I won,t belabor the point much , but , we all are aware of what the happenings out there are . First K-MART then WOOLCO then WAL-MART and how soon before HOBBY LOBBY ? I,ll bet not before two years passes . The profit margin is (they say) to low to keep to large a selection and it will get worse . ! I don,t think I care for it but we all will have to learn to live with HOBBYTOWN . Now they aren,t bad if you get to know the staff in your store well . I really like HOBBYTOWN in SAN ANTONIO . After my first dealing with them (a disaster) They heve improved to the point I will heartily recommend that store to anyone who asks . They carry all I need and if they don,t they will order it ! Now that is as good as you can ask for today ! The staff has made it a point to know my needs and responds accordingly with courtesy , a smile and what I need ,when I need it . So there it is . Unless you build LEGOS none of the big - box stores seem to care they cut out a profit potential (we had to walk through the displays of other stuff to get to the hobbies section) . So they stupidly gave up the impulse buys we might make too . They figured the loss there didn,t matter ! There you have it ----SORRY—tankerbuilder
Thankfully, Dibble’s here in San Antonio is still open. I shopped there 35 years ago and they still have a wonderful selection.
What needs to happen is that we actually support any of our local shops. The Internet has made shopping too easy for us. I’m trying to limit my on-line purchases to items I can’t find locally.
It’s a vicious cycle in the big box stores. When I was a kid, Michaels had an entire row stocked with kits. Both sides of the aisle, big bombers and such up top. They had ALL the Model Master paints, I believe some PollyS as well, airbrush equipment, CA. Now it’s down to some square bottles of Testors and the saddest selection of kits.
Somewhere along the way, they cut the selection (probably to make room for decopage or scrapbooking or whatever) and some modelers left. Then they cut some more, and more left. Now it’s at the point where the section is so useless they may as well not even maintain it. But I can’t help but believe they did it to themselves to an extent.
I don’t know if Hobby Lobby will go that way or not. Their kit selection is definitely wanting, and the recent paint consolidation isn’t a good sign, but mine has actually expanded its supplies section, so I go there for sandpaper and fresh x-acto blades (well, Excel blades…like them better) and the like.
I agree with supporting the local shops. I buy quite a bit from King’s, and would rather give them my money than Hobby Lobby or Hobbