Hobby Shops... Are They Viable Today?

[lordairgtar]

True customer service. An example from my experience back in the days I was hitch hiking around the country. I was in St Louis and I needed a potty break and a cold beverage. The only thing around was a Cadillac dealer. Clearly I was not in the demographic that bought caddies in those days. I pop in and ask if I can use the rest room. The sales guy said yes and I dropped my back pack outside the door and went to the loo. I came out and the sales guy asks where I am going, where I'm from and all that. I tell him I'm hitching HWY 66 to California. He asks if I'd like to see a car. I said I'm not really in the money to buy any car let alone a Caddy. He says he did not care, walks me over to a Sedan DeVille and goes through the car explaining it's features. I'm like no way is he going to sell me a car and why is he showing me the car. He explained it's his job to be a seller of Cadillacs and everyone is treated the same in his store regardless of his or her station in life. They may not buy a car, nor be able to, but when they can, maybe they will think of the brand Cadillac as the choice for them. That always stuck with me and I've always liked the marque because of him. I eventually owned two Caddies later on in life. That is true customer relations. You are an ambassador of the store you work at or own, and of the brands you sell.

[clovis]

Great story, LordAirgtar.

I will spend the rest of my life wondering why any person in business uses "qualifiers" when dealing with potential customers. I will spend an equal amount of time wondering why everyone in business doesn't act like an ambassador for their products.

Going back to the LHS in the big city, I went in by myself for the first time to buy balsa wood. I must have been about 12 at the time, and had a whopping $1.60 to spend. The arrogant guy who owned the place spent the entire time talking it up with another kid, who appeared to be well heeled. The rich kid left without buying anything at all, and yet, they treated me awful for trying to buy something.

What he missed is that I was trying to make a wish list of the hundreds of Athearn HO kits they had in stock while I was shopping for balsa wood. I was "qualified" as being a lesser individual, and dismissed as not being able to afford those $5-$8 kits.

Just think, if the owner would have spent 5 minutes with me showing me the wide variety of HO kits, and teaching me about all the road names...or even if he would have been 1% as friendly as he was to the rich kid, I would have been a sucker for life.

When you consider that business is about flipping your product and money as many times as you can in a year's time, it is important to treat every sale with importance, even if it is just a 1.59 bottle of Testors.

It is equally important to groom your customer for future business, and encourage them whenever possible. I didn't have but a pocket of change that day in that LHS, but I did grow into having disposable cash as a teenager, and more so after college. I wanted to buy trains, but that single incident ruined it forever for me with that LHS. And often, when I see an Athearn kit today, I think of that day, back in 198-, in the LHS.

I kept going in that LHS on occasion over the years, to day dream, but I never really bought anything, ever again. That first incident happened over 30 years ago, but I remember it like it happened yesterday.

One of us is still buying trains to this day, and the other "retired" and had a bankruptcy sale.

[clovis]

I should be working right now, but just as an interesting side note that supports my belief in treating customers well:

Had the arrogant LHS been friendly to me, and 9 others customers, and assuming that all 10 of us started spending $50 a month in his LHS, it would have produced $500 in additional revenue per month.

Let's say that the owner took the $500 a month, and invested it for 10 years, let's say between 1980 and 1990, at a 5% return, in an investment.

Total contributions would have been $60,000.

But, that amount, still invested 30 years later, the investment would be worth $210,000.

For fun, let's triple those numbers:

30 customers, all being treated friendly, spending $50 a month on average.

That is $1,500 per month in additional revenue, and $18,000 a year, with a total of $180,000 in 10 years.

30 years later, that investment would be worth $630,000.

Think about that one for a while...

