LHS (sorta) seems like it's in trouble

[JJ Deuce]

I needed some Tamiya spray paint for a kit I'm trying to finish, and the only place in town that I know still carries it is the Hobbytown USA(I believe it's a franchise location).  I decided to check the kit inventory while I was there, and it was terrible.  They had maybe 20% as many kits as they have when I've visited in the past.  I went to the paint section and it was similar.  Out of stock on at least half of all brands, both rattle cans and bottles.  I didn't look closely at the other areas of the store but it seemed to be the same all over.  I bought a few things, but not much.  Hope they are not going out of business.

[Ironman63]

There used to be one Hobbytown USA in Anderson, SC and two in Greenville, but all are now closed.  The one I frequented the most in Anderson did the exact thing before saying they were closing.  There was hardly anything in the store to choose from.  It sounds like it may be happening there, I'm sorry to say.

[Jantrix]

Unstocked shelves are a clear indication of a business in trouble because they find that they can't keep shelves shocked and take home a paycheck.

[JJ Deuce]

that's definitely the impression I got.  another customer asked the cashier about the inventory and he told them "it's been slow but their orders should start being larger soon."  Sounds like the kind of thing you tell employees when you don't want them to know it's almost over.  

[martinfan5]

Hobbytown USA, enough said.

[vintagerpm]

39 minutes ago, JJ Deuce said:

that's definitely the impression I got.  another customer asked the cashier about the inventory and he told them "it's been slow but their orders should start being larger soon."  Sounds like the kind of thing you tell employees when you don't want them to know it's almost over.  

That's bascially the same line we got at the Houston Hobbytown, right before they closed, a couple of months back. And the San Antonio owner owned the Houston store.

[Dave Van]

Hobbytown USA has a VERY high franchise fee structure....or they did when we talked to them at RCHTA one year. We passed. Hobby shop margins are slim already........then fees???? 

[Mark]

We had a Hobbytown USA here too, not far from where I live.  They too closed, same pattern as you describe.  Hobby shops are a tough business, lots of dead stock on the shelves.  The RC people will go in to buy an RC magazine and then order online, then only come in for incidentals.  The model car guys will buy online, at shows, and at Hobby Lobby, and maybe buy a can of spray paint at Hobbytown.  It's a tough business, I never understood why you'd want to complicate that by throwing a franchise fee on top of it.

[BigTallDad]

26 minutes ago, Mark said:

  It's a tough business, I never understood why you'd want to complicate that by throwing a franchise fee on top of it.

The  answer is simple: GREED!

[mikemodeler]

34 minutes ago, Mark said:

We had a Hobbytown USA here too, not far from where I live.  They too closed, same pattern as you describe.  Hobby shops are a tough business, lots of dead stock on the shelves.  The RC people will go in to buy an RC magazine and then order online, then only come in for incidentals.  The model car guys will buy online, at shows, and at Hobby Lobby, and maybe buy a can of spray paint at Hobbytown.  It's a tough business, I never understood why you'd want to complicate that by throwing a franchise fee on top of it.

Yes, same issue here in NC. Had a HTUSA that was very convenient and I would buy kits and paint there, but they closed up when the landlord decided to double the rent. They would help people with R/C stuff only to have them go home and buy online. Similar problems forced another independent LHS to shut down leaving us only with Hobby Lobby and Michael's stores here in Charlotte.

As far as the franchise fees go, it is how franchises work and unfortunately, HTUSA has done themselves a huge disservice by charging what they do as can be seen by the closing of so many locations.  

[vamach1]

I'm surprised Hobby stores have held on this long with stores like Michael's Hobby Lobby, etc  having much better overall profit margins and probably do not compete as much with on-line sellers since they offer so many other things to a mostly female customer base.  If there is one thing that has gotten better with the hobby is the ability to communicate with enthusiasts and to go to events that just did not exist 40 years ago.  I guess as long as there is demand kits will still be made but it is a hassle to order on-line for just a few things and then have to pay shipping so that one can do spray paint will end up costing $10.

