Second area LHS to close down this year

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

What's wrong with people that they won't support local businesses? I walked in to one of the only remaining hobby shop in the area (I live in a metropolitan with over 6 million people!!) and was immediately struck by bright orange SALE stickers on nearly everything in the store. Sure enough, I went up to the cashier (with my purchase) and she confirmed it. Going out of biz end of the month....jeez...an area of this size can't/won't support a full line hobby shop??? C'mon people... -RRR

[Greg Wann]

It is very sad that people don't want to make things much anymore.  They want instant gratification and boring video games.  I moved to Sun City, AZ.  If you could move here you would never get bored.  I joined the woodworking shop.  It is approximately 6000SF of tools and fun.  Next door is the metal working shop.  They have a brand new plasma cutter.  A room with several lathes.  Lots of sheetmetal working equipment.  80 colors of powder coat and 8 colors of transparent powder coat.  A decent size bake oven for it.  The list of stuff to do goes on and on.

http://suncityaz.org/recreation/clubs/

Edited October 4, 2017 by Greg Wann

[oldnslow]

I think you need to check your numbers dude,  , the Miami / Dade area only has 1.7 million people and the whole state is only at 18 million , just looked those numbers up , cause I had no idea where there would be a metropolitan area with 6 million people , unless you count everybody south of Orlando , in Fla. Most people won"t travel more than a few miles to pick up anything now a days , it's too easy to buy it off the net . While I travel the Jacksonville area a lot , it's not uncommon for me to go 60 or 70 miles round trip , I just did that , looking for 1 kit at Hobby Lobby for a trade . I also hit the hobby shop in Ocala  ( Rob's ) plug , plug , plug ,when I'm down that way for a club meeting , think FAST , Daytona is also an area I travel to and look around , it's cheap entertainment for me and the wife to get out a little . It is sad that the smaller hobby shops are fading , but after Wally World almost killed them , at least in this area , when they carried models all the time , there's still 1 that's fairly well stocked locallly ( Hobby World OP ) plug , plug , plug , have known the owners for over 40 years , great people , but things change and business goes on .

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

I think you need to check your numbers dude,  , the Miami / Dade area only has 1.7 million people and the whole state is only at 18 million , just looked those numbers up , cause I had no idea where there would be a metropolitan area with 6 million people , unless you count everybody south of Orlando , in Fla. Most people won"t travel more than a few miles to pick up anything now a days , it's too easy to buy it off the net . While I travel the Jacksonville area a lot , it's not uncommon for me to go 60 or 70 miles round trip , I just did that , looking for 1 kit at Hobby Lobby for a trade . I also hit the hobby shop in Ocala  ( Rob's ) plug , plug , plug ,when I'm down that way for a club meeting , think FAST , Daytona is also an area I travel to and look around , it's cheap entertainment for me and the wife to get out a little . It is sad that the smaller hobby shops are fading , but after Wally World almost killed them , at least in this area , when they carried models all the time , there's still 1 that's fairly well stocked locallly ( Hobby World OP ) plug , plug , plug , have known the owners for over 40 years , great people , but things change and business goes on .

https://www.google.com/search?q=south+florida+population&oq=south+florida+population&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.8920j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

6.696 Million, dude... -RRR

[oldnslow]

yep , they're counting everybody south of Orlando  , but that's OK , it makes them feel important.  The guys over in Tampa would probably be offended to be told they were in the Miami metropolitan area.

[smhardesty]

Yeah, it's kinda sad to read or hear about hobby shops, or any local Mom & Pop shop, closing down. Trust me, you'll find ways to compensate. I live in a County, yes County, with a population of only 16,000. The nearest hobby shop is an hour and a half drive, and there is only one. Like it or not the future of modeling is primarily the online shops. I believe in supporting local businesses, but when it comes to modeling I believe in being loyal to a select group of online businesses. I want to see the places I'm doing business with thrive. I need to be able to look forward to a continued association with the places I do business with now.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[250 Testa Rossa]

It seems like hobby shops are becoming a thing of the past. When Hobby People went belly-up, I managed to get a few kits nearly half-off. 

[Mark]

Not a good business to get into really, unless you are active online, can move a bunch of merchandise, and have enough locals to support you.  Too much "dead" stock that sits on the shelves forever unless you are right on top of how much of each item to order.  Same deal with local craft shops, hardware stores, record stores, and others. 