[johnbuzzed]

Customer service is everything in any business; the customers can be external, internal or both. I worked with customers one way or another from early 1974, at the age of 18, until 2009. In those years I dealt with people from all walks of life, from the over-educated PhD physicists who knew it all to the minimally-educated turf workers (please, I mean no offense to anyone here), from all over the world, civilian and military. Over-the-counter, at my desk, across the exam table; via phone, snail mail, e-mail and fax. I attended multiple seminars to improve my skills in my that area. You learn to realize to treat every customer as though he or she is the most important person in the world to you at that time and to assure that you will do all you can to get them what they need, to fix them or correct their problem. You have to empathize with the customer. You have to realize their wants and needs.

I once wrote (in the LIARS Briefs) of my experiences in a new, small hobby shop in Bay Shore back in '97. I didn't go there very often, maybe four or five times even though it was only five minutes from my home, and I don't recall the proprietor ever acknowledging my presence. Not once did I hear anything resembling "Hi, can I help you?" I never bought anything there. He had nothing on the shelves or the racks that really caught my attention, and his prices were higher than every other store that I knew of. At the time, he was selling the then-new Hot Wheels Deuce coupe for $10.00. K-mart had the same item for 97 cents... I mentioned this in my article, as well as his lackadaisical attitude. He never knew that I belonged to a club until after that article was printed and I have no idea how he saw it; perhaps, he knew someone in the club or he was on our mailing list. The proprietor responded (in his retort in a later issue of the Briefs) that I "didn't look like a shoplifter", inferring that he would cautiously watch me as I browsed. Of course, he never mentioned otherwise ignoring my presence or not inquiring about my interests. Now, did he think I would ever return? That shop didn't last long; I don't think he made it into this century. I continued to patronize the other hobby shops that I frequented until we left the Island in 2009. That's the breaks- business can suck if you don't know what you're doing.

Tom, I think you have what it takes to run a hobby shop successfully. If you choose to do that, I wish you well; if not, I wish you luck in your job hunt. I was there not too long ago and I know how it can be.

Edited January 10, 2014 by johnbuzzed

[Tom Geiger]

I will spend the rest of my life wondering why any person in business uses "qualifiers" when dealing with potential customers.

Thanks guys, I know that customer service is the number one thing in business. We go to a local pub that is cramped and crowded. It took us over an hour to get seats in the bar the other evening, where we could just walk in and sit down at their nearest competitor. That competitor's Happy Hour beers are a dollar cheaper. Why do we go there? Because the staff at our favorite pub is fantastic. They know our names, remember what we drink and the food we typically order. They treat us like royalty, and with a smile. They make being there a terrific experience. And that's what it's all about.

On the other hand... back around 1990 I was looking for Dodge Caravan number two. Pre Internet, I'd drive around and check out dealer stocks. I was looking for a Grand Caravan SE in gold. One Saturday I was driving past a small Mopar dealer and saw the right car on the lot. I was driving my '73 Scamp and wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. I had long hair and a beard, I looked 15. A pompous salesman approached me, and when I expressed interest in the new Caravan, he had a look of disgust and said, "Geesh, you know you can't afford that!" and refused to cooperate. So I left. He never knew I was a cash buyer and I bought the exact vehicle at his competitor the next week. That dealership is long gone.

And back in the early 1980s, when I was a young realtor, the agency's best salesman had an appointment to show houses. His prospect pulled up driving a taxi cab and the guy was by himself, burley and dressed in jeans and a winter vest. That salesman took one look at him, turned to me and said, "Kid, take this one for me." not wanting to deal with the guy. Me? I pulled him into the office and soon learned that he OWNED a taxi company and was quite well off. I treated him well and soon enough sold him a high end house. (that house would be a million today) He put 50% down and the owner financed the rest. It was the biggest deal I ever had! When the seasoned salesman heard I sold his prospect a house, he went nuts and wanted the agency manager to give him half the commission as a referral. Once the manager heard my story, he got nothing!

Edited January 10, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[Art Anderson]

My thoughts on starting a hobby shop (been there, done that, got the T-shirt): In all but the very largest of markets, no hobby shop is likely to succeed without being what we used to call "full function", that is, catering to the wide variety of hobbies that are out there.

