Hobby Shops long gone from Mpls and St. Paul MN

[Mike999]

THarrison351 said: "There was another couple of shops in Greenville, SC that I would patronize when my tanker was at Donaldson Center for inspection and maintenance. They went under also."

Every hobby shop in Greenville is gone, AFAIK.  Not so many years ago, it had a couple of Hobby Towns and the big shop inside The Great Escape, a bicycle/sports store.  In 2014 The Great Escape sold out to the TREK company and they closed the in-house hobby shop.  I grew up in SC, but I lived in Los Angeles for many years and spent a lot of time working overseas. I would hit all the Greenville shops whenever I visited Upstate SC.

The only hobby shop left in that area is The Hobby Connection in Easley, located right on Hwy. 123 if you're ever in the area.  They do have a pretty good model car section. Conveniently, that store is just a couple miles from a Hobby Lobby.

I can't even remember all the hobby shops and toy stores that closed in Los Angeles.  I think I'd rather NOT remember!  Up thru the mid-1990s, the PlayCo toy store chain had a good selection of models, and so did the K-B toy stores in every mall.  K-B also had several big outlet stores, where you could find recently discontinued kits very cheap. Until SavOn bought out all the local drug stores in SoCal, some of those stores also had good model sections.  I remember one drug store that even had some VERLINDEN items and books.  

[unclescott58]

I heard a ad on the radio yesterday that there might be a new Hobby Town in one of the Twin Cities southern suburbs? I was at work at O'Reilly's at the time, working with a customer, so I really couldn't pay too close attention to the ad. A new hobby shop opening up? This seems like good news.

 

[Darryl]

Scott - Even farther back was Billet's on 26th and Nicolet Ave. So. I even work there for a short time in the late 1940s or very early 1950s. That was the Fathers store. One of the sons also started a hobby wholesale business. I think that didn't last very long.

[larry ray]

Dons in Greely Co. 70s,80sand 90s I think I lived in Ks then

[mrindy77]

I managed all of the Jolly's Hobby during a 6 year period and also did a stint at Motorsports Miniatures.  I started at Southtown,  did a short stint at Apache, went to Southview and ended up at Sunray.  It was a struggle as we also carried crafts and the budget was spread thin. It was the dawn of the mail order business and I could see the writing on the wall. Scale Model Supply was always the go to for the cool stuff and it was not in the same location it is now.  It was on the other side of the street in a brick 3 story house.

[Straightliner59]

On 2/20/2021 at 11:10 AM, larry ray said:

Dons in Greely Co. 70s,80sand 90s I think I lived in Ks then

That place was incredible! There used to be a lot of excellent hobby shops, here in the Denver area, but, Colpar is really the only good one left. I miss Scale Model Supplies, in St. Paul. It's my favorite shop, ever! I mean, it's still there, I'm just not!

[Bugatti Fan]

Same over here in the UK.

Used to be a number of good hobby shops within an hours drive from where I live. Alas, most if nearly all have gone! A number of years ago a company named Beatties was buying up local hobby stores like there was no tomorrow and shortly went bankrupt, so many of the stores they acquired closed overnight as soon as the liquidators went in. A company named Hobby Zone tried to emulate Beatties with multiple outlets and quickly went the same way, so another swathe of hobby shops suddenly fell by the wayside.

Some independents carried on but gradually they started to disappear too. Only very few left now!I

If you still have a LHS, use it or lose it!

Edited November 25, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[bobss396]

Up to a few years ago, we could still do a decent hobby store crawl on Long Island. As far west as one in Glen Cove, Gold Coast Hobby. The owner died of cancer maybe 10 years ago. Then Willis Hobby in Williston Park, mostly all RC cars lately. Dave's in Freeport (place was a shambles) is gone. Someone said that Nassau Hobby in Freeport is still open.

Suffolk County, we are down to only 2 that I can name. One is a store that got a re-do last year, Bay Shore Hobbies. Again, many RC cars, little model car parts. Out east 25 miles, Men at Arms Hobby. The owner is 78 and in poor health, zero aftermarket parts. The really best place is Hobby Lobby with the 40% deals. The real service hobby shops are few and far between.

Little hobby shops were once all over the place. Some we rode our bikes to, spending our lawn cutting dollars. My dad had one by Grumman, he would pick us up kits on his way home if we gave him a dollar. 

I'm down to ordering from Mega Hobby, Detail Master, Model Car Garage. Even they do not have what they used to have. Scale Dreams was a great place, that is gone too. eBay is a good one right now, sellers I know from shows sell there, I have a bunch of saved sellers.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I seem to be bad luck for hobby shops.

 

When I lived in Rochester MN, there was a large, and exceptionally nice hobby shop called "Moon's Hobby".

It was there when we moved to Rochester in the late 80s, but folded up probably 10 years before we moved in 2016.

 

When we moved to west central MN, there was a small, but adequate hobby shop 20 miles away in Fargo ND.

