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Post by Grandpabeast on Jun 20, 2013 14:08:39 GMT -7
I am not talkin about Hobby lobby or Wal mart . I mean real Hobby Stores. I live in a pretty big area and at one time there where five Hobby Stores and now we just have one and it doesnt carry models it is all trains and rc cars.
Tell us what you have in your area good or bad ! I need to know if I would be making a wise move to open a Hobby Store !!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2013 14:22:19 GMT -7
Well Beast, I'm in a city with a population of 800K+. There is one, ONE, hobby shop that carries model cars. And even so, their specialty is trains and RC as well. Wish they opened something out here.
Before you open one up in your area, you need to find out the demand for one in YOUR area.
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Post by Grandpabeast on Jun 21, 2013 10:59:15 GMT -7
I hear ya Iceman. It would be so nice to have a shop that caters to the thing you love doing. Then you tie it in with e bay and internet. then front it on line with a site like Jerrys Cherrys !
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Post by CustomMuscle on Jun 22, 2013 13:57:33 GMT -7
I tell ya Beast I think all the online stuff has pretty much killed out all the Mom and Pop stores. We had several around here that were great. They had big ole Slot car tracks and everything now they're all gone except for one. There's another big one in Ontario called Pegasus but they've got an online line store now also.
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Post by Skip-O-Matic on Jun 23, 2013 0:44:05 GMT -7
Over the years there have been a few shops open around here, but never last more than a year or two, sometimes shorter. There is one in my county but it caters to railroad and planes. The next closest one is 35, or a bit more, miles and it caters to the R/C crowd. There is one shop that has a ton of kits, old and new, but is over an hour away.
I don't know if the ones that tried just didn't have a large enough inventory and selection of kits, because I was never really impressed by any of them, or the demographic just isn't large enough to support a brick and mortar only shop. I have also wondered why the couple of shops that are staying open don't expand a little and add kits to what they already have. Maybe ther isn't high enough return on investment estimates for them to do it or they are busy enough with what they have and don't want to be bothered by it.
I have thought about it and if I was going to pull the trigger on such and idea, I would start from home internet based and work to growing big enough to require a commercial location and then put in a walk in store front as an enhancement and to serve the local builders.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2013 9:19:30 GMT -7
Last time I was at the train shop (where I TRY to find model kit stuff) I asked the owner the reason behind the low inventory. That shop has been open for over 40 years. He said that when they first opened the store it was mainly going to be for model cars. As the years went by and started adding different types of inventory, he noticed that the demand for the hobby was less and less. They added train sets and mostly now, RC kits. Planes, choppers, and lots of car. They even bout a small lot behind the shop and have a race tack for RC cars. He said that as technology advanced so did the interest in RC cars with chips and other modifications available. I remember maybe 20 years ago when half his store was still all about model cars. He had at least 6 of the 12 aisles lined up with kits and aftermarket accessories. Now, it one aisle, well really only half and isle for model cars. No accessories. Sad to see the hobby dying down
That's why I think places like this are ever so more important. We need to keep this hobby alive.
Run tell your friend about this place. The more we expand the more we spread word of mouth and get out younger generations involved.
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Post by Grandpabeast on Jun 23, 2013 11:46:30 GMT -7
It saddens me to think that we love a dying hobby. The fun , the talent, the patience to build this ART and gentlemen I men Art. When I look at the models some of you build it just floors me the amount of imagination and talent. I so much want to encourage that. Look at the stores we have told of being a little kid and going into a local hobby store and the memories it gave you. You cant do that on line. I may have to do more planning but with the help of internet, and sites like this ....oh and dedicated modelers like all of you. i so plan on opening a Hobby Store
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Paperbackman 07 I needtologin
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Post by Paperbackman 07 I needtologin on Jun 26, 2013 8:59:03 GMT -7
That's also the problem! My generation has no imagination we would rather waiste our time leveling up on a videogame or watching tv than reading a book or learning a skill! My generation has no interest in anything that takes effort I totally feel like I was born in the wrong time I go to junkyards and scrounge for cool stuff while my friends sit inside in the ac playing Xbox.... Xbox is the hobby of my generation and so is the computer it's really quite sad
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2013 9:01:03 GMT -7
And now I'm logged in so I can follow this thread sorry didn't want to waiste what I wrote.
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Post by Grandpabeast on Jun 26, 2013 12:17:47 GMT -7
Yes, I hear ya Paperback....you are a rare animal for your age ! But you are what is keeping this hobby alive. Us old farts will help as much as we can, teach ya everything we know , but you and your generation will need to keep the hobby growing , the contest going and the model clubs flowing !!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2013 18:02:12 GMT -7
Once I get mine open, I found a location, I will let y'all know. the reason I am not on here until dark, is Iam spending a lot of time with the designers and developers as we begin to work with the investors to bring Hill Country Hobbies LLC together. I am modeling it after the first store I went into in Fairfax, VA in 1957. A small, yet spacious store with lots of shelf space.
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Post by Grandpabeast on Jul 2, 2013 19:34:29 GMT -7
Man I love that idea
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2013 3:03:01 GMT -7
yup I have always wanted a shop like this, so it will be a very unique kind of shop. The way I have it designed it will be like a model museum, each kind of modeling venue with have it's own look, like the car area is going too have an appearance of walking into a garage, the airplane area will look like a hangar, the ships area will look like a harbor and the military will look like a post since all services had posts that they were assigned to. I am already in communications with a local H.O. train club to set up a train layout in the front window at Christmas. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I am currently planning to have a Model contest around that time of the year, since the last IPMS show is in October and it's the Austin Show. I am also planning to have a meeting room in the back of the store that will become the permanent home of the club I formed with my model car pals here in Austin.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2013 15:25:15 GMT -7
i concur!
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Post by mike0157 on Oct 19, 2013 4:34:07 GMT -7
I know the feeling about all the model shops closing. I'm in a small town in southern ohio. The closest shop for me is close to an hour away. And I was talking to the owner this past Monday after the first of the year shes closing. That only leaves me one other shop about an hour and a half away. So I manly get my models off eBay. Or got to the big box store the hobby lobby and its almost an hour away as well. Miss the old days 2 hobby shops in town
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Post by gardnerpag44 on Oct 19, 2013 10:15:32 GMT -7
I agree with you all , I have a 28 year old son who still lives here has no drivers licence I've give him at least 10-12 models he built one and not interested
in them anymore rather play video games or on his I-phone all the time . But aleast he has a job and pays me rent Thank God !!
Any way back to the ? there is a Hobby Lobby a recently opened round2model store (bad thing is they only sell there products only !!) also one hobby store
selling RC cars and models he has around three to four hundred in his stock & other half of store is a flower shop all within a couple hour drive from my house.
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Post by Skip-O-Matic on Oct 19, 2013 17:16:09 GMT -7
Hey CarCrafter, any news or updates on your hobby shop venture?
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