mom and pop vs. big hobby shop

[Q tip]

the way I have always done is buy from both sources. hard to find items , such as resin and various after market parts is almost a given for internet sales. as far as kits, i'll swing on both sides. but there is just something about walking into the shop and picking up with your own two hands the product that your wanting with out having to wait days on end for your items to get done bouncing around the country side and hoping it hadn't been damaged.(last package I received looked as if the truck driver delivering it rolled his truck end for end. no damage though)

[2002p51]

Maybe a side topic to this is; do you guys think the hours a local shop is open has anything to do with it's success or failure?

The Hobbytown USA that I go to is closed on Sundays! That makes no sense to me as what better time to participate in the hobby shopping than weekends?

I think a hobby shop should be open at around 11:00 am on weekdays to provide service to those who can swing by on their lunch hour then stay open until at least 8:00 pm. Then Saturday and Sunday it should be open a minimum of 12 hours, say 8 to 8 or 9 to 9.

A closed shop is an open invitation to shop on-line.

If the shop owner absolutely must have a day or two off make it Monday and/or Tuesday.

Yes, this would be a tough routine and it would be hard to find and schedule quality employees to cover all those hours but running any business is tough if it is to succeed.

Thoughts?

[JamesW]

Well said Drew. My not so local LHS in Ypsilanti is open Wed-Sun (closed Mon and Tues). They're a Mom-N-Pop shop so I totally get why they're not open 7 days a week. . John usually builds while he's there, so he uses his days off to spend with family.

[Greg Myers]

After reading all of this I feel blessed with my Local Hobby Shop, Andy's. Personable,knowledgeable, has current kits (if not, he knows when they will arrive), and usually has collections of older kits, good hours,a web site, e-mail information on new arrivals, and nothing but plastic.

,

[southpier]

.....

A closed shop is an open invitation to shop on-line.

...

.... the hours a local shop is open has EVERYthing to do with it's success or failure ...

the internet never closes. i know that's not real for a brick & mortar store, and i respect Hobby Lobby for staying closed sundays.

if the LHS hours are consistant, i'll practice some behavior modification and go when i am able.

[WigWag Workshop]

I have a couple of family owned hobby stores locally here. One of them sells more than just model kits. They have slot car, trains, model kits, arts and craft supplies, R/C, candy, rockets, kids scientific projects, pinewood derby, and quite an extensive magazine selection. They don't have internet sales, but if you want something that they don't have, they'll order it for you and have great customer service. Now, the other store also carries different things as well in the store, but has an online catalog service that really makes the money to keep their doors open. It also allows the in store prices to be $3-$5 cheaper than elsewhere. They are very friendly people and sometimes I spend as much time talking to the employees and owners as I did shopping. Plus, lucky for me, both stores are within 2-3 miles of where I live. Gonna miss that when my wife and I move farther away from the area. Then it will most likely be more internet buying and periodic trips into Milwaukee for bulk purchaces.

If this is the hobby shop I am thinking of, I spent a lot of time there in my youth when they were still in Cudahy. I would get $2.00 worth of candy fish, and browse the isles. Very freindly folks for sure!

-Steven

[ChromeIt]

I don't have much choice, these days.

Back in the early 60's, when I began modeling, we did have a very nice "mom & pop" type local hobby shop - which had everything including car models, ships, planes, model railroad, and slot-car stuff. In fact they even had a large ho-scale slot car racetrack set up just above the shelves in one of the rooms (the store occupied two storefronts) They also had games (strictly board games in those days) and doll-house stuff.

Also, in those days, many of the other stores in my area had small to medium sized sections of model kits, including grocery stores, hardware stores, department stores, and even one local record (that's what music came on back then, before CD's and mp3's) store.

But now, the only hobby shop that is local to my area is a Hobby Lobby. Well, there is one other local shop, but it is strictly RC planes and cars, nothing there for me.

So, if Hobby Lobby has what I want, I go there with one of their 40% off coupons.

If not, the Internet is really the only other logical option.

[Quick GMC]

Luckily, the only place in town is a mom and pop. One of the guys that works there is a friend of mine. His uncle owned Hobby Town. The local shop was terrible, terrible employees, stocked all the wrong things, etc. Friend's uncle closes Hobby Town and moves back to Tennesse where he has another store. Friend takes off to Hawaii for 5 years and I'm stuck with this crappy place or the internet. Friend comes back, gets job at local shop, they fire one guy and hire a couple more, the owner gets a lot of good input from his new employees. business ramps up, more good stuff in stock and they end up growing out of their unit. Now they are double the size, ALWAYS busy with great employees. I feel very lucky. I will happily pay more and drive over there to buy anything they can get. While I believe it was the employees were significantly responsible for their knowledge of what people want, it takes a good business owner to take input from his employees and allow them to control and adjust inventory. The owner is a train specialist, they have one dedicated flight guy, two very knowledgeable rc car guys and a couple others that are pretty good all around. Sometimes I get to tell them what models to stock, some of the frequent locals can just walk behind the counter, grab what they need, install it on their car then pay. it's a great feeling place.

[2002p51]

.... the hours a local shop is open has EVERYthing to do with it's success or failure ...

. . . and i respect Hobby Lobby for staying closed sundays.

Oh I do too. The area I live has been described as the "Buckle of the Bible Belt", and a lot of businesses around here are closed on Sunday's including Hobby Lobby, and I completely understand that.