Going in, no hobby shop owner should expect to be an all-encompassing "expert" on every area of hobby merchandise, but needs to be willing to work hard to at least understand each and every department (category of merchandise). While the owner of a hobby shop should have knowledge in one or more hobby categories, he or she simply needs to be at least basically conversant with all of them: Things such as plastic models, trains, RC planes & helicopters (boats if the trading area market has sufficient bodies of water adequate for model boats). Supplies, such as paint, glues, building materials (balsa, hardwoods, plywoods, styrene, K&S brass--all the way down to nuts & bolts, the bits of hardware necessary for completing model railroads and such RC categories as the shop might carry, and it goes without saying, repair/service parts and add-on accessories for every category of models. Also, tools should be a significant category, for the reason I mention next!

I was able to predict, within just a few months of being open, that having all these things meant that any plastic model kit I sold tended to generate its own retail value in things such as glue, paint, tools (anything from Xacto knives and blades, to airbrushes (funny, when I was doing my opening buys, several wholesalers questioned my insistence on stocking at least two different levels of airbrushes and compressors--I won that one, as I averaged perhaps 20 complete airbrush outfits yearly--where they insisted I might sell MAYBE one outfit a year, perhaps 2-3 airbrushes!). The same was true with parts for RC cars, planes and boats--if a customer comes back with an RC car busted in a crash,for example, only to hear that "I'll have to order that part for you"--well he can just as easily go online, order the part(s) even if he has to wait several days for it to arrive--why do that to him, when you could just as easily have set him up with the repair parts right then and he's back on the track that day? No online source can match that! Also, nothing is more frustrating for a modeler than to see that kit he wants, only to find that the paint rack(s) are all but empty!

Since almost no hobby retailer can be an expert on everything in the store, searching out and recruiting sales help who ARE KNOWLEGEABLE is key as well, and for more than one reason: First and foremost, having someone on staff, certainly at the busier times of the day or of course, the busiest days of the week (weekends) who can assist customers in any one of the specialties the store carries again is key to countering online sellers (back in the 1980's when I had my store online did not exist, but phone & mail order certainly did!). In addition, there is no way one person can always take care of ringing up sales, reach out to the new guy who just walked in perhaps for the very first time, answer the phone, fix that kid's RC car, describe the in's and out's of this or that RC system, explain to the novice model railroader that he cannot lay track in a "reverse loop" without insulated rail joiners, and a "double pole double throw" electrical switch. Thus some additional staff is necessary if the store is to survive, grow and prosper.

When I needed to add staff, I simply did not just put a mirror under the nose of the first person walking in the door looking for a job, and if steam on the mirror, hire him--in fact, my recruitment concentrated on customers I knew, whom I figured might like working there, and had a passion for at least one area of hobbies. In recruiting them, I explained my philosophy that while I didn't expect my staff to be expert hobbyists, I needed them to have an interest in at least some category in the store, use that to their (and my advantage) AND THEN be willing to learn, to try out other types of hobbies that we carried. Above all, I tried to instill in them that while I didn't want any customer to feel "pressured" to buy, I was adamant that they suggest add-on items that would enhance the hobby experience they were looking at (that's why at McDonald's, it's "would you like fries with that?"). Why so you might ask? Well simply put: If a customer walks leaves after a purchase, without being at least exposed to that bottle of paint, or some fresh sharp Xacto blades (you can add in anything here you might think of), then that's money walking out the door! It's those little add-on's that build business (and no, it's not trying to fleece anyone--after all if they have to come back for something they discovered they need once they get home, they have to burn gasoline at $3+ a gallon to come back--so the simple act of suggesting actually can save them some $$--not to mention their leisure time!).

