My LHS gone...

I certainly can relate to the losing job and the depression part. Since I came back into the hobby I have purchased almost 100% of my gear from local on-line sellars in Australia. I never had a LHS to go to, being nearly 4 hours drive from Melbourne. It is a telling time that things are going this way, and I dont see any light at the end of the tunnel, just a deepening black hole.

Wirraway

They say that a recession is when someone else loses their job and a depression is when you lose yours.  I have seen a lot of posts here over the years of how the LHS has gone bust.  I always thought "I still have mine thank goodness"  Not any more.  Got the news from the owner last week.  "No longer economically viable" was the reason.  Gonna miss the convenience of dropping in whenever I run out of something.  Not to mention a good friend who is now out of work.  And I now have guilt about every kit I bought online just to save a few bucks.

 

I am sorry to hear this. I have two good hobby stores in our area and I wonder for how long. The largest and best that we had closed their doors two years ago. I miss popping in there to get things, and to just browse around. I think it is just a matter of time on the other two.

Sadly, it's not just in Australia, it's happening everywhere. One hobby shop I frequented to closed up 4 years ago. I still miss the place. There is still one LHS in my area but I ts always the same stuff. Heck he don't even restock on Model Master Acrylics. He's got plenty of enamels though. 

The one product he started to stock are Tamiya brand acrylics. Some of his Gunze acrylics are still around but you gotta make sure they've haven't gone bad from sitting too long on the shelves.

It will be a matter of time before he closes his door for good due to his age.

This is the last w/e for one here as well.  Hate to see it go, but am going over again today since he said he was blowing out what was left after I got 40% off last week.

I'm worried about my LHS.  I talked with the owner for a few minutes about the hobby getting smaller.  The discussion included the familiar topics, such as the lack of youth interest, increased cost of kits, and video games.  I got the sense that my LHS owner has seen some writing on the proverbial wall.  I may be ordering everything from the internet soon.    

When I was a kid back in the 60s and early 70s, hobby shops were quite abundant. Now they seem to have the gone the way of the blacksmith. A shame really

Last week I pulled into my my local hobby shop and I'm walking up and see a big paper singe on the window.  50% off closeout sale. I thought it was a sale on products of some sort.

I walk in the hole family is in there putting things in boxes. The owner tells me that's it where closing. I unexpectedly mouth o few words and he then tells me he is sorry.

I couldn't believe he just apologized to me. He's losing his business.

The owner always did his best to help with special items he didn't stock.

He even started stocking airbrush parts that I used that he dosent Cary.

We have 2  more shops in town 1 is all trained and carry all the scratch building items I can use. The other is RC and there model collection is mostly from modelers selling off parts of there stash and that's just 1 small shelve. 

Even Wal-Mart in are town quit selling there model line.

Its rough. In my area, Tidewater Va; specifically the peninsula we have two. One Denbeigh hobby has been around a long time, the other is a hobby town. I try to support both, but traffic here is insane and sometimes a 25 minute drive will make you want to cry. They do face competition from online, but they may need to change their business model to reflect an online presence. I know several small businesses (non hobby) that have done and seem to have to have increased their customer footprint. There are a lot of factors. Kids want to stare at their screens. This is a big hill to climb. My neighbor was looking for something to break the game habit. I got his boys hooked, along with him. It takes effort. I am working with the local library system to get a youth model building program going. Its up to us to get the hobby out from our workbenches and out in the public.

I have one guy 10 minutes from me,he has a nice selection of Tamiya,Vallejo,Alclad,Testors,and MM Enamels.Also has brushes,glues,and supplies.Kit selection is light however.He seems to keep the place running by catering to gamers,there is almost always a enhtusiastic group having some sort of game,might be clubs.He a also has plenty of paints and supplies for them.

But really he can't compete with online kit prices.A couple of years ago he had the Tasca/Tamiya Easy 8 kit for $75 + tax.I asked him if he could come down some,he said no,the kit is very popular due to the the Fury movie.So I got the kit on Ebay from Korea for $54 total,and he still has his on the shelf.What can I do ? Thats a big diffrence.Well i'm sure i'll bemoan the fact if he ever closes up,but I guess thats life.

I cant fault you on that one. 75 bucks is a lot for a Sherman. That would be close to $90 over here. Last kit I bought off my guy was the 1/32 Hasegawa A4 Skyhawk which was reduced to $59. Wish we had a Hobby Lobby over here...