Hi;
I have seen, heard and listened to folks for nigh on many years now. Some say, Well, the LHS isn’t really needed, you have on line shops. My take on this is simply old fashioned. Women buy a lot on line as do Men. Why?
They go to the Outlet Mall and buy the same type of stuff from expensive name Brand or Style shops. They still burn the fuel to do this. So; Why shouldn’t the Model Builder be able to do the same .
When you realize how many " Hobbies " are out there and if you do, you will come up with a Short-Fall of Hobby Shops anyway! There is no " Hobby Shops" for the specific Hobbies of say, Woodcarving and it’s many iterations. There is no " Hobby Shop" Dedicated to the Paper Modeler or the Figurine builder either.
There are shops for Stained and Slumped glass, But, They are far and few .
So, how about this? Take a store ( Brick and Mortar) and set up a real " Hobby Shop" Under one Roof! ( can you say a large Mall type structure?) with people knowledgeable in all the different Hobbies! You wouldn’t have a couple of million laying around for that would you?
Now wouldn’t that be nice? Oh, By the way. Did you know that Quilting and Macrame and Knitting and Crochet are considered Hobbies too? Why don’t the supposed on line and the few Brick and Mortar places sell that stuff too?
They don’t seem to be having problems staying open. Neither do the Ceramic Shops. We P#** and Moan about it and then go to the Internet. Well, guess what? This hasn’t hurt many of the ones I have listed and many I haven’t. Why? Knowledgeable folks running them. They are not in it just for the money and ANY stock is expensive today.
Any Store that opens today as a specialty business has a greater chance of failing. Why? There’s a marketing secret that has been forgetten . It is called Walk-Ins. No one caters to that crowd any more. You have to drive some miles to get to that Brick and Mortar shop .
The reason they did well in the Dark ages (1940-1970) was you could walk a couple of blocks and there you were. Now, that served two purposes as well. You got your Kit and all the conversation with the shop owner. Then, You got the exercise both ways by walking there!
In my mind, two very important parts of life today. Maybe the end results of the walk to the Hobby Shop wasn’t good for the Budget, But It sure was fun to talk to the owner and get the exercise too, wasn’t it? Okay! Okay! I’ll shut up now. T.B. P.S. I have to add this. Do you know what it takes to lease say 1000 sq, ft of Store Space, plus Signage, Heating, Cooling and Stocking same on a monthly basis? That’s why so many went on line as well. Many don’t have stock they just are actually are middlemen for your needs. Some actually take your Order and Money and then order it on line and have it shipped directly to you. So There !