Knife shop memories

There was a knife store in now abandoned Eastland Mall in Tulsa. I was in my early teens when the Cold Steel and Tanto craze was abound. Would have been late 80’s really 90’s. I used to beg my dad to run me over there so I could look and maybe even touch what I though them was magical.

Anything over $20 was a lot to me. If remember, those Cold Steel Tantos were well over $100. I still remember the advertisement of one being pierced thru a car door. Those are the days!
 
My earliest knife memories were at either the local hardware store or Sears in Atlanta, Georgia. There was also a knife store in a mall somewhere in Atlanta that my Dad took me to. I was all about getting a Buck 110 like my Dad's - until I saw the Puma copy with the black blade.

Later in High School I recall there was a knife store on the edge of Salinas, California where I saw my first Cold Steel Tanto & the various Gerber Mark II & Guardians. There was also a knife store in Monterey, California that I bought my first Pacific Cutlery balisong from. After I moved back to Georgia I went back to California to visit friends and bought my 1st Spyderco from a Tobacco/Knife store in Carmel, California.

There use to be a place in Kennesaw, Ga that carried all kinds of military surplus and a good assortment of knives. Around that time though I'd discovered various mail order catalogs like Cutlery Shoppe & Cold Steel's Special Projects. With them I saw I could usually buy it cheaper direct than from the local stores.
 
whitty said:
I remember that very well. Always had one on him. Curious, do you know what he did for a living before opening Becks? I always thought he was a pilot but someone recently told me he did something else.
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I thank maybe he was an aircraft mechanic, but I could be wrong. Sort of cool that he had an entire shop of knives, but always stuck with the sebenza. I just googled Beck's cutlery and looks like they have a mobile sharpening truck they take to the farmer's market. Pretty cool to see that they are still offering that service.
 
1988 NY, Times Square while on vacation.
A store full of knives and avid salesman "Charly".
He showed me "the Tanto".
Never heard of CS before, he showed that add with the pierced car-door and even hit the sales counter with the knife.
That memory always brings a smile to my face.
 
Yes I do remember Becks and I believe I have a pamphlet they sent me on Bauchop knives. I always wanted an Alleycat years ago as well as a few others. All our knife shops are closed around here in Mo but if I drive about 30 miles east I'll be on GP Knives front door.
 
Great thread, OP. I remember Beck's also. I ordered a couple of limited edition Benchmades from them in the 90's (AFCK tanto's that I wish I still had!).

For me, though I'll never remember the name, there was a knife shop (might've been a Hoffritz) in the mall in Richmond, VA where we went to shop in the 80's. But the best was a local enthusiast's shop in my tiny hometown - he certainly didn't make much money, but supplied local hunters with ammo, etc. I remember vividly going there as a teenager and him having an array of Benchmade Balisongs in his display case. Talk about a kid in a candy store.
 
Scheidemayer's Hardware in Appleton, Wisconsin, had a glass-front display cabinet full of unaffordable Case knives, at least when I was a kid back in the 50s. My usual carry was a Scout knife from J.C. Penny.
 
Sigsog226 said:
Cecil Clark's Knives in Newport, KY. They are still open, but I've heard that he's going to close shop this year and retire. He, being Kendal, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
I used to go there about every other weekend when i lived in Kentucky. I miss the hell out of that place. You go in there to buy some knives, then end up talking about anything and everything lol. I've learned alot from him and that store will hold a special place in my life.
Its also cool to talk to some of the other customers there too. When you run into that other knife guy/nut there. I remember some days we would have about 8 guys huddled around shooting the breeze about knives, politics, etc.

And his inventory is huge. Pretty much a BRK catalogs worth and then some. And going in there so often was nice, because i could just ask if anything (used off the streets) came in and there was usually something interesting.
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hello sisog, how could I have forgotten Kendal. I still deal with them. great people and great products. one of the last family owned shops. will be sadly missed for sure.
 
My first exposure was at the local hardware store in PA. They had a great display of Case knives and I frequently drooled when I was there. To me, Case was the best because my Dad had a Case slippie. Dad and knife went together always. Those knives were way too expensive for a kid. I saved up a long time to buy my first and I was so proud.

I visited the Cutlery Shop in the one mall in Dallas Tx. Things were expensive there or were at least to me. I never bought a knife there, but I did buy some German scissors. I believe this is the company that Jim Parker bought and later closed down.

I don't really count stores like Bass Pro or Cabelas as knife stores, but they do tend to have a relatively good selection.

In recent years, post 2005 and joining BF, I have visited two good knife stores and a couple lesser ones. I'm in TN and the big knife store in Sevierville is always a hit for me if I'm nearby. I've also visited the knife retailer in Bluefield VA. Bought a number of things there over the years. Always good service.

The local ACE hardware has a knife display, but it's limited to Frost, Leatherman, and a few Vics. They do often have a few Case knives there as well.
 
