy.”

Antonella and Martin get lots of holidaymakers come over from Liverpool, especially cruise passengers. They have welcomed people in from all over the world looking for the right modelling kits. “We’ve had Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, Chinese,” said Antonella. “We’ve had a guy come in from Iceland, and another who keeps in touch from Malta.” Workers from the Cammell Laird shipyard are also regular customers. They come in to buy tins of enamel gloss paint for doing crests on ships.

Merseyside has played an important role in the development of model-making. Frank Hornby, who was on Copperas Hill, Liverpool, in 1863, invented Meccano and Dinky Toys, as well as founding the model railway company which still bears his name. In its heyday, Meccano had factories in Speke and Aintree as well as manufacturing bases in Argentina, France, Germany, the USA and Spain. Sadly, the Meccano factory on Binns Road shut its doors for good in 1979.

Martin says model making has exploded in popularity these past few years, particularly since the Covid lockdowns, when people were looking for hobbies to occupy their time. “It’s a relaxing therapy,” he explained, “and we’re hearing it more and more now than we used to. It’s quite amazing – they get so engrossed in what they’re doing.”