Thor Rankin, the proprietor of Thor’s Furniture and Lionel Trains on Medical Center Parkway, is a staple in Murfreesboro. In the midst of all the Marvel Universe popularity, I had to ask the Murfreesboro businessman if Thor is even his real name. He said it is, and his parents got the name from a movie.
Oddly enough, the parkway his store is on was named Lokey until recent years. Loki is the mythical brother of the Nordic god Thor, but Rankin insists the name had nothing to do with the selection of the shop location.
Rankin opened his furniture store in 1986 and has worked there nearly every day since. One Christmas, he went on vacation to Gatlinburg and saw some of the toy shops there. Rankin fell in love with the model railroad sets, and Thor’s became an authorized Lionel Train dealer in 1994.
He is not the first retailer in his family. His grandfather opened a clothing store in Clarksville over a century ago. Thor’s father later took over the business, relocating it to Alabama and then to Murfreesboro. His father continued in retail, selling Levi’s jeans until the late ’90s.
Thor initially set off down a different path in business. As a teenager, he was an assistant for local auctioneer Colonel Tom Dement.
A few years later, he would earn his own auctioneers license. With that, he learned how to appraise antique furniture. That skill has served Rankin well all these years. He currently sells bookcases, pantries, chests of drawers, chairs and porch rockers, most made by hand right here in Tennessee.
But what many local people think of when thinking about Thor’s is the big assortment of model trains. Shoppers from all over Middle Tennessee and beyond pop in and buy something to add to their own sets. Even people from as far as South America and Japan stop in to see the collection.
And it is definitely a trip to take! From the moment you walk in, you will see model train engines, cars, cabooses, landscape pieces, buildings, pieces of rail in various gauges and other accessories from floor to ceiling. There are several tracks set up with different size trains making the rounds. One can definitely be captivated watching all the action and trying to guess which engine will pop out of a tunnel next. It’s like Christmas year-round!
“A lot of engineers got their start with model railroads when they were kids,” Rankin said. “A lot of the cars you see driving down the road, or the planes and rockets in the sky, the designers behind them got their start with train sets.”
He accredits being in business for so long to his father, who gave him some advice years ago.
“You have to have reasonable rent. That’s key to keeping your overhead down. Of course, a good location helps,” the store owner says. “And you have to have a good accountant. Taxes can be complicated, as the laws often change.”
That is certainly sound advice for anyone in business for themselves.
“If ever you were self-employed, you will never go to work for someone else,” Rankin said. I’m not certain that entrepreneurial philosophy is necessarily true for everyone, but the man’s love of his business and what he does is definitely apparent.
And he loves playing his music, too. Especially bluegrass and rockabilly. He has even been featured as an entertainer at the Tennessee State Fair.
To conclude, Thor said, “I want people to support all of the local businesses, not just shop with me. Shop local and the money stays local. It’s important to support all of the mom-and-pop shops. These are the people who pay local property taxes, support the local charities and support the local ball teams.”
Stop by his modelers depot, Thor’s Furniture and Lionel Trains, located at 416 Medical Center Pkwy., Suite F, or give him a call at 615-895-6918.
He enjoys it when people just to stop by and say “hello” and to see the trains run—and he might even serenade you with a little music.