But I still think a hobby shop isn't like a restaurant or a grocery store and you need to be open when your customers are most likely to shop.

[Harry P.]

you need to be open when your customers are most likely to shop.

Doesn't that apply to any business?

I could never understand why car dealers are closed on Sunday...

[southpier]

so they could run at the drags!

[Fabrux]

I don't understand why ANY business is either closed on Sunday, or reduced hours (12-5). But that's another topic for another time...

[Nxr]

Anyone been to the Red Caboose on West 45th street in Manhattan? I just made a visit and left with a Concorde model, a few ho scale freight carts and a couple of paints, great place! Friendly service too which is none existent in NYC these days.

[Rob Hall]

Doesn't that apply to any business?

I could never understand why car dealers are closed on Sunday...

Varies depending on the state...car dealers are open here on Sundays.

[johnbuzzed]

I don't understand why ANY business is either closed on Sunday, or reduced hours (12-5). But that's another topic for another time...

I think it's based on religious/faith beliefs.

[Tom Geiger]

a store closed on Sunday may be a religious thing. The entire Chick Filet chain is closed on Sunday for this same reason. Camera and Electronics stores in New York City are closed on Saturdays when they are owned by devote Jews.

I do agree that stores open more hours are more available and can attract more customers. I know I scratched my head at the stores in NJ that closed at 6pm, in a shopping center where the commuter busses dropped off folks all the way to 8 or 9pm. The shopping center was the commuter lot! I think those stores were missing out on a lot of business.

[Adhsdad]

Doesn't that apply to any business?

I could never understand why car dealers are closed on Sunday...

Harry,

I don't know about any other states but in Texas it is actually the law (or was) that car dealerships could not be open on consecutive weekend days. Besides, there are people who simply appreciate being able to worship on Sundays.

Ep

[Ace-Garageguy]

It seems from reading all of the posts in this thread that, contrary to many opinions, the "brick-and-mortar", "mom and pop" hobby shop business model is still entirely viable, but dependent on several factors.

1) The size of the community it's located in

2) The interest in making-things hobbies in the community

3) The level of interest and knowledge the management has in hobby products and techniques

4) The ability of management to work within the above constraints to provide a pleasant and efficient in-store experience

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Doesn't that apply to any business?

I could never understand why car dealers are closed on Sunday...

That USED to be tied to something called Blue Laws and was basically saying any nonesential buiness (non-food or medication etc) had to respect religious days. This probably says it better than I can.

"A blue law is a type of law designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of a day of worship or rest. In the US, most blue laws have been repealed, declared unconstitutional, or are unenforced; though prohibitions on the sale of alcoholic beverages or prohibitions of almost all commerce on Sundays are still enforced in many areas. Blue laws often prohibit an activity only during certain hours and there are usually exceptions to the prohibition of commerce, like grocery and drug stores. In some places, blue laws may be enforced due to religious principles, but others are retained as a matter of tradition or out of convenience"

Some of this still exists ni many states, say bars are closed on Sundays, and the grocery will not sell alcohol on Sunday, so if you want to drink then you have to go somewhere that serves food, and then you can drink with that. I am from Indiana, and when I was in college, people used to go to pizza joints on Sunday to get beer.

[southpier]

I don't understand why ANY business is either closed on Sunday, or reduced hours (12-5). But that's another topic for another time...

s i g h . . . . it really was a simpler time . . . . .

[Harry P.]

I looked it up, and you're right... car dealers are closed on Sunday in 15 states as a holdover of old-fashioned "blue laws." But the weird thing is, according to what I read, they can be OPEN on Sunday, but they can't SELL on Sunday.

Man, we have some really stupid laws on the books!

[southpier]

...... there are people who simply appreciate being able to worship on Sundays.

Ep

or maybe just not work?

[Rob Hall]

I definitely prefer retail businesses that are open Sundays...though Sundays for me mean watching motorsports and football when in season, I do use the weekends to take care of errands like grocery shopping, dog supply shopping, etc..

[Harry P.]

What's the one single day that almost nobody has to work? Sunday.

Common sense would tell you that most stores would be wise to be open on Sunday. As far as accommodating employees who want time off for worship, nobody works seven days a week, so stores would always have people whose shift would include Sunday. Give them the morning. Open your store from noon 'til 8 or 1 'til 9. Makes sense to me...

[cartpix]

I shop everywhere. There's a Michael's very close & I get the 40% coupons. But I've pretty much shopped them out, model wise. There's 2 LHS, Hobby People (chain) is fairly close but caters to RC. One of the employees is a car modeler & we have talked quite a bit. The rest of the employees are friendly & helpful. They have 1 isle of models but only one side. They keep up with the latest releases. But they are very lacking in paint. They have a model master rack that is pretty empty & NO Plastistuct. The 2nd shop is another chain (can't remember the name) about a 1/2 hour away & I have only been once. They have a good section of kits (a lot of new releases), paint, & Plastistruct. There's a train store about 45 minutes away & it's the only place I can get Tenax & Ambroid. They also have a great selection of Testors Metalizers, colors I never knew existed. I don't do too much Internet shopping & use Ebay for vintage kits. I wish I had a Mom & Pop locally. The last one was great. I got to know the owner & his wife. They were really great people. He did armor but didn't discriminate. They knew me by name & we'd talk models every time I went. That was over 20 years ago (before Internet for most) but he just didn't make it. I felt bad for him because he was such a nice guy. I really miss that place.

Jeff