A couple of weeks ago, one local shop closed, but they weren't discounting...everything was full retail.  Who pays retail for anything anymore?  With online shopping and craft store chains carrying some hobby products, you've got to meet customers halfway.  Most people here know about the 40% off one item coupons from the chain store...around here, the local guy offers 25% off one item coupons.  I'll buy from the local guy at 25% off instead of the chain store at 40% off (sometimes on a higher-than-retail price) because the local guy has other supplies that I can't get anywhere else. 

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

yep , they're counting everybody south of Orlando  , but that's OK , it makes them feel important.  The guys over in Tampa would probably be offended to be told they were in the Miami metropolitan area.

It's Miami Dade, Broward, Palm Beach counties and yes we are the most important people in the whole wide world. Get used to it. -RRR

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_metropolitan_area 

Edited October 5, 2017 by Rocking Rodney Rat

[espo]

It's not just Hobby Shops. Everyone seems to be buying everything online and not visiting the Brick and Mortar stores anymore. This is not always the least expensive way to make a purchase. While not directly connected to modeling I had a recent experience that I think is a good example. In the past I have purchased several different sets of tires and wheels and tires on line from Tire Rack and Discount Tires. In the past it was a substantial savings, now not so much. Last month I needed to get new tires for the wife's car. I used Tire Racks vast information on the type of tires I was looking for, but the price plus the mounting and balancing locally seemed rather high compared to past purchases. Checking locally I found an independent tire store that I have used in the past and they have done impressive work on a couple of our vehicles in the past with alignments and wheel balancing. I also checked the local Costco store and found that both were competitive on price and Costco was the least of them all on the exact same Michelin tires. With the competitive nature of pricing today I think sometimes purchasers are short sighted in not shopping at local stores. Plus a lot  less hassle if there is a problem with what you purchased.       

[oldnslow]

 , It's great to have a sense of humor , and using those numbers you're right . God , I wouldn't have the patience to deal with that kind of congestion . I think we're overcrowded up here in the sticks of north Fla.

[Dave Van]

I was in the hobby shop biz from 1980's through 2001. Not easy back then...now harder...add aging owners, rising costs....just the way it is. Our hobby will be 85% online in a short time. 

[Alix Bernard]

Not a good business to get into really, unless you are active online, can move a bunch of merchandise, and have enough locals to support you.  Too much "dead" stock that sits on the shelves forever unless you are right on top of how much of each item to order.  Same deal with local craft shops, hardware stores, record stores, and others. 

A couple of weeks ago, one local shop closed, but they weren't discounting...everything was full retail.  Who pays retail for anything anymore?  With online shopping and craft store chains carrying some hobby products, you've got to meet customers halfway.  Most people here know about the 40% off one item coupons from the chain store...around here, the local guy offers 25% off one item coupons.  I'll buy from the local guy at 25% off instead of the chain store at 40% off (sometimes on a higher-than-retail price) because the local guy has other supplies that I can't get anywhere else. 

I'd love to support our LHS but his prices are kinda salty. Thank goodness for the Lobby(sometimes).

[Dave Ambrose]

It doesn't matter what you're selling. Retail is brutal these days. I'm fully stocked with kits (at least according to my wife), but I buy paint, and some tools at our local hobby shops. At least around here, the RC sections of the hobby shops keep the rest of it afloat. 

[Joe Handley]

To be honest, I'm happy to not only be out working at a hobby shop, but out or retail in general. Dave and Dave are right too, it's not what it used to be in general and I even told a friend and former coworker (who's also named Dabe, oddly enough!) that I have no interest in getting back on the other side of the counter again. I do try to shop local, no matter what unless it's convenience related like distance to place order would be made (I don't shop at my old employer and the next closest one ain't too close), I need it sooner than I could order and pick it up locally ( especially with Mom's medical issues ATM), or I just can't buy it locally.

[Roadrunner]

I'm as guilty as anybody. I buy wherever it's cheapest, period. I had a good pal with a wonderful shop, but he wouldn't even consider trying to match online prices I was finding, so I simply purchased from somewhere else.

[Tom Geiger]

We vote with our wallets.  Has anyone here considered that when we buy those cheap kits at Ollies, or that clearance kit at Hobby Lobby and gleefully report it here, that it's another nail in the coffin of hobby shops and this hobby?    Avenel Hobbies (New Jersey),  a store that catered to plastic modelers was in business over 30 years. It went out of business within 6 months of a Hobby Lobby opening in town.  The owner stated that was the reason his business fell off 50%.  Done and over with!