It should go without saying that customer service, especially if a model kit has a defective or missing part: I do know that wholesalers today still do allow returns of defective items, certainly with plastic kits: In all my years of being in the retail hobby business, I NEVER saw ,model kit returns for defective or missing parts even approach 1% of my sales, and I never had a wholesaler refuse to accept returns on those. The same was true with many other items, although for their own reasons, manufacturers of RC gear and at least some Model RR products do not accept returns except direct to the manufacturer, so that is an area where real diplomacy comes in--and sometimes, outright "eating" of a product (I found it better to just replace that first burnt-up, overcharged 9.6V battery pack the first time, along with a careful explanation of why that happened, than to lose that customer forever (Oh yeah, there will always be those few who try to "game" or abuse the setup, but my experiences were more than positive.

Lastly, owning a hobby shop is a FULL TIME job, no way around that: Anyone going into the business thinking they can just slip out whenever to play a round of golf won't last long. You will be enslaved to that sign that says "OPEN" or "CLOSED", and be expected to be at work on time every business day, but also it will be anticipated that if the customer shows up 2 minutes past closing, you'll smile, unlock the door, and take care of them.

Just a few of the things I learned from working full time in a large hobby shop here 1963-73, part time and as a "consultant" from 1973-1983, and then my own store from 1984-92.

Art Anderson

[mikemodeler]

Tom,

Best of luck in your venture, whatever that may be. It has been interesting to read the responses and advice in this topic. Not to sound cliche', but I think you realize that if you offer great customer service, your chances of success are much greater.

I work for NAPA and it amazes me to see how some of the store personnel treat the walk in customers. Much like has been stated here, some preconceived notions can cost you some good business. Part of my job is to train the sales staff on my products and I have to constantly remind them of the value of the "add-on sale" ! If a guy is buying a thermostat, why wouldn't you ask him about coolant? If he is buying oil and a filter, does he have a filter wrench? Rags? Hand cleaner?

The bottom line, which has been stated in multiple posts, is that in order to be successful it must start with you! Like I tell my customers, if you don't buy in to the program, I can't make it successful for you.

I would try to encompass as many areas as possible within your store to have wide appeal Tom. You might find it difficult to carry all of the necessary items, but think of how much stuff can cross-over (tools, paints, accessories, etc.).

[clovis]

Tom,

With your attitude about customer service, this store is a no-brainer for you if the numbers work.

I think you are going to have to drill the customer service into some employee's heads, though. The local coin shop is a great shop, but sometimes he hires a guy to watch the counter so he can get some lunch. Sometimes, that occasional employee acts like he owns the whole town, is not friendly, and can be very off-putting. Please, please, please be very careful of this type of employee.

Just sharing my opinion, but I wouldn't bet the farm on this hobby shop. I'd start small, with decent inventory. and grow it from there. I see a ton of businesses "attempt a moon shot" when they should be focusing on trying to get off the ground. I've been to hundreds of business foreclosure auctions, where the owners tried to go too deep with inventory, or because they spent way too much money on hard assets. A very months ago, I went to an auction were they sold a custom made desk that someone paid $7,000 for, and $2,800 each for new office desks. What were they thinking? I was at another auction where the owners paid $21,000 for walk in coolers, and they had 4 of them. At the same sale, they sold 300 cases of wine because the owner wanted to be known as a top place to buy wine. Yeah, I agree, go figure!

[clovis]

Tom,

How do you plan on handling sales objections and pricing in your store?

I'm sure that you are going to hear more than once "I can get that same __________ on ebay/internet for $39."

Or better yet, if you have a HL nearby, how will you deal with their 40% off coupon?

I know how I would work it, but am curious how you might.

[Art Anderson]

Tom,

How do you plan on handling sales objections and pricing in your store?

I'm sure that you are going to hear more than once "I can get that same __________ on ebay/internet for $39."

Or better yet, if you have a HL nearby, how will you deal with their 40% off coupon?

I know how I would work it, but am curious how you might.

Not Tom Geiger (whom I know face-to-face) but I will drop an answer here:

Well, for the first objection--a bit of philosophy I learned from the owner of the hobby shop where I worked my first full-time job 50 years ago. It was a small sign, clearly visible IF you managed to spot it: "I'm not upset at those who sell for less--they know what their merchandise is worth". Basically, we weren't to argue about price, but concentrate on service with the sale. In the end, the simple understanding that "If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep is your downfall".

