Supporting your LHS..... not always possible!

[Caerbannog]

Hi

this is my first "contribution" to this side - I actually just came to this topic by chance and comment as it is obviously the same problem almost everywhere (also the Hasegwaw prices). I live in Germany and the sole "hobby shop" in my hometown had only the Revell Germany line. I sadly closed last year as the owner simply retired and his kids did not want to take over because of the poor income from the shop. I personally did buy there if I needed Revell stuff AND if I managed to get there in their working hours (they opened at 10:00 am and closed at 06:30 p.m with lunch break from 01:00 pm to 02:00 pm), which restricted shopping to Saturday morning for me. I can fully understand that the shop owner did not want to work till late at night but this made sales even more difficult I think. So: There is no LHS to support for me. There is one left in a neighbor town but they have the same opening hours and even if they have a better range they also have rather high prices. Actually many hobby shops closed - even in bigger towns as Düsseldorf and Cologne (I am living in the middle) have lost most of their Hobby Shops.

So meanwhile I buy almost everything online. This can however be another hobby shop in Germany which is doing online business. But it can also be Amazon or some online store in UK, US (sadly much reduced by the ridiculous shipping charges nowadays), Hong Kong, Japan (when I am looking for Hasegawa: this is my starting point) or even New Zeeland which is really the opposite side of the world from my position :-) Oh - yes - and "evil"-bay of course. If possible I take care not to exceed the 25 Eur for goods to avoid customs (which then has to be paid on the shipping cost as well and can easily kill a bargain this way).

BUT: Whenever I travel somewhere I check for LHS there to support :-D

Cheers,

Rene

[Aaronw]

The net has the LMS beat in many ways, so its time the stores begin offering us something the net can not. It sure as hell can't be marked up prices, and sales staff who don't know their product, and crappy selection.

This is an area where I think a great many traditional hobby shops have failed. Many of the R/C car shops have started to offer tracks where people can race their cars. I'm not really into R/C cars but this seems like a great idea. Seeing people race I am sure leads to more sales. More use of the cars means more wear and tear so more sales of parts, and they make some money on track use fees (and this also gives them the ability to offer free passes with a purchase).

There are still a handful of good hobby shops 2 hours from me, but I only know of one that does anything beyond sales. I have a shop a little over an hour away that has a space where model clubs can meet (they also run other events in there aimed at their other merchandise). They sponsor a fairly large annual model show / contest at the cities community center, and once a month they have a model building day which includes access to spray booths (BYOAB). Additionally they offer some kind of sale during every model event. With three clubs meeting once a month and the model building day they have some sort of model event every week.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Aaronw

[82Whitey51]

Let me guess, you either went to the GPA in Crofton or the Hobbyworks in Laurel?

Both absolutely suck in terms of prices and selection. When I first moved here I was shocked at how limited our options were for such a large metro area.

There is a shop in Chantilly VA that has much better selection, but their prices are marked up pretty high too.

I talk about this with my wife, who is big into knitting, and she says that knit stores stay open in the days of web shopping by offering community building events (knit nights, yarn crawls, etc.)

The net has the LMS beat in many ways, so its time the stores begin offering us something the net can not. It sure as hell can't be marked up prices, and sales staff who don't know their product, and crappy selection.

"its time the stores begin offering us something the net can not."

That would be exactly my approach if I were to be able to open a hobby/model shop. I'd have a build area for those that either want to get out of the house for a little while or live in an apartment or are transient (lots of that near me), work benches, paint booth with airbrush set ups, classes on how to use them, etc. Guys need paints or supplies, they're right there in the store already to buy it. New kit comes in? Pop one open for folks to have a look at. Aftermarket decals in binders for you to page through. Lounge area/Club meeting area in the back for the model club...guys in store they 're going to buy something.

Of course, the only way to do this and keep prices reasonable would be for your own bills to be low...i.e. you own the store front and not be paying a rent on it. My friend in Pensacola runs a very successful shop out of what used to be his garage. successful because he didn't have to pay for a store front.

[Model-Junkie]

RKic, its the one in Crofton. There is supposedly a relatively new hobby store in Waldorf off 301, near the IHOP restaurant. I need to check them out to see if they just do R/C or if they carry model kits.

