Orillia Diecast is a miniature car collector's dream store, boasting more than one million diecast cars at their 438 West St. N. location according to store co-owner Linda Albert.
Orillia Diecast officially opened its doors in October of 2019. However, their diecast journey began long before then.
“It all began with my husband 14 years ago when he went nuts buying up all these collections of diecasts,” Albert said.
“Back at that time we did try to get a business off the ground, but we had another business on the go, and we had toddlers, so we never really found the time.”
About four years ago, Albert and her husband, Shawn Knight, decided to re-visit their collection and do something with it.
“We set up at Burl’s Creek Automotive Flea Market and it was a success, so we started looking for other events to do, and it kind of escalated from there,” she said.
Since opening their storefront, Albert and Knight have discovered many diecast collectors who reside in the Orillia area.
“We have a massive number of loyal customers who are passionate about collecting diecast, so they keep returning to get more, and we keep bringing in new merchandise to keep people coming back,” Albert said.
“We have a great mix of new and old, hard-to-find pieces, and we order in pieces for customers who are looking for something specific.”
At Orillia Diecast, collectors can find Hot Wheels Redline products, which are the first Hot Wheels that were ever made back in 1968 through to 1974. They also have Hot Wheels Black Walls which followed the Redline. The local store also carries M2 Machines, Johnny Lightning, GreenLight Collectibles, Matchbox, and Jada products.
“We have some sought-after Hot Wheels collections, 30 car sets, and we do auctions on our Facebook page for limited edition products,” Albert said.
Orillia Diecast has also become a popular spot among Orillia movie and TV lovers as they carry some of the most recognizable vehicles from pop-culture history.
“People marvel at that stuff because it just sets them back and gives them a sense of nostalgia from their past. They are top sellers for sure,” Albert said.
“We carry a bunch of Fast and Furious stuff which brings in a lot of the younger people; they go nuts for it," she said.
Albert and Knight’s biggest motivation for running their business is being a part of the diecast community.
“The diecast community is a whole different breed of people; they look out for each other, help each other out, it’s a lot of fun to be a part of,” Albert said.
“My husband and I both collect, we both enjoy it, and it’s a lot of fun.”
While Orillia Diecast has been going strong for parts of three years now, the pandemic has presented the business with challenges, just as it has for most other small locally owned businesses in Orillia.
“It hasn’t been easy during the lockdowns. We were just on Facebook and trying to drum up sales by taking pictures of product for people, we were shipping, doing curbside pick-ups, and unfortunately we had to slow down on orders from our suppliers because of financial stability,” Albert said.
“We are still slow here now. We’ve had to get some loans, and we qualified for a grant from the government, which is good."
Albert says despite the pandemic-related strains on the business, Orillia Diecast is here to stay.
“We just can’t quit, we have a ton of money invested in this, so we have to sink or swim,” she said.
