I want to let everybody who has lived in the Southwestern corner of Pa ( the greater Pittsburgh Area) that a long time Hobby Shop, AB Charles may soon be no longer. The Sharper Image catalog always mentioned AB in their caption of the Carrera Slot Car Racing set. A well liked and decent man named George worked in the train dept for so many years and had a good reputation for able to fix any engine that was put in front of him. He will be sorely missed by anyone who had the pleasure to meet him. My only regret is that I didn’t have a chance to say Good bye. So George if you get this message I would like to say I will miss visiting you and kidding around with you. Best wishes to you and stay safe on that motorcycle of yours.
JOE C
OUCH! This is going to hurt, I have been there many times and will miss the place. They could repair just about anything in brass. I live about 45 min. from them and the trip was worth it, the old store was great and the new one just had too much other stuff that didn’t interest me.Jim.
A quick search found a post on an RC car forum talking about how AB’s is allegedly getting out of RC cars to concentrate on RC planes. Sounds like they’re downsizing, and we all (unfortunately) know what comes next…
Another sad tale of a great hobby shop going down. Great in the minds and hearts of those who long walked through its doors. However it is not all about the shop, itself, but about the people who staffed it.
A good hobby shop is one that suits your needs, has a decent amount of what you want and at prices that are OK versus having to mail order stuff. A great hobby shop has all this and a staff that is warm and fully functional, with a long and distinguished history with its customers. It is great through the efforts of its staff and the selling sort of takes care of itself.
Sorry for you loss.
Richard