Toulouse: Ideal Models has reopened near the Halle aux grains
Model lovers can be reassured, the Ideal Models store has not disappeared, it has just moved.
Located for more than three decades on boulevard Lazare Carnot, at number 67, in a building that has just been destroyed, Ideal Models, this well-known institution of Toulouse has just reappeared just a stone’s throw from the Halle aux grains , at 35 rue des Frères Lion. “We opened on July 18,” announces Edgar Sabater, the new boss of the store, who took over from Claude Carrière. And he kept Thierry Andrieu as a valuable collaborator. The latter was already working in the old store, in the middle of miniature cars and model airplanes. “Ideal Models was the oldest model and model shop in Toulouse. It dated from 1967. For me, it’s my whole life, I spent 35 years there, so it was important for me to be able to finish my career in this type of job,” explains Thierry Andrieu.
As soon as the old store was scheduled to close, the team was therefore keen to find a well-planned new location in the city, and to recreate the atmosphere that made the old store attractive, “so that customers found here what they knew there,” continues Thierry. In other words, rare models of old and contemporary collector cars, ranging from the Peugeot 504 Pick-up to the Renault Mégane via the Porsche, “many people come here to buy their miniature car”. Added to this are mythical cinema cars such as the superb Ford Torino from the detective series Starsky and Hutch, red with its white stripes on the side.
In this cave of Ali-Baba, there are also models, wooden boats to build, airplanes and remote-controlled 4X4s too, paints, wood, compressors, airbrushes, glue, pliers, screwdrivers , cutter, magnifying glasses, …
Because of its rarity, this store attracts customers from all over the region. “Yesterday, we had a person who came from Foix”, confirms Edgar Sabater. Some have frequented the brand since the beginning, “we’ve known each other for a long time, so it’s become a big family. It’s also good that the adventure continues,” admits Thierry.