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Can`t help but wonder in these contagious times if some hobby companies have had to shut down their production lines. Are these smaller companies more prone to go belly up should the cash flow stop? My theory is most people spend less money on hobby stuff after covid became a thing. I haven`t actually heard of anyone shutting down yet, but it would not surprise me if one day this will become the reality. I just can`t see an end to this ongoing madness any time soon. Any thoughts on the situation ? 

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It has happened to at least one company in the model railroad world. Hartland Locomotive Works was a side business of a plastics company in Indiana. They made large scale garden railway trains.

 

A few months ago they announced they were ceasing business on account of pandemic effects.

Currently on their website:

 

Quote

Hello and Good Day to you,

Thank you for Visiting - It is with regret that I have to inform you that we have closed.
At this time we are selling what remains of our stock at regular price.
Please email info@h-l-w.com for stock inquiries.

Thank you,
HLW - Customer Service

 

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On 10/19/2020 at 8:21 AM, 11bee said:

Once my LHS (Spare Time Shoppe in MA) re-opened, they said they were having very good sales.   Just need them to continue to offset the months they were forced to be closed. 


Here in Canada our stores never fully closed. They were allowed to continue curb side business and mail order and both boomed. And because of this the hobby business boomed. I know one of my shops I frequent opened an additional store in another city. The other shop said in puzzles alone he was shipping 100 pounds a day. A lot of people who hadn’t built a model in years were ordering kits to build. This second shop had to add another row for models. Eventually he ran out of puzzles though and started to get low on kits.

Edited by Scooby
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While some shops and aftermarket manufacturers have closed up shop (mostly temporarily), I can confirm that business has boomed as people got confined to their homes and started spending more time on their hobbies. This might change if more people start losing their jobs - hopefully it won't get to that as the stimulus programs in developed countries continue, and a vaccine becomes available.

 

The situation in some other countries may be different - international orders from any countries other than a few developed European nations have completely dried up, but it was never a significant percentage of my business anyway.

 

 

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1 hour ago, KursadA said:

While some shops and aftermarket manufacturers have closed up shop (mostly temporarily), I can confirm that business has boomed as people got confined to their homes and started spending more time on their hobbies. This might change if more people start losing their jobs - hopefully it won't get to that as the stimulus programs in developed countries continue, and a vaccine becomes available.

 

The situation in some other countries may be different - international orders from any countries other than a few developed European nations have completely dried up, but it was never a significant percentage of my business anyway.

 

 

 

As long as Kings Hobby is still there we'll be ok.

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