Ah yes, right around the corner from where my brother lives now, in the neighboring suburb. In fact, this Tom Thumb's encapsulates the history of slot racing: it started out with seven tracks, then gradually got rid of them, one by one, as the fad hobby aspect died out... the store was huge, and they basically converted into a craft, R/C, and skateboard store, with a small stock of regular hobby parts, even some slot car stuff. I would go there every year when I visited my brother, stock up on K&S brass, and see if Glenn, their slot car guy, had dragged any interesting parts up from the basement... Not sure when they sold the last track, maybe somebody here knows - Mike?
They finally closed about two years ago, and the only reason they survived that long was that they owned the building - a huge piece of real estate in a pretty well-to-do suburb (Evanston is home to Northwestern University, although it's at the other end of the city). Either the owners got old, or died, or just decided it wasn't worth it any more, at least in that building - seems they moved to a smaller shop further north, in another suburb I think. Haven't been there yet...
Greg, I know that's not the subject of the thread, and in fact I have a whole folder full of slot car ephemera, which I will gradually drag out and scan...
Don