Hobby Lobby's 40% off coupon? Pfft! While that's neat if you have a Hobby Lobby close by, AND they have what you want to buy--HOWEVER, while I stop in HL pretty regularly, there is NO WAY they would ever have bothered me back in my days as a hobby shop owner--I had their model kit/tools/supplies inventory smothered (in 1200 sq. ft. of selling space, I carried over $65,000 in inventory, where today's HL MIGHT have perhaps $7,500. While Hobby Lobby is a formidable force in the area of crafts for women, they really are no serious competitor for any truly well-stocked hobby shop--and a knowledgeable staff? Fuggedaboudat!

Art

Edited January 11, 2014 by Art Anderson

[clovis]

Very good points, Art.

The largest majority of customers...real customers who enjoy the hobby, won't think twice about paying the prices. They will know what they want, when they will want it, and be happy to support the business in their home town.

Of course, there will be a few that are loud mouthed, rude and will run their mouth about finding the same exact kit for $7 on ebay (but never mention that it was crushed kit, and missing 40% of the parts).

There are a few out there that will stomp into any business, and act this way.

[clovis]

And I think you are right about HL too.

The kit selection is not very good at our closest HL.

They were very thin on paint selection and supplies too, but they seem to be picking up the pace a little.

[martinfan5]

That is funny about what you guys are saying about Hobby Lobby, out of the three LHS that I do visit, none of them carry the Model Master Lacquer line, I know of one that does, and there a few more LHS that I have not been too, so I cant speak for them.

But Hobby Lobby does carry the Model Master Lacquer line, so if I am in need of MM Lacquer, its Hobby Lobby I go

But comparing Hobby Lobby to a Local Hobby Store is like comparing boulders to landscaping rocks, while one is devoted to models, the other isnt, kind of common sense I thought.

Edited January 12, 2014 by martinfan5

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

I think you said it; bad economy and most kids don't care to build models. It's pretty sad, I love my hobby shop here and it's where I get my paints and some of my models. If I had to solely rely on the net for my purchases I could forsee a lot of price gouging as time goes by and without hobby shops, where would we find our paints?

[clovis]

Art and Tom,

I'd like to know how you will handle used stuff when it comes up for sale.

I've met some shop owners that refuse to sell anything pre-owned, and others that welcome the stuff with open arms and sell it in their shop.

I'm not talking about the guy with three opened and started kits. I'm talking about the person who shows up at your shop with a van load of sealed kits that were part of someone's collection. They are settling an estate, or trying to clear out the collection, and not trying to get top retail prices. They just want it gone, and might take $3 per kit for all 100 to 200 kits. Let's assume that it is a nice collection with all good kits.

So, since it is the deal of the century, do you buy it, or send them on their merry way?

If you don't buy it, do you refer them to someone who does?

Do you put it on your shop floor, with a decent mark up, or in a back "bargain basement" area, possibly with a low mark up, so your customers can get a deal?

Do you buy it, and dump the kits on ebay?

I am just curious what your philosophy is, and how you would handle it.

[Brett Barrow]

Most shops around here only sell used stuff on consignment, especially R/C stuff, if they sell used stuff at all. Most don't.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Brett Barrow

[Art Anderson]

Art and Tom,

I'd like to know how you will handle used stuff when it comes up for sale.

I've met some shop owners that refuse to sell anything pre-owned, and others that welcome the stuff with open arms and sell it in their shop.

I'm not talking about the guy with three opened and started kits. I'm talking about the person who shows up at your shop with a van load of sealed kits that were part of someone's collection. They are settling an estate, or trying to clear out the collection, and not trying to get top retail prices. They just want it gone, and might take $3 per kit for all 100 to 200 kits. Let's assume that it is a nice collection with all good kits.

So, since it is the deal of the century, do you buy it, or send them on their merry way?

If you don't buy it, do you refer them to someone who does?

