Hobby Town

[CometMan]

Hey everyone! Just heard of a Hobby Town shop that is about to open in my general area! It sounds like they are part of a large chain, but it is the first one in my area, I haven't dealt with them before.  Anyone have any experience with them, good or bad?

[Ace-Garageguy]

The one in my area has an excellent supply of materials, paints, and tools...as long as the guy doing stock checking remembers to keep up with it. Model kit coverage is pretty OK as far as current production US kits go. Lotsa RC stuff, toys, not great HO train section and some other scale RR stuff. Definitely better than nothing, especially as a source for brass, aluminum, wood and styrene stock and Tamiya and Testors paint.

They also stock weathering materials and usually a couple of different silicone molding kits for making parts. Not bad at all, really. Nice selection of air brushes and parts too.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[martinfan5]

Hobbytown's are franchised , so each store is independently own and operated.  So what they may or may not carry is going to vary by each store.

Edited August 19, 2016 by martinfan5

[crazyjim]

Went to the store in Gainesville,. FL before they moved.  Great selection of kits, paint, and supplies.  The prices were ENORMOUS!

[Dave Van]

I used to visit Hobby Town store when I traveled. I had 6-7 stores I'd visit on a regular basis. ALL  are closed now. 

A franchised hobby shop is not a good thing.....you pay a percentage of your sales to someone else??? Margins are slim enough already. This from someone that ran shops for many years. 

[Draggon]

 The prices were ENORMOUS!

Yeah, when the one in my city was still open it was stunning. I tried to patronize them, but just couldn't pay 50 to 100% more than anywhere else. 

[Jon Haigwood]

My local Hobbytown has a good selection of kits general at higher prices. Very little accessories for models. I am able to order aftermarket parts such as Model Car Garage and receive it in a reasonable amount of time with out the shipping charges 

[High octane]

I used to visit Hobby Town store when I traveled. I had 6-7 stores I'd visit on a regular basis. ALL  are closed now. 

A franchised hobby shop is not a good thing.....you pay a percentage of your sales to someone else??? Margins are slim enough already. This from someone that ran shops for many years. 

While I don't have a Hobby Town USA store near me, I do know of three that are a bit of a ride. One must have a boomin' business as they are into R/C trucks "big time" and have an indoor track as well. R/C is "big money" as I've seen a number of hobby shops in years past expand their R/C departments quite a bit not only to handle the sale of many vehicles, parts, tires, and supplies, but also to do repair work for their customers.

[Eshaver]

Hey everyone! Just heard of a Hobby Town shop that is about to open in my general area! It sounds like they are part of a large chain, but it is the first one in my area, I haven't dealt with them before.  Anyone have any experience with them, good or bad?

Here in Richmond Virginia where I call de Lan dat time forgot , we have Hobbytown , two of them. They're owned by the same former structural engineer. . I have little I can say nice about this company in every place I have had the misfortune to have been in . We lost our last "Real Hobby store back in 2008 " ..........

[oldcarfan]

There are three Hobby Towns and one actual hobby shop in the Austin area. One of the Hobby Towns just opened about two miles from my house. I rarely buy from them because of price. When I do it is usually supplies. If I'm going to pay full retail price, I'll go to King's Hobby which is old line and locally owned. Hobby Town is not bad as such, they are sort of the McDonald's of hobby shops. The selection is the same no matter where you are in the country. If nothing else, they are better than Hobby Lobby, I just wish they would do coupons like H.L. does.

[CometMan]

Thanks for your input, guys! You have confirmed my suspicions, that if I'm in the area, and have time to spare, then I should check them out. If not, I shouldn't go out of my way to go there!

[Deathgoblin]

There's one very close to my apartment.  It's a nice shop.  They have a good selection, prices are about the same as the other local shops.

[Tom Geiger]

Back when I was looking at a career change, I investigated opening a hobby shop.  Part of that was talking with HobbyTown about their franchising.  It's not a simple thing to go into a new business.   First, most of us including me, have limited if any knowledge outside of model cars. The franchise gave you a week long course at their training center, unlimited consulting,  complete ordering and setup of your new store,  use of their POS system to run your business and reorder merchandise. Centralized purchasing. In other words a complete business model and tools to get started.  It would be very difficult for an average person to set this all up in a quick and timely manner.  They'd have you ready for business on your first day.  If I remember correct their fee was something like 3-6% of sales.  Not a bad deal for all that support.

 

[carrucha]

The nearest Hobbytown is in Sunnyvale, CA.  They have a nice selection of models and finishing supplies and are very friendly.  They have been open about 3 years and I am hoping that they make it.  Three Hobbytowns have gone out of business in my area in the last 15 years.

[Tom Geiger]

The nearest Hobbytown is in Sunnyvale, CA.  They have a nice selection of models and finishing supplies and are very friendly.  They have been open about 3 years and I am hoping that they make it.  Three Hobbytowns have gone out of business in my area in the last 15 years.

The Hobbytown near me is run by a friendly older couple.  They have modeling supplies and even stock Model Cars Magazine.  

Their fatal flaw is that the couple want to work weekdays.  During the weekend their grandchildren and hired help run the store.  Actually they don't run the store. They sit behind the counter talking amongst themselves while they fix their own RC stuff.  If you ask them a question, they seem perturbed that you interrupted them.  They open at noon on Sunday and once I was there at 12:45 and witnessed a hung over youngster run in and open the store.  It's a pity that the owners aren't there on weekends, which are the bread and butter of retailing!   They could do much better.