This West Virginia Craft Store Is Packed With Bargains And Way More Supplies Than You’d Expect

Walk in for a roll of tape and you are not leaving with just tape. That is the trap.

This West Virginia craft store is absolutely stuffed with bargains, beads, fabric, paint, and all sorts of creative treasures that will tempt you.

Locals treat it like a secret.

It is not fancy. It is just packed with good finds at prices that make you do a double take.

The selection is deeper than you would expect from a place that looks unassuming from the outside.

Whether you are a seasoned crafter or just need a fun project to fill a weekend, this spot has you covered.

You will walk out with a full bag, a lighter wallet, and a head full of ideas. And you will definitely be back.

The Putnam Village Setting That Hides a Surprise

Putnam Village Shopping Center doesn’t announce itself. It’s the kind of strip you’d drive past a hundred times on your way somewhere else in Hurricane, with easy parking and no fuss at the door.

The storefront gives away almost nothing. From the sidewalk it reads like any modest local shop, which makes the first few steps inside genuinely fun to watch on other people’s faces.

Teays Valley sits just off the interstate, so it’s a simple detour if you’re crossing the state and need a break from the road. Travelers pulling off I-64 have stumbled in looking for one thing and left with an armful of others.

What makes the location work is how unhurried it feels. No mall crowds, no long walk from the car, no fighting for a spot near the entrance.

You park, you walk in, and suddenly you’re standing in front of far more inventory than the building’s footprint suggests. That gap between expectation and reality is half the charm.

Two Stores in One, Split Right Down the Middle

Regulars have a nickname for the layout. One side leans hobby, the other leans craft, and the divide is so clean it almost feels like two shops sharing a lease.

Turn left and you’re among radio control vehicles, plastic model kits, rockets, and enough spare parts to rebuild whatever you broke last weekend. Turn right and it’s ribbon, home decor, faux greenery, and raw crafting materials stacked high.

Families seem to split up on arrival, then meet back at the register comparing finds. It’s a funny little ritual, and it happens more than you’d guess.

The beauty of the setup is that nobody gets dragged along bored. A kid hunting rocket engines and a parent hunting wreath supplies can both leave happy in the same trip.

Crossing from one half to the other feels like changing hobbies mid-sentence. Somehow the whole thing still holds together as one store, and that balance is rare.

A Model Train Selection Worth Driving For

Serious railroaders talk about this place. The train section runs deep, covering G, O, HO, and N scales, with a wall of rolling stock and glass cases holding locomotives.

You’ll find starter sets for someone testing the waters, plus equipment from names like Atlas, Athearn, and Rapido for people who already know exactly what they want.

Some stock comes from older production runs, which means pieces that vanished from shelves elsewhere occasionally turn up here.

Track, structures, scenery bits, and the small detail parts that finish a layout round things out. Hunting through it takes time, and that’s the point.

Travelers have detoured off their route specifically for this section after striking out at bigger shops in other states. Coming from Louisville or points west, it’s a reasonable stop.

The staff know the scales and the brands, so questions get real answers. Bring a list, but expect to leave with more than what’s on it.

RC Trucks, Cars, and Every Part You’ll Eventually Need

Crash your truck on Saturday and you can usually fix it by Sunday. That’s the real draw of the RC corner here, where replacement parts hang in neat rows beside the shiny new models.

Brands like Traxxas and Arrma show up on the shelves, along with tires, batteries, servos, and upgrade bits. No waiting on shipping, no tracking numbers, no guessing whether the part actually fits.

Parents and kids shop this aisle together a lot. There’s something about a first RC truck that turns into a shared project pretty fast.

Repairs are part of the picture too, which helps if you’re newer to the hobby and not ready to take apart a chassis alone. Advice comes freely and without judgment.

Compared to ordering online and hoping, walking out with the exact part in hand feels like a small victory. For anyone running RC in the Kanawha Valley area, it’s a reliable resupply stop.

Rockets, Planes, and Plastic Kits for Patient Hands

Model rockets still hold up as one of the best weekend projects going, and there’s a solid run of beginner and intermediate kits waiting here. Engines, wadding, and launch supplies sit nearby so you’re not left half-equipped.

Airplane models fill out another stretch of shelving, from small inexpensive kits that a kid can finish in an afternoon to bigger builds that eat up several evenings. Plastic car and armor kits show up too.

Paints, brushes, glue, and hobby knives are stocked in the same area. Handy, since forgetting the cement is a classic mistake.