Do you put it on your shop floor, with a decent mark up, or in a back "bargain basement" area, possibly with a low mark up, so your customers can get a deal?

Do you buy it, and dump the kits on ebay?

I am just curious what your philosophy is, and how you would handle it.

Back in the 60's and early 70's, I worked at a very large, well-stocked hobby shop here. The owner did not deal at all in "used" or "pre-owned" model kits, simply because there was, back then, no market for any such model kits. We did, however, deal in used trains, primarily Lionel Standard Gauge trains from the 20's and 30's, and the owner built an extensive collection of pristine examples. In addition, on buying trips to one of our wholesale sources in Chicago, we did bring back a number of then-collectible gas powered cars which of course, were all in mint condition-brand new if you will.

Fast forward to my own store, the Modelmaker: The 1980's and early 1990's saw the last big go-around of retirement of the parents of the Baby Boom generation here, and Modelmaker was located in a shopping center directly across the street from several large subdivisions populated by the WW-II generation, who were retiring, moving to the Sun Belt--that sort of thing. There were any number of those couples whose sons had bought, built and even collected the great model car kits of the 1960's, but had left those unbuilt kits behind as they went off to college, got married, moved away, leaving Mom and Dad stuck with, in a lot of cases, literally dozens of those old kits (some of which I'd put pricetags on, and sold back in the 60's while working at Weber's!). I started checking the garage sales in those neighborhoods on Friday mornings on my way into my store to open up for the day--bought a lot of those old kits that way. On more than one occasion, someone would stop by my store, ask me if I was interested in buying old kits. Many of those sellers (not all of them elderly parents BTW, several were former teenagers who'd hung onto unbuilt model kits they'd had since they discovered real cars and girls, and never went back to building models again).

My pattern was simple: I let the seller tell me what they wanted for those stashes of old model car kits--sometimes having to suggest that they were worth more than the original $1.50-$2.00 pricetags--much like the people on Pawn Stars today. Whenever we'd come to an agreement, payment made, the model kits were mine, in inventory at Modelmaker. I will admit to latching onto a fair number of those kits, some of which I still have, but sold the rest in the store, at collectible prices but not necessarily at the highest value I might have seen at any of the numerous model car shows and swap meets back then. I did, however, check over each kit closely, to make sure that all parts were there, that there was no warpage, and that the chrome sprues were still good, bright and shiny. But, they were always sold "as is", and with no returns accepted on them. In addition, I did sell, both directly purchased by the store, and on consignment, a number of those handmade brass railroad locomotive models such as were produced in Japan and Korea during the late 1950's into the middle 1970's, but that again, like collectible model car kits, wasn't a serious focus.

That was never a big part of my retail store though--just a small sideline, and I never bothered with any model kits that were even close to current product, and never bothered to give a second look to ordinary kits from say, the 1970's with badly shopworn boxes either.

Would I do the same today, were I still in the retail business? I don't know, frankly. There is, I believe, a pretty fine gray line between being a true, fully functioning and professional hobby shop and some sort of low-end antiques & collectibles store specializing in old, but not necessarily "ancient" items.

Art

[Speedfreak]

Last week I was looking for a seam scraper at my LHS. They didn't have what I wanted in stock but the owner offered to oder it and have it in just a few days. I went home to see if the price was compatible with on-line prices for the same exact piece. He was/is offering me the piece for the on-line price plus tax. I will be doing more business there in the future. Plus! He had one of the new '68 Road Runner kits (and the 68(?) Chevelle SS convertible kit) that I haven't even seen on-line yet! How can you bet that Harry?

[clovis]

Thank you, Art. I always enjoy reading your interesting posts!

Yes, I understand the 'true pro hobby shop' versus the 'collectibles shop', At most, in my mind, these buys would only make up a tiny portion of any professional shop, and may only amount to having a card table in the back stacked with these kits, and only on an occasional basis.

I know one train shop that refuses to allow any used stuff in his shop because "a used train is a new train that I can't sell." But at the same time, he buys used trains of all types, and sells them off at the local train shows.