Its interesting to see a lot of people buying online, I don't see anything wrong because its a reality - people want the most out of their money and it can be very convenient. Now if a local store was say between 10%-20% higher than an online price then I would be willing to give them the sale.

I guess its a vicious cycle. Unless you have a huge store or warehouse there is too wide a variety of kits for a store to be able to successfully carry (different scales, genre's etc.). Then there is the problem of maintaining a good profit margin, if no one buys anything then a lot of the times the store raises the prices to cover operating costs. I guess one way to keep costs low would be to skip the importer and ordering direct from Japan or China? Sure shipping can be expensive but you would not have to deal with the mark up or double shipping costs.

Stores offering a social/work area sounds interesting. Perhaps even offering airbrush / compressor rentals or spray areas.

[Aaronw]

Its interesting to see a lot of people buying online, I don't see anything wrong because its a reality - people want the most out of their money and it can be very convenient. Now if a local store was say between 10%-20% higher than an online price then I would be willing to give them the sale.

I guess its a vicious cycle. Unless you have a huge store or warehouse there is too wide a variety of kits for a store to be able to successfully carry (different scales, genre's etc.).

For me it is largely the travel distance, minimum of 60 miles, but selection is an issue too. My "local" shop actually has a decent selection, but unfortunately it doesn't fit my personal interests very well.

Even if a shop offers to order something for me, I can probably get it cheaper and faster online, plus it will come direct to my house. I love shopping in a good hobby store, so I make a point of making some purchase even if only a single kit or a few bottles of paint when I am in the area, but 90% + of my purchases are online, and have been for the past 8 years.

[Model-Junkie]

After thinking about it some more I have noticed a new trend, at least in the UK, of 'hobby stores' operating out people's homes. When I last went back to the UK to visit my parents I came across two new hobby stores which had a presence on eBay and their own websites. When I went to their listed addresses I ended up in residential areas. Upon further inquiry the two businesses told me they were strictly online sales or mail order. Maybe this is the way to go for future hobby stores?

[RKic]

There is actually a guy who runs a hobby warehouse/sale service out of his home in Montgomery Village here.

http://www.microworldgamesllc.com/

[Jinxter13]

I paid a visit to my LHS today, and found that a Lay-away I put in last summer and forgot about is still there, and was told if I needed any special orders to let him/her know before 12P on Monday and if in stock I would have it the following day (this remains to be seen); so I put in an order today and was surprised when he said I would get 20% off; I thought that only applied to the kits which I know they knock of 20% prior to pricing it and shelf placement. By comparison the much discussed Academy 1/48^th F-14A new version is marked $35 (US) which if I purchase it, will be minus the shipping cost and time. If they only stocked Hasegawa :( .

Edited May 8, 2013 by #1 Greywolf

[Geoff M]

Recently got a Hobbytown where I live and it has a full range of stuff, (kites, puzzles, r/c) but surprisingly it has a good selection of models too! The problem is I have more models in my stash than they have on their shelves and they don't have anything I would consider buying. Not their problem, mine. I have pretty narrow range of interests. I still buy paints and stuff there. The problem with lhs is, to have the customer base to support their operation they have to have really brood appeal, which means they don't go extensively deep into any particular area of a hobby, unless there is something the owner has a particular interest in.

Geoff

[The_Animal]

So many of the Lower Mainland hobby stores have closed up shop. We lost 3 Floors in New West a few years ago. We lost Tama Hobby. The one up in North Vancouver went. Most of the guys who are scale modelers hardly frequent the shops any more because the selection is so poor. Yes, it's great that we have such a selection of kits available to us online. When you go to the retailers you're dependant on them knowing and stocking what you want. Whereas if you buy online, you can go ahead and buy whatever it is that you're looking for provided the online retailer has it in stock.

But nothing is going to take away the smell of the boxes in the store or the visceral thrill that you get from walking into a bricks and mortar store and seeing all the kits displayed on the shelves. I have too many good memories of my dad and I going to the stores; him pulling out his wallet and us walking out of there with a bag of kits for me to put together. Those memories won't go away and will always be remembered. And that's one of the reasons why I tried to do what I can to support the local hobby shops. At least when the interest hits me.

Now...if I could just get around to getting up the cojones to build them. ~sigh~

Edited May 8, 2013 by The_Animal