Hi Ya'll!
On the subject of Brick and Mortar Hobby Shops. They are out there. You just have to look. In,My foray to the closest one to me, I had a thought. In the city I live in here in the State of TEXAS there is actually NO hobby shop in New Braunfels. There is Hobby Lobby and Joanns. Such as it is. So the forty five mile drive to Hill Country Hobbies,on Bandera road in San Antonio!
Now there is a newer Brick and Mortar in San Marcos, Texas which is, for me a twenty five mile drive in the other direction. they do have an awesome selection, But, their main clientel seems to be those who build realistic scenes for Games such as Warhammer etc.. What I have found is friendly folks ,but not many who do floaty thingies either. That's alright because most of what I do now is paper or "Card" models and scratchbuild what I want.
The consensus about Brick and Mortar just for us, is it is too expensive when you consider getting the location right, then the store itself, is there enough parking? and do I have enough Back money if I have a bad month or two. Plus insurance and an assured line of credit for my wholesale purchases.Banks want to make sure you can meet the bills.There isn't a lot of foot traffic downtown at night now and that is mostly to the Bars and such. There are in New Braunfels and San Marco,s Two what I call "Open Air Malls' They don't have a lot of what the banks like to consider as "Foot Traffic" for a Hobby shop.
There are some other things to consider too. What do you want to carry? I have on one hand the names of two shop within thirty miles that cater to nothing but R.C..Not to much in vessels there either. There is another small shop. dedicated to gaming in town. If I had the time and money to do it again I would carry R.C.(Full selection) plastics in all categories and some Trains and Train related subject. Along with this a good selection of tools, paints and materials for the scratch builders and the model railroader I would NOT get to train involved because that can get bogged down in expensive stock and not necessarily a good turnover. Scratch, Paint and that standard range of Armor, Plane and Car kits with a good turnover is always best. There is One very train oriented shop in San Antonio and here in N.B. there are TWO train shows a year, in the spring and the fall. Always a good turnout too.
One of the things I noticed was this. Once I did actually have a hobby shop and didn't know it .Five Large storage buildings(Built onsight) a connecting deck and a window in the kitchen that doubled as the cash counter. Big canvas umbrella like covers over it, a Coffee Maker and Slushie machine as well as a Confection area. lots of tables and chairs and plenty of room to inspect your purchase and folks hanging around to discuss your model or what you could or might build it into. Definitely a weird setting in that I was't even in a town. This was my side-yard. There was also a large scratch building clientel, because of the engineering, architectural and civil engineering firms that still hadn't gotten into Computer Drafting, Drawing or Modeling yet. In Little Rock, I was in Lindsey Ar.. Between L.R.and Benton. I had one 20'x20' shed that was nothing but scratch building supplies and paint. because i built for three law Firms myself I bought in bulk. I had too.
I jokingly say that all it was was me selling off my "Stash" LOL! LOL! I had a business licence, but it was for various business all under one roof technically. But many branches thereof. The "Shop" fell under the Tow and Recovery Vehicle Division! If I could roll back the clock say forty or fifty years I would have the "Hobby Shop" only. That turned out, because of the unorthodox way it was set up, to be a fun part of my life. The thing is by doing it that way I really got into my customers minds and could see what they needed, wanted, and would like to have. Trains were Not part of it. That was a side hobby that I did Not get involved in the retail side of! My layout was water related. Old South, River and Rail and Modern Harbor, in Any coastalcity, U.S.A. My interest being the floaty thingies anyway!
Here's an aside before I go.We have here in New Braunfels ,Texas,a few parks with nice lakes and lakeshores. YET, because of the wildlife restrictions, ( We Cannot run, sail or power in any of these lakes and the river) the local rivers flow to fast for model boats as well. The feeling is it would "Disturb the Wildlife in The Flyways going through here, and the Deer population who come to drink thereof!" so you see except fo static there isn't a real care for the action part of modeling here. There is a strong I.P.M.S. grouping in the "Hill Country" It's just that the local one is based in San Antonio-Meets to far away for me and Has had to make show venues "Catch as catch can"
For the first time in my many years here, 2006, til now! they are doing a one day Show and Contest in the New Braunfels Civic Center on Feb. 10th of this year. You can bet I am going to go to that. Finally! I don't have to drive forty or fifty miles and pay for parking too! It's just sad it's only one day! Oh Well! Bye-Ya'll-T.B. being long winded agin!