Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A vintage arcade and museum has found a new home.

The iconic Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum will be relocating nearby. The current location and strip mall in Farmington Hills will be demolished to make way for a new development on Orchard Lake Road near 14 Mile featuring a new Meijer store.

Owner Jeremy Yagoda announced that they will be relocating to the Orchard Mall at the northeast corner of Maple and Orchard Lake Road, next to Planet Fitness. He said they’ll be expanding the museum – going from 5,300-square-feet to about 14,000-square-feet – offering an opportunity to have private party rooms for birthdays and other occasions and spread things out.

Yagoda said their last day at the current location will be January 5th and they’ll take a couple of days to relax before they start the move. There’s no official date for the reopening as the build out will take some time.

Yagoda said he’s “sad to leave Farmington Hills as the whole city has been MARVELOUS but this was the best location we found! Sad to leave Hunters Square but time to start the next chapter for MMMM”.

There was an outpouring of support and a petition drive following initial news of the demolition.

The museum features vintage coin-operated machines, oddities, unusual nostalgia, and video and arcade games. Founded in the early 80’s, the museum says it not only stands as a monument to all things silly and goofy but as a testament to Marvin Yagoda's philosophy. He passed away in 2017. The museum is now operated by Marvin’s son, Jeremy Yagoda, who vowed to find a way to stay open and move the museum.

The late Marvin Yagoda embodied the philosophy "Wouldn't the world be better off if we took nonsense more seriously?" He set out to create the largest collection of animatronic machines and wacky things. Founded in the early 80’s, the museum earlier said it “not only stands as a monument to all things silly and goofy but as a testament to Yagoda's philosophy. This treasure has served the people of Farmington Hills, as well as visitors from around the world, since its conception”.