The Hobbytown USA in Franklin Tn. went out of business last month after 8 years. The owner said the landlord raised his rent to $8000/month and that was the final nail in the coffin. He didn’t have squat for train stock. This is the guy that said trains are dead, yet every time I was in there, 1/2 dozen people walked in and looked at his lack of train stock, turned around and walked out without buying anything. Not once did I see a single person walk in and even look at any of his gazillion pieces of RC plane/car stuff. He put his store in about the highest rent area around these parts. This is the guy that wanted to charge me $459 for a case of Atlas flex track. He then said “Wait! I forgot to add my 30% mark up onto that!”[xx(][xx(]
I don’t like seeing any shop fail, but I don’t see how this guy lasted for 8 years with his prices and lack of business sense.
The Hobbytown near you was not unique – there’s one in Tucson that doesn’t carry trains, either. Radio controlled cars seems to be their biggest market. I think it’s more corporate policy than a local decision on what will be stocked. A local shop can’t carry what the home office doesn’t supply, and since they’re franchises they’re not allowed to get their items from other sources.
I hate Hobbytown SOOOOO over priced and they act like they know everything!
Were I live R/C cars are very popular and are getting a lot of floor space in a few of the hobby shops I visit. There are shops I go to for R/C parts and there are shops I go to for train items. I’ve never been in a hobby shop that makes everybody happy.
He could stock anything he wanted to buy from Horizon or Great Planes. He just chose not to.
I’ve seen HT’s that had a really good train stock up North.
Okay, so he chose not to carry trains and put himself out of business. I’d say that’s no big loss.
Brick-and-mortar specialty retail is dead.
PURE brick-and-mortar specialty retail may be an endangered species, but individual intelligently-managed stores will survive, especially if the owner is willing to serve internet customers as well as in-store guests. Two of the three (not too) LHS (as in, they’re in the county - but it’s a large county) fall into that category - inexpensive locations, good stock, well-informed staff.
The third is a Hobbytown store in an expensive neighborhood, which I occasionally visit if I have business in the area. I consider it a waste, but there are usually a number of RC and military modelers present and spending. There is an assortment of rail modeling material, all high end at MSRP, but gathered with very little rhyme or reason. Example - a generous assortment of Atlas and Peco flex track, and no rail joiners!
So I buy paint (Tamiya) and unusual (for model railroading) odd ends at Hobbytown. My serious model railroad purchasing is done elsewhere.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
The key phrase.
that’s not true. With recent events and other things coming, the future is looking better for
niche shops.
Other things? Tell us, oh great Nostradamus, what you spy in your crystal ball…
Is the government planning to tax Internet sales? Will gas get so expensive that everyone will spend all their free time at home? Is Oprah’s next big book recommendation going to be Track Planning for Realistic Operation?
I’ve never considered Hobby Town USA a “real” train store. Hobby Lobby has better stuff than they do. I go to LHS that are not chain stores. They have what I want most of the time.
Wanna bet? Theres a HobbyLobby near me and the only good train related stock it has, is paint. [;)]
Sometimes I can’t see into next week, but here are some things I find encouraging:
Of course internet sales are not going away, but I’ve never believed they are truly
hurting the good train stores as much as people think. Every time that there is a
large scale mishandling of credit card info, every time shipping rates go up, (and
up and up) and every time someone gets burned on the net, it bodes well for the LHS.
eBay already isn’t the threat is once was. And that is going to get worse, as we can
see from all the posts on the recent changes. Worse for eBay shopping that is, good
for local train shops.
Price of gas keeping people at home working on hobbies? I’ve seen a bit of evidence of
that, not as much as I would have thought. Kit building and scratch building seems to
have picked up a bit lately, however.
Wal-Mart stopped selling plastic model kits, and I believe they are now not selling or soon
will not be selling arts & crafts items anymore. Good news for small shops. Someone around
here quit stocking small screws, nuts and washers as in the last month or so I’ve had quite a
jump in interest in those items lately.
Some manufacturers have decided that having b & m trains shops is a healthy idea. They
have taken some steps to make sure that their products are not sold on the internet for
less than c
I don’t think so, but the idea of a big-box style chain of specialty retail stores like Hobbytown was dead on arrival. If Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and all the other marts throughout retail history could never make a go of hobby items, why would anyone expect a chain of hobby shops to succeed?
Given the high overhead, lack of competent employees, and the corporate mindset that drives these types of stores, it’s little wonder that they’ve fallen by the wayside.
And the only Hobbytown USA I was ever in (Pittsburgh) was just as described above. One athearn engine, half a store of radio controlled crap, and a huge section full of plastic horses.
I think there will always be room for a well managed hobby shop. I have a LHS and I buy the odd thing from them when I’m desparate, but generally, I’ll buy from an online store or ebay, especially on big ticket items. Why?
First, I’ve special ordered stuff from there before and it took weeks or even months to get it in. Why would I wait that long when I can have it in a week to ten days from an online source?
Second, everything is at MSRP and I’ve never been offered a cut, even on special order. I, personally, think that special order stuff should have at least a moderate discount because its stuff he’s guaranteed to sell and never has to find shelf space for it. That one thing would make me spend a lot more there.
The one thing that may get me to my LHS, though, is what One Track Mind referred to - shipping costs. I put a Zephyr and a few decoders in a shopping cart at Tony’s and went to see what the shipping cost was - $45!!! Add in the dollar exchange and that almost negates the MSRP discount entirely. Add in any duty the government decides to slap on it, and the cost isn’t too much different. If our dollar falls off a little more, my LHS will get a lot more business from me. I just wish I’d get a cut every once in a while from him.
There is supposed to be a Hobbytown USA opening up in pensacola. Wondering what happens to the shops over there?
I’ve been to 2 over there. One is has a great stock of supplies and kits but is at least MSRP. (120 for a P2K GP20 is MSRP, but 8 bucks for a BB kit?). The other one doesn’t have much on scratchbuilding supplies, but has a lot of trains at around 10% off of MSRP, and I get an extra 10% off for being in an MR club. (the latter one has no BN equimpnet, the former just has the P2K GP20)
I’ve been to 1 Hobbytown USA, there selection was in between, and their prices eemd around MSRP.
If there was one in my town, I’d be happy since the LHS sucks at train stuff. (track, cork, and scenery are about all they are good for. [all the train stuff is either N scale, or train sets])
What One Track Mind said about the big-box retail chains ditching craft and hobby supplies reminds me of the way the post-supermerger Class 1s sold off all of their less-than-profitable branches. Look how many of them are now money-making short lines.
National chains aren’t usually very good at local/niche marketing, and the headquarters is usually, “My way, or the highway,” about people who buck corporate policy (or try to suggest any deviation from standard.) OTOH, the independent LHS can flex with the winds of change, and come out vertical and functional when the other guy folds up and dies.
Here’s to the independents!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
It’s pretty disappointing to go the HT USA in Las Vegas…their stock has goes down every time I go there…
We have a Hobbytown USA not far from us. I see the exact thing you did. Nothing for us railroaders, but tons of other stuff. I see the same dust on the same items each time I somehow arrange to go in there. I keep hoping he’ll catch on…