[JJ Deuce]

1 hour ago, vintagerpm said:

That's bascially the same line we got at the Houston Hobbytown, right before they closed, a couple of months back. And the San Antonio owner owned the Houston store.

honestly I didn't shop there much, other than for paints and supplies.  I can't say I'm surprised, as online shopping is affecting all businesses, it makes sense that the hobby niche market is impacted on a larger scale.  

there's still a couple of locally owned hobby shops here, but they're both a good drive from me and cater more to railroaders and aircraft modelers.  The shop I really liked closed years ago when the landlord pushed him out to get a larger tenant. I was able to stock up on a lot of supplies at a discount, but I really miss that shop.  

[Mark]

I can't see the benefit of the franchise with something like a hobby shop.  It's not like McDonald's or Tim Horton's, where you know there are always commercials on TV and radio.  Judging by the prices HT charges, it's not like the individual stores are getting fantastic buying power either...

[SSNJim]

2 hours ago, vamach1 said:

I guess as long as there is demand kits will still be made but it is a hassle to order on-line for just a few things and then have to pay shipping so that one can do spray paint will end up costing $10.

I just paid $10 + tax for a can of paint at the Hobby Works in Laurel, MD last weekend. I paid $7 + tax for a can of the same paint tonight (sucks getting old) at the Hobby Town in Frederick, MD. The Hobby Towns I've been to recently have pretty decent prices, but not much of a kit selection. The one in Frederick has moved 3 times in the last 10-15 years. The second location was very nice, with an indoor r/c car raceway. At least it's still in business - all the others have closed around here. I do wonder how long it will hold on, or if it will just move again.

[Brian Austin]

There used to be a chain in the Boston area called HobbyTown.  I think they're not related to the current chain, but may be related to HobbyTown of Boston, an HO scale model railroad supplier (that's no longer located in Boston!). 

[stinkybritches]

The Hobby Town I go to in Chesterfield, VA has pretty decent prices on kits and supplies. The kits, on average, seem to be fractionally cheaper than the same kits at Hobby Lobby. HT has a better variety of kits also. Unfortunately for me, both HT and HL are at least 30 minute drives. 

[Jantrix]

I fell very lucky that we have a successful HTUSA here in Boise. He caters to the RC crowd mostly, and provides repair for those hobbyists. However he was smart enough to jump on the Gundam bandwagon early and has a great selection of that. He keeps cars stocked fairly well. My club meets there and we spend money every time. 

I have seen failed LHS's and successful ones. It seems to me that those that are smart, pay attention to what the current trends are, and adapt to fill those needs have a much better shot at being successful. Oh yeah, and location, location, location.

[Tom Geiger]

20 hours ago, Dave Van said:

Hobbytown USA has a VERY high franchise fee structure....or they did when we talked to them at RCHTA one year. We passed. Hobby shop margins are slim already........then fees???? 

Back when I was doing some soul searching for a career change, I thought about opening a hobby shop.  There was nothing around me here west of Philadelphia.  At the time my outplacement from my former employer put me at Right Associates, a firm that helps you with your job search.  I belonged to their "Senior Leaders" group and one of our exercises was to look at your hobbys etc for your next career move.

The group looked at me and suggested I go into the hobby business.  This group had a bunch of out of work Vice Presidents, so it was a pretty business savvy assembly.   They took the concept and with their over enthusiasm had us opening three locations to start.  They worked with a landlord with shopping centers in the burbs and got excellent terms on 10,000 square foot units in good locations.  The landlord even had the demographics for the areas, with median income, percentage of owners vs renters, traffic reports etc.  They even had venture capital guys they spoke to, this thing was way outta control and I had a feeling I'd wind up doing this, like it or not!

We looked at the Hobbytown USA franchises because it was an instant startup.  They provide a lot of support, including a complete POS system and starting inventory necessary.  These guys looked at the fees just as a cost of doing business, figuring it would take us a year to figure out everything on our own.  