And of course, the woman showing up with a van load of vintage kits doesn't happen very often, but it is going to occur, I would guess.

As an interesting side note, I have two friends who have extensive experience in the retail gun business, and another that worked at a LHS for 12 years. They all contend, generally speaking, that buying from walk-ins, like I described in the above post "is fun, and where the good stuff comes from." They all also say "we can make some serious money on the side from these buys."

Again, thank you for your post, Art. It is an interesting conversation.

[jaydar]

I hope they are viable. Since leaving work, the hobby shop is probably a 1/3 of my social life. If it closes, I am going to have to go to a bar or church. One is too expensive and the other is too quiet.

Joe.

[disabled modeler]

One around here would be...nearest one is 125 miles one way.

[Harry P.]

Art... sounds like you had a good thing going back in the 1980s-90s with your shop. What's the story on why you no longer have it?

[Tom Geiger]

Jeff, since you asked... In my mind, running a hobby shop that can answer the needs of serious hobbyists would need to have some 'historic' stock. Most shops just have what a distributor sends them. I know one shop in NJ didn't know didly about models, just told their distributor to send them two of every new issue. What happened there was that they never reached their potential of sales since they never knew what were HOT kits. If the two examples of say, the 1950 Oldsmobile got sold quick, they never understood to order more. And anyone else who went to that shop and didn't find the kit, seldom came back!

I would actively seek lots of sealed kits from the past 20 years in the $5-10 wholesale range, and integrate them into the model shelves with the new releases. And price them in that range. The average hobbyist would be happy to have a much greater selection, and not know that these weren't current offerings. But, they would have been purchased by my shop at a much lower cost than the current issues. That could be part of what makes a shop work, a higher markup on some products due to a lower purchase price by us.

I would also have a case of 'collector kits' for the very serious guys. We may not sell a lot of these, but checking out this case on a regular basis would be a draw to guys like us. Once in the store, well you know how it goes, they can't help but spend some money on something.

Multiply this by the same serious attitude towards other hobbies. Note that most hobby shops barely touch upon the basics a beginner needs in any hobby. And we'd have passionate hobbyists in the different hobbies on staff, who would be very trained in customer service etc. Yea, a shop that does everything right.

[niteowl7710]

I would actively seek lots of sealed kits from the past 20 years in the $5-10 wholesale range, and integrate them into the model shelves with the new releases. And price them in that range. The average hobbyist would be happy to have a much greater selection, and not know that these weren't current offerings. But, they would have been purchased by my shop at a much lower cost than the current issues. That could be part of what makes a shop work, a higher markup on some products due to a lower purchase price by us.

The only problem I could see with that is that the way Revell tends to rotate the catalog every 5-7 years (with some exceptions), you'd wind up with previous issues of currently reissued models. Then you're stuck either trying to sell a kit someone could buy for $10-15 online or at a model show for the new higher retail price of the reissue, or completely gutting the sales of the current reissue. My LHS is stuck with 2-3 versions of the '67 Dodge Charger kit now, with the oldest one being about $5 cheaper in price than the most current Foose one (which I'll grant you has new parts), but when you can't sell the old kit for "cheap", how do you move the current $23 one? Especially with Revell doing release schedules quarterly, you can never really confidently buy a collection and know for sure that the kits you just bought aren't going to be issued in the next Quarter or two. At least the old way, you knew what was coming for the entire year in advance...

[mmdm4]

I work at my LHS and can speak to this question with some observations from the other side of the counter. I have dealt with numerous customers who have asked about a specific product and during the course of our discussion they make a statement about the price being lower on line, and while this may be true without the shipping cost, I never fail to point out that while that may be true you can't speak to a web site about the various pros and cons of that item. You can't easily get tips or suggestions from a website either. Don't get me wrong, I have purchased things model related off the web but they are things out of production and I usually have to pay a higher price than when they were newly released. The web has it's place but it will be a sad day when and if it ever completely replaces the LHS!