Somebody new to building can ask which kit skill level makes sense and get a straight recommendation instead of a shrug. That guidance saves a lot of frustration later.

There’s a quiet nostalgia hanging around these aisles, the kind that makes grown adults pick up a kit they built at twelve. Plenty of people do exactly that and don’t apologize for it.

Craft Supplies That Outdo the Big Chains

Shoppers keep saying the same thing about this half of the store. Items that are out of stock or simply not carried at the big chain craft retailers often turn up right here on the shelf.

Wreath frames and ribbon get mentioned constantly, and the silk flower selection covers a wide spread of colors and styles. Scrapbooking paper, embellishments, and adhesives fill their own section.

Painting supplies, drawing materials, jewelry findings, knitting and sewing notions round it out. Some of it feels wonderfully old-school.

There’s even leather crafting stock and a small run of reed, which is unusual enough that basket weavers have singled it out. Try finding that in a standard chain aisle.

Because the store is independent, the buying reflects what local makers actually ask for rather than a corporate planogram. That means odd, specific, genuinely useful things stay in stock.

Seasonal decor and home accents drift in and out as the calendar turns.

Prices That Actually Give Online Shopping a Run

Bargain hunting here is oddly satisfying. Customers who compare against online listings before buying have found the shelf figures competitive, sometimes noticeably better than what they expected to pay.

Model train equipment, RC parts, and craft basics all land in that same reasonable range. Add in no shipping charges and no waiting, and the math tilts further in your favor.

One shopper described driving right past a closer hobby shop to make a two hour round trip instead. That says plenty.

The savings tend to matter most on the stuff you buy repeatedly. Ribbon by the spool, hobby paint, spare tires, glue, batteries.

Nobody’s going to pretend every single item is the cheapest anywhere on earth, and inventory in a small independent store moves at its own pace. Still, the value across the board is real and consistent enough that regulars check here before anywhere else.

Shopping local and saving money at the same time is a nice combination.

Staff Who Know What They’re Talking About

Help here comes without a script. Ask about a scale, a paint match, or which rocket engine suits a first launch, and the answer arrives from someone who’s clearly handled the product.

Owners and employees will take time to figure out what you’re actually building before pointing you anywhere. That approach saves people from buying the wrong thing twice.

Special orders happen when something isn’t on hand. If stock runs short on a material you need in quantity, asking is worth it.

Newcomers get the same patience as longtime hobbyists, which matters when you’re standing in front of a wall of unfamiliar boxes feeling slightly lost.

Bluegrass or gospel music often plays near the register, adding a homey soundtrack to the whole errand. Small detail, but it sticks with you.

Conversations stretch longer than they need to, and nobody seems to mind. That’s a big part of why folks keep coming back instead of clicking add to cart.

Planning Your Visit Around the Hours

Timing matters more than usual with an independent shop. Doors open at 10 in the morning Monday through Friday and close at 6, while Saturday shifts earlier with a 9 to 5 window.

Sundays are closed, so build your route accordingly if you’re passing through on a weekend trip. A quick phone call ahead never hurts, and people have done exactly that before making a detour.

Saturday mornings suit anyone who wants unhurried browsing time. Weekday afternoons tend to be relaxed too.

Give yourself longer than you think. An hour disappears fast when you’re comparing locomotives or digging through ribbon.

Bring a list if you came for something specific, because the browsing pull is strong and easy to get lost in. Plenty of visitors admit to spending more than planned.

Why a Stop Here Beats Another Chain Run

Chain stores have their place, but they rarely surprise you. Here, the mix of inventory is shaped by what actual local hobbyists and crafters keep requesting, which produces some genuinely unexpected finds.

Older stock lingers in spots, and for collectors that’s a feature rather than a flaw. Discontinued train equipment and long-gone craft items sometimes surface on these shelves.

People have mentioned finding supplies they hadn’t seen since childhood. That kind of moment doesn’t happen in a warehouse aisle.

Supporting an independent shop in Putnam County keeps that inventory flowing and keeps the knowledge behind the counter available to the next person walking in confused about scales.

Whether you’re a model railroader chasing a specific car, an RC driver needing a part today, or someone assembling a wreath before the holidays, the odds are decent you’ll find it. And if you don’t, they’ll usually try to get it.

Worth building into your West Virginia road trip. Genuinely.

Address: West Virginia Hobbies and Crafts, 25569, 12 Putnam Village Dr, Hurricane, WV 25526, United States.