This brings back some memories, my grandparents lived in traverse city Michigan and so I spent a good amount of time there as a kid. In the mid 90s there used to be a shop with a pretty good selection downtown. It was the first time I ever laid eyes on spyderco in person. It was also the first place I ever bought a quality knife for myself, a spyderco Q, fully serrated of course, for $30 that I thought was a fortune back then. It served me until college when I got in a bad car accident and it was ejected from the truck. I used to beg my mom to go to that shop every time we were in traverse, and she hated it because they had a MASSIVE tarantula mounted in a frame on the wall and she is deathly afraid of spiders. My how things have changed, that $30 spyderco that seemed like a fortune then pales in comparison to the $325 I just spent on a CTS-204p domino and M390 para 3. Unfortunately, spydercos recent price hikes may have killed my love affair with them. Man I miss the 90s... Funny I hadn’t thought of that shop in years, but It’s really what introduced me to higher end knives.
 
The other knife shop I remember was in Eastland Mall in Charlotte. They were right at the corner on the top floor above the ice skating rink. I only went there when I was a little kid, but it is where my Dad bought me my first SAK. That knife had everything on it. Funny the thing on it I played with the most was the magnifying glass!
 
I remember three cutlery dealers the most -

1) Hoffritz for Cutlery. Back before the name got sold off, it was a genuine old style cutlery store with big plate glass windows filled with multi level displays of knives done up fancily. Never really bought anything from there, but the odd SAK or kitchen knife when I was with my mom, but I still remember it. One of the things that I found fascinating as a little kid was that a bunch of them were located in train stations in NY. You could buy yourself a butterfly, false button switchblade (as a 8 year old I thought they were real and wanted one badly), or 6", 8", or 10" Original Bowie Knife (oh my :) ), and hop right on the train home. No one cared, it was awesome.

2) Paragon at Union Square - My first introduction to really high end cutlery. Depending on the time of the season, you could walk in, and see a single display case that was worth a house. I once even saw Robert DeNiro eyeballing folders there for a few minutes.

3) Skylands Cutlery - He didn't have a store, but Greg was a fixture in mail order and east coast knife shows for years. I dealt with him when I was a teenager, and he was very kind. Never just sold a knife just to sell it. He'd tell me if something was junk or something else was coming out soon that might be cooler. He'd also toss in the odd knife company catalog or trinket sometimes.

Also he was one of the biggest Al Mar and tactical dealers during that time, and it was really neat to have someone show you a Warrior, Smatchet, Terzoula, Elishewitz, etc.... knowing they wouldn't get a sale out of it, but just out of kindness.

Skylands closed almost 15 years ago, and Greg mostly retired, but I'll always remember him as a really good dude.
 
On one hand I am kinda happy that there isn't a "real" knife store nearby these days (closest is about 90 minute drive) otherwise I'd buy even more or I'd annoy them by hanging out not buying anything. :D
 
For me it was Brewster's drug store in Riverside, California. It was basically a gift shop with a pharmacy. The owner was a knife enthusiast and had several large display cases with predominantly good quality knife brands. I spent as much time as my mother would allow staring as those displays. I bought my first knife there for $7 in 1974 when I was 8 years old, a no-brand German made hunting knife with a stag handle, which I still have. They went out of business around 17 years ago. I bought my wife a Spyderco Dragonfly from their closeout sale. Very fond memories of that place......

Also Plaza Cutlery in the South Coast Plaza. Bought a few knives from them in my teens and early twenties. Sadly, they just closed shop a few months ago.
 
Nagel’s Gun Shop in San Antonio, TX. I got my first Sebenza from them in ‘98. From there it was a very slippery slope.
 
Has to be the local hardware store in Fredericksburg, VA for me after I was married in the early 90's, all quality things that good old Randolph Quann would show me and not complain as I looked and handled them. He even helped me buy my first knife I really wanted badly, a Blackjack Model 1-7 with a leather handle, for 70.00 but I did not have enough for tax so Randolph told the cashier to just ring it up for 70.00. Over the years I would visit and admire the Boker knives in the case too, bought a Boker red bone handled trapper, told my wife's grandfather about them and he bought a red bone 3 blade stockman, which I now have after he passed a few years back.

Lastly over the years I always checked out Corky's military surplus store, a lot of good stuff and enjoyed knowing the owner too. Always stop by when I can to say hello.
 
Mitchell Knives said:
I used to go there as well!

Davi's had a good knife selection as well, although most of the staff were jerks.
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I could ride my bike to Beck's (the original shop in Cary). I spent all my money on YooHoo's and couldn't afford any knives, so I would just hang out and look at stuff. I don't think I knew about Davi's.
 
Within biking distance was really important when you're a kid. I had that. It seemed like a long bike trip to me and sort of an event, but in reality it was only about 4-5 miles each way. Bikes have changed a lot and the acceptable distances have changed a lot. Now a-days, kids seem to expect you to drive them anywhere at their convenience (not yours). Walk a mile.... OMG that is quite a hike. It baffles me actually with a grandson and his impressions of walking beyond a school building or something like that. I hike for fun.
 
Chesapeake Knife & Tool was the store for me. They had fantasy stuff all the way up to nice knives. I bought my first Kershaw there when they introduced the speedsafe mechanism. They also had a branded reverse tanto framelock leek with black DLC in S30v when the steel first came out. Great little knife, picked up a spare one when they closed down.
 
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