It too closed about a year ago.

 

Nothing left around here to my knowledge except a Hobby Lobby.

 

The days of the brick and mortar hobby shop are numbered my friends.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[bobss396]

On 11/26/2023 at 12:14 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

I seem to be bad luck for hobby shops.

 

When I lived in Rochester MN, there was a large, and exceptionally nice hobby shop called "Moon's Hobby".

It was there when we moved to Rochester in the late 80s, but folded up probably 10 years before we moved in 2016.

When we moved to west central MN, there was a small, but adequate hobby shop 20 miles away in Fargo ND.

It too closed about a year ago.

Nothing left around here to my knowledge except a Hobby Lobby.

The days of the brick and mortar hobby shop are numbered my friends.

Steve

Sad but true. Unless they have a big-ticket lines like RC cars and trains, how much do they make on a model kit? What is the mark-up, 100%? One shop I mentioned has a finger in many pies, fantasy figures, books and games. I never see more than a few people in the store at any given time. How they carry such a vast inventory escapes me. 

I know some NNL East vendors who sell on eBay out the back door, although they do have physical storefronts.

Edited November 28, 2023 by bobss396

[Lunajammer]

On 11/26/2023 at 11:14 AM, StevenGuthmiller said:

When we moved to west central MN, there was a small, but adequate hobby shop 20 miles away in Fargo ND.

It too closed about a year ago.

To that store's credit, it stayed open years longer than I ever expected and only closed because the owner died. He as much told me that he wasn't making any money. So glasses raised to him and his memory for keeping the doors open just for the love of the small hobby business and the people he served.

[StevenGuthmiller]

46 minutes ago, Lunajammer said:

To that store's credit, it stayed open years longer than I ever expected and only closed because the owner died. He as much told me that he wasn't making any money. So glasses raised to him and his memory for keeping the doors open just for the love of the small hobby business and the people he served.

Yes, I had heard that his health was failing, and that there was apparently a buyer that had backed out.

Too bad.

I had hopes that it might continue.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Bugatti Fan]

There's a real paradox here as the hobby is actually burgeoning with 'stuff' if the sheer variety of kits, acceassories, paints, finishing items, resin and 3D items is anything to go by, judging by the sheer number and variety of things I saw at IPMS Scale Modelworld at Telford this year.

Direct selling at shows or on line is the way of the hobby world is going today, so we rely more and more on web and magazine reviews instead of physically getting our hands on kits and accessories in a local hobby shop. And of course we used to use our LHS as an informal meeting place so the face to face social aspect has all but gone.

[PatW]

I'm in North Buckinghamshire, we had one in Oxford, but they have moved and gone over to Radio Control and railways, so no model kits. We have another that is mainly railway and Hobbycraft in Milton Keynes which is Revell and Tamiya and higher priced than that on the web. So I use ebay for cheaper kits or 'already started' models, mainly cars and bikes. Paints are expensive though as I use spray cans, the shipping is about the same price as the cans are. I have one bonus, that our small hardware store stocks a few Plasti-Kote enamel colours and he can order what ever colours in the range, with delivery within the week, without a shipping cost!

[bobss396]

On 11/28/2023 at 1:44 PM, Lunajammer said:

To that store's credit, it stayed open years longer than I ever expected and only closed because the owner died. He as much told me that he wasn't making any money. So glasses raised to him and his memory for keeping the doors open just for the love of the small hobby business and the people he served.

There is one shop that has been open for a long time, since it is 25 miles each way, I only went there for the 1st time earlier in the year. The owner is 78 and he was talking about packing it in at age 80. He has military kits, car kits, lots of paint. No car detail parts. One club member goes there often, he said that the shop has lately been closed more than open, the old guy is having health issues.

[pjacobs]

It's been fun reading all the memories talked about here. My take: My Mom would take me to Motorsports Miniatures when it was off of Grand Ave (I think) in an old house. I went to some classes downstairs. I was around 10-11yrs old. I remember Gagers in Southdale Mall in Edina and the old Hub Hobby locale on 66th, just past the Bridgemanns. Mostly for train stuff. I've been going to the big basement on Lexington and University to Scale Model Supplies my whole life.  It's where I spend my model car money. A funny thing about Hobby Depot being mentioned. Around 1984-6 I shopped a lot at the Hobby Depot on 66th. I ordered tons of model car stuff from a guy named Gregg that owned the place. Didn't think much about it. It closed and I got busy with career and family. Fast forward quite a few years and I go to my parents' house and guess who moves in across the street? You guessed it-Gregg. With a family attached. He is still there to this day. He has one really nice railroad set-up. His garage looks like a hobby store itself as a lot of the guys he knew big into model railroading are passing away and their wives are trusting him to sell all that model railroad stuff on Ebay. When he opens the garage door and I'm across the street, I drool. But the wife said model railroads or model cars. The cars won out.