For those that haven’t heard. [I]
I thought some one local might be interested in the 40% off at Hobby Station in Kirkwood. Their closing at the end of this month.
Enjoy.
Lee
Edited: My Bad. [D)]
Mind telling us the reason?
I am sure it is either the decline of the hobby, lack of interest from younger folks or Walthers raising prices.
Are you sure it is not Hobby Station… The Hobby Country looks like an R/C car shop… and it is boasting a new location
I can’t believe a response that is speculation is very factual. Haven’t been over to St Louis lately, so can’t comment, but I do question it.
Bob
My Bad.
Hobby country is another store and he moved from Lemay Ferry Rd. to Lindbergh Blvd. As far as Hobby Station the owner complained about being hard to get a loan from the banks. They want 150% unencumbered collateral. He say kids don’t have enough money [:(]
It seems like to me he was concentrating on trains and doll houses. Other stores seem to be doing quite well when they include dune buggy’s, gas and electric along with the radio controlled airplanes. Hobby Station did not.
Just my thoughts.
Lee
I was just summing just about every complaint that is posted here about dozen times a week. It is sad to see another hobby shop go but I think the key to surviving in this economy is being diverse in what you sell. My local hobby shop sells it all- trains, planes, and automobiles but I dont think each one on its own would keep the doors open. Looking at the web site it appears this shop caters mostly to the Lionel crowd and it is hard to drop $600 or more for a single engine when gas is $4 a gallon… it is hard enough to that on $200 engine.
The Hobby Station has been in Kirkwood for as long as I can remember, I am 38. I remember going in there as a kid ans being fascinated with that train they have going around the top of the store.
Oops, looks like Hobby Country not Station.[:P]
Oops, looks like Hobby Country not Station.
If you noticed I went back and edited to Hobby Station. I never could rremember which was which. Sorry,
My Bad. [D)]
Lee
Oops, looks like Hobby Country not Station.
If you noticed I went back and edited to Hobby Station. I never could remember which was which. Sorry,
My Bad. [D)]
Lee
Im from a little town about an hours drive west of Hobby Station. I good there about 3-4 times a year. I got a flyer in the mail about the Going out of business sale. I will dig it up and post what it says. They did catter to Lionel but they also had G,HO, N and even a little Z scale stuff. They also had plastic kits, some diecast and alot of doll house stuff. I’d say that there negatives would be selling most of there stuff at full retail and no website.
Kirkwood is a bit out of the way for me, being from the East side, but I did make it to the store a few times when in the area for train shows. A neat location for sure, being close to the main line, but parking was a real pain. I don’t honestly think that I ever spent a dime in the store? My recollection was that the HO scale selection was limited and expensive. I am awfully spoiled having K-10 within 5 miles of my home, where there is an extensive HO selection at good discounts.
Mark Twain in St Charles is doing gangbuster business. Of course they do more than just trains. That place has really grown over the years. it also helps that Dennis owns the whole strip mall he’s in.
Regardless of the cause for this shop’s problems, it is a good reminder that sometimes the survival of the LHS has less to do with the health of the hobby, and all the other things we debate on here at length, but what a lender or banker thinks about the hobby as a sound borrower. And that might be based on ill informed prejudice, a five minute Google search, or who knows what else. Even some of the many “the hobby is dying” threads on this forum show up in a Google search.
Years ago Linn Westcott made the point that when slot cars were new, and were an immediate fad, some of the PR people hired to promote them issued provocative and attention getting press releases that slot cars were the new thing, and that trains were dead. It got good press but also caused many banks to pull back from lending to scale model railroad firms, manufacturers and hobby shops, even though at most it was the toy train outfits that were in competition with the slot cars for the most part.
Dave Nelson
In my humble opinion, Mark Twain is the best hobby shop in the St Louis area…bar none!
Hi,
I talked to the owner, and he said that he is retiring. He couldn’t find anyone that wanted to buy the shop. I will miss the Hobby Station. I have been going there for 20 years
Thanks,