A sad day today - another LHS closed...

stikpusher

The closing of local shops is never a good thing. I have seen too many close their doors over the years. In one sense it is inevitable, for unless the owner sells to a local buyer to carry on, they will one day retire or die. But we all who mourn any local shop that closes need to do our part to help keep them in business! Shop locally!!!

unless there is a crazy sale online i will spend the little bit extra to shop at COLPAR. IPMS gets a 15% discount on everything but magazines which, with taxes vs. shipping, is very competitive pricing. we have a Saturday morning breakfast group of 8-14  modelers at the restaurant next door. after breakfast we  hit the the store to buy stuff we don't need. they have coffee and are friendly. this is their bigger east store. even though they are now associated with HOBBYTOWN they are not a HOBBYTOWN store in layout and inventory.

Hi , Black Sheep !

   I really like the way you put it .The effect of a hobby shop does affect many people and not all are modelers either !  .Now that said , I certainly got a surprise the other day . One of the railroad modelers here in the New Braunfels Rail Road Museum modelers society and REAL museum found a New hobby shop in San Marcos , Texas .Just opened too . It caters mostly to the R/C and railroad modelers , But , someone thought taking the chance was worth it .We'll see .  

There isn't a Hobby Shop per se in New Braunfels .I have to go to San Antonio and Hill Country Hobbies , owned by Gary Emery and his gracious wife Grace . What a great thing to just go and browse and trade banter and high class insults with Gary and then plunking down my bucks and savoring that trip again and again . Plus , Gary is spirited about his business and has a favorite quote " It's my store and I'll run it like I want to " ! I am glad he feels that way too . Local Hobby Shops ( the little Guys ) have a lot of competition from media based places and groups like Squadron . BUT , those folks can't compare to hands on , face to face folks who want you to savor and enjoy their knowledge and company .So Yes , losing an LHS is Traumatic !

I agree with you twoonefour the loss of a local business sucks they're what makes home feel like home whether its alarge city or a small town the LHS  has always been a place us glue sniffers could go and not be looked at like ...well we were sniffing glue. I personally like the instant gratification of finding " that kit  " , the challenge of sneeking it past my wife, and then the eventual buyers remorse that sets in once I realize I already have two in my stash and it may be YEARS before any glue touches it. Yeeuup a sad day indeed.

Skysport Hobbies was one of the LHS around here.  It went down when I was really young.  It was sad to see.  He had a big sale and when it was closed. It left one other Hobby Shop in town.  It's still here and struggling but is alive.  

I agree with you guys,  its one thing if you know what you are getting but half of the fun is to hold the product, become familiar with it, talk about it to the employees, and sometimes even test it out.  I dont know about you but I also buy things I'd never think of buying if it was online.  For instance... I would have never thought of buying an RC Helicopter but when I went into the shop the owner let me fly it and I ended up buying it.  I had alot of fun with it too.  I guess my point is... there are a lot of fun hobbies out there and without a Local Shop you may never be exposed to it and enjoy it.  

Stik - you hit the nail on the head. Sad thing, when owners retire, it seems to me not even their family members/kids want to take over the hobby business. Heck, Dan was asked by the owner of the shop a few years ago  if he would be interested in one day taking over the business. Dan declined.

There is one glaring thing I never noticed/paid attention to until recently. They never advertise their business beyond a sign outside or promote sales. Of course, all that cost money to advertise in the papers/local television.

I'm gonna have to check out the other LHS in Whitesboro area soon and get a feel what they have to offer.

In 2001 the Chicago hobby shop Stanton Hobby closed ; the first in a series of closings I once thought would never occur.

Venture Hobby shop closed last summer due to their RC business being undercut by internet sales.

I heard Al's Hobby in Elmhurst, Illinois closed after 65 years in business, possibly for the same reason.

Those three shops held a lot of memories for me over the decades.

The closing of local shops is never a good thing. I have seen too many close their doors over the years. In one sense it is inevitable, for unless the owner sells to a local buyer to carry on, they will one day retire or die. But we all who mourn any local shop that closes need to do our part to help keep them in business! Shop locally!!!

One of our two local shops (Smith Brothers Hobby in Lancaster, CA) closed in April. My wife, a native of this area, said it had been open as long as she can remember. I assume all their inventory went to the other store they have in Northridge. I can only assume it's a similar situation because there were only a couple of employees, two of whom were very near retirement. My suspicion is that the store manager retired and the owners decided to consolidate to the one store.

It's really sad when an old, established friend/hobby shop disappears.