So what stopped us dead in our tracks?  Sales potential.  Just to keep the doors open, between rent, inventory, interest on financing, salary for me and pay for everyone needed to keep the doors open from 10am -7pm 7 days a week, we figured that each store needed to do $1000 a day in PROFIT.  So at $10 per kit profit, that's 3,000 models a month.  The cost of running the business was just overwhelming.   So  "2 Cool Hobbies"  died right then and there! 

And a few years after that Hobby Lobby came storming into town.  You could walk there from what was to be my primary location!  

Edited July 26, 2019 by Tom Geiger

[Mike999]

On 7/25/2019 at 4:45 PM, Ironman63 said:

There used to be one Hobbytown USA in Anderson, SC and two in Greenville, but all are now closed.  The one I frequented the most in Anderson did the exact thing before saying they were closing.  There was hardly anything in the store to choose from.  It sounds like it may be happening there, I'm sorry to say.

I remember those Hobbytown stores. I grew up in the Upstate but lived in Los Angeles and overseas for quite a few years.  I'd stop by all those places and go kit-hunting when I went back to SC to visit relatives. You probably remember another small but good hobby shop: inside the Great Escape bike store in Greenville.If you bought 3 model kits, they gave you a free kit. Unfortunately when Trek Bikes took over the store, they kicked out the hobby shop.

Now I'm back in the Upstate. AFAIK, the only thing close to a local hobby shop is the Hobby Connection in Easley. It concentrates mostly on R/C cars and planes, and seems to have fewer and fewer kits every time I go in.  I'm not sure how long that will last, since there's a Hobby Lobby just a few miles away.

[Ironman63]

1 hour ago, Mike999 said:

I remember those Hobbytown stores. I grew up in the Upstate but lived in Los Angeles and overseas for quite a few years.  I'd stop by all those places and go kit-hunting when I went back to SC to visit relatives. You probably remember another small but good hobby shop: inside the Great Escape bike store in Greenville.If you bought 3 model kits, they gave you a free kit. Unfortunately when Trek Bikes took over the store, they kicked out the hobby shop.

Now I'm back in the Upstate. AFAIK, the only thing close to a local hobby shop is the Hobby Connection in Easley. It concentrates mostly on R/C cars and planes, and seems to have fewer and fewer kits every time I go in.  I'm not sure how long that will last, since there's a Hobby Lobby just a few miles away.

Yep, I loved The Great Escape.  They also had a great model railroad set up in the store(I have a small N scale pike) and a good selection of model kits.  I was disappointed when they phased out the hobbies.  Like you, I don't know of another one other than the Hobby Connection.  It's about an hour's drive for me so I don't get there as often as I'd like.  Last time I went was January, and they had more kits than about 6 months before.  I don't R/C but they definitely have more for those hobbyists than the plastic modelers.  They do have a pretty good Tamiya paint selection.

[martinfan5]

Ive lost count at the amount of HTUSA's that have come and gone here since I was old enough to pay attention.   But from that same time, two LHS that are owned by the same owner are still around . 

Ive never been impressed with the HTUSA's , the prices always seemed to be more than the LHS and most of the ones here that I visited didnt seem to want the plastic model builders money as they really didnt keep good stock of kits.

[JJ Deuce]

On 7/25/2019 at 4:32 PM, vintagerpm said:

That's bascially the same line we got at the Houston Hobbytown, right before they closed, a couple of months back. And the San Antonio owner owned the Houston store.

UPDATE:  went by today and there's signs all over the store - everything is 30% off.  I bought a kit, several rattle cans, and some other supplies and tools.  I asked the cashier if they're closing and she said  yes, they decided this week.  

I'm planning to go back later and buy their remaining Tamiya spray paints.

[stavanzer]

HobbyTown USA will soon be spared the whole Franchise Fee issue. That will be because the folks running corporate are still locked into the old business mindset. At some point soon, the number of stores open, will be too small to sustain the huge Franchise Fees, dropping below the minimum required just to run Corp HQ. At that point the whole deal will collapse into bankruptcy and we will hear a sob story or two from the CEO of the failed chain, lamenting that after raising fees to overcome shortfalls from constantly closing stores, the whole thing died because customers weren't spending enough money. Poor Management will never be publically mentioned.

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by alexis