I do not know the deal that Hobby Lobby has with kit manufacturers, but I do know how Walmart operates.  It holds their merchants 100% liable for the merchandise on their shelves.  So any returns,  defective product and even the kits you guys stole the tires and rims out of, all get charged back to the provider. Same with product sold on clearance. It all gets charged  back to Revell, Round 2 etc.

Anyone else find the never ending supply of kits for $7.99 each at Ollies scary?  No, everyone is happy to feed at that trough.  Consider that they can sell the kits way below the manufacturers wholesale number, isn't that a failure of our hobby market?  Tons and tons of product from multiple manufacturers landing there for a dollar or two a kit??   We still haven't figured out the source for this, but when manufacturers have to dump this much of their production at less than the cost to produce...  do I have to go further?

 

Edited October 8, 2017 by Tom Geiger

[Mark]

We vote with our wallets.  Has anyone here considered that when we buy those cheap kits at Ollies, or that clearance kit at Hobby Lobby and gleefully report it here, that it's another nail in the coffin of hobby shops and this hobby?    Avenel Hobbies (New Jersey),  a store that catered to plastic modelers was in business over 30 years. It went out of business within 6 months of a Hobby Lobby opening in town.  The owner stated that was the reason his business fell off 50%.  Done and over with!

I do not know the deal that Hobby Lobby has with kit manufacturers, but I do know how Walmart operates.  It holds their merchants 100% liable for the merchandise on their shelves.  So any returns,  defective product and even the kits you guys stole the tires and rims out of, all get charged back to the provider. Same with product sold on clearance. It all gets charged  back to Revell, Round 2 etc.

Anyone else find the never ending supply of kits for $7.99 each at Ollies scary?  No, everyone is happy to feed at that trough.  Consider that they can sell the kits way below the manufacturers wholesale number, isn't that a failure of our hobby market?  Tons and tons of product from multiple manufacturers landing there for a dollar or two a kit??   We still haven't figured out the source for this, but when manufacturers have to dump this much of their production at less than the cost to produce...  do I have to go further?

 

I'm not ready to push the panic button...the manufacturers and even the wholesalers probably calculate that a certain percentage of product will end up going to closeout.  They'd rather produce too much on occasion than not enough, otherwise a competitor will fill the gap.  Out of the total number of items in the catalog in a given year, a relatively small number of items end up getting discounted.  And a good number of those are ones that most of us here could have guessed wouldn't do well.  A buddy of mine pegged the AMT '53 Corvette reissue, for example...he resells kits and he said he can't get ten bucks for a sealed original issue kit.  This kind of thing went on in years past too...how many of us remember picking up "last years" annual kits for a buck apiece?

Now, if this starts happening with everything that comes down the pike, then there's a problem.  But I think you'll see cutbacks in new product ("new" including new reissues) before that becomes apparent to us.  The people working for the major manufacturers know what they are doing, and will act accordingly.

[unclescott58]

We vote with our wallets.  Has anyone here considered that when we buy those cheap kits at Ollies, or that clearance kit at Hobby Lobby and gleefully report it here, that it's another nail in the coffin of hobby shops and this hobby?    Avenel Hobbies (New Jersey),  a store that catered to plastic modelers was in business over 30 years. It went out of business within 6 months of a Hobby Lobby opening in town.  The owner stated that was the reason his business fell off 50%.  Done and over with!

I do not know the deal that Hobby Lobby has with kit manufacturers, but I do know how Walmart operates.  It holds their merchants 100% liable for the merchandise on their shelves.  So any returns,  defective product and even the kits you guys stole the tires and rims out of, all get charged back to the provider. Same with product sold on clearance. It all gets charged  back to Revell, Round 2 etc.

Anyone else find the never ending supply of kits for $7.99 each at Ollies scary?  No, everyone is happy to feed at that trough.  Consider that they can sell the kits way below the manufacturers wholesale number, isn't that a failure of our hobby market?  Tons and tons of product from multiple manufacturers landing there for a dollar or two a kit??   We still haven't figured out the source for this, but when manufacturers have to dump this much of their production at less than the cost to produce...  do I have to go further?

 

I can't say it any better. By the way, I'm guilty of shopping where I can get what I perceive to be the best price/value. Or convenience. Now days, I buy a lot of stuff on line. I can find more of a selection and get what I want more easily on line. Plus at a better price? Guess where I'm going? This doesn't help my local hobby shops one bit. At the same time, like it or not, this is the future of retailing. As long as there is a demand for something, there will be somebody out there trying to meet that demand. It may not be the way it was done in the past.