Is Wally Bouncing back.....

[Len Geisler]

Headed to the local Wally the other day, and guess what....I was shocked to find they gave plastic a bigger section then before, at least twice the space. But that isnt all....nope.....they added the Custom Color paints in bottles now too. Not to mention they had the Lindberg L700 turck adn trailer kit, but sadly,no Merc.

I have no idea waht is going on but I thought with all the recent talk of palstic leavin Wally World and now this, I have to share.....

[Mike]

Wow. I can only hope that trend follows here in Grand Forks. Then again, my LHS has been better to me than the World O Wally as of late.

[Mr. Metallic]

I have been patrolling the 4 local WalMarts for the last 3 weeks in search of Mercs. I did notice that the largest location has moved and expanded their model kit area. It was only sparsly filled with the old stock they had on hand,but it looked promising. The other two Walamrts have moved their model sections, but no expansion, and the 4th location is remodeling, so it's a big mess. Funny thing is that at the remodeling store is the only place I have found any Lindberg stuff. i bought myself the L700, cool kit.

[Dave Van]

My son, who is a student a Marshall U, works full time this summer for WM. Per what he understands ever store is restructuring all departments. If the department makes money for that store in that location, it is kept and maybe expanded. If it is not making money, it is cut or eliminated. All the WM in this region are keeping and expanding model kits. SOP for big biz....most money for the floor space they have.

[455 Rocket]

I went to Wally about a month ago and found no models or paint. I was disappointed as Michael's is the last place around here that has them. I'll have to go back and check.

[flatheadgary]

i went to my new super center and they removed just about everything related to models and just put a few models on the end of the row. i don't think they will be stocking them anymore. the ones they have will be clearanced out before long.

[Phil Patterson]

I don't know what they're doing, they revamped the model section at the Weston WV store, yet the hobby section has about disappeared at both the Clarksburg and Buckhannon super stores.

They've got a little competition from The Hobby Stop in Bridgeport, WV, but it's not like that's a huge store and they're main deal is railroad hobbyists, though modeling is a good third of the store.

Maybe it's just a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, it happens often enough in large corporations.

[Mr. Can Am Garage]

I have a brand new WM in town that hasn't been open two weeks yet and they've got models. Not much but given what I've been hearing I wasn't expecting any.

In the two weeks the store has been open, it looks as though they've sold over half and prolly closer to 3/4's on their model stock.

[Modelbuilder1313]

my local wallys still has the small 2 ft shelf

[Bowtienutz]

My local wally World has been going through a remodeling. Model area was expanded I recently picked up the Merc and L700. Funny only place I heard such a rumour was on a now out of business Model car dealers message board. Take it with a grain of salt

[Stevearado]

The nearest Walmart is in California, MD. They are currently becoming a Super Walmart, and clearanced most of their kits this spring. They moved their tow section this past week, but I did not see a trace of the remaining models or supplies.

[bobss396]

I have 4 local Wal Marts by me. I stop in at a few upstate NY now and then during the year. They all seem to be doing their own thing model wise. Even on Long Island, some have huge model areas with the KK paints, some just have one shelf dedicated to models with a handful of kits on it.

If you try to analyze it or form some sort of predicition that they control the fate of the hobby, you will go nuts, save yourself now!

Bob

[Smart-Resins]

The model shelf as been slowley getting smaller and smaller. However last week when we went, they moved them and gave them 1/3 of a row!!!! I could not believe it, the most I have ever seen at any department store!!

[Phil Patterson]

Maybe it's an early expansion for the Christmas shopping season. I know in past years I've scored quite a bit of leftover kits during the after Christmas New Years sales, though not so much recently.

I'm not complaining , it's good to see the kits on the shelves again.

[Phil Patterson]

And on that note, I bought the last Revell 49 Merc they had on the shelf at the Weston Walmart.

They also only had 2 of the Lindberg L-700s left, so if they put new stock on the shelves, it will sell.

Sad to say, someone had broken into one of the L700 kits and taken something out of it so that'll be one they can't sell. I remember similar problems with the lowrider wheels in the Revell-Monogram kits. That kind of loss from theft can only hurt the hobby.

[BigPoppa]

I think it's fair to say Walmart's not sure what the heck they're doing. I have a long drive to work and have hit every store on the way. That's about 10 of them and every one has a different selection of any given kit or supplies. Not all Walmart's have them, but if you find everything in a clearance aisle, I'd say it's a sure bet they're not coming back. That means that they've finally gotten sick of kicking whatever item it was (lately it's been those godawful donk diecasts and r/c cars, Ford vans, and Pirates of the Caribbean toys) around, and want product out of there.

[Dave]

I'va also seen A slight increase in the shelf space at our local Wally and Super Wally's. I was worried when I saw a bunch AMT/RC2 in the clearance aisle, although only a dollar or two discounted, but like what I see on the shelf tags with spots waiting for Mercs and Lindbergs . I saw a bunch of Lindberg display cases put out the other day.

Dave

[Mike]

I was at my local Wally World last night and well.... things are pretty sparse. Organized, but much less stock, no sign of anything new coming, and the children's music CD rack has been moved in where part of the models used to sit. Not a good sign. Oh well. I'll support the LHS more now. Granted I'll probably pay 4-5 bucks more per kit, but Walmart never had Tamiya or much selection anyhow. They had a price point.

[Gray Smith]

Well I stopped by my local Wally today and saw that they moved the model section as well, no smaller area, just moved it. Was fairly stocked with revell stuff, odd though(to me) was for the first time not seeing any amt stuff. They did have the new Merc(not my cup of tea) and the Lindberg truck set, but other than that, nothing else new. Oh well I'll just keep on supporting the local hobby places and the remaining online folks too. But as it stands now, i'm well stocked for kits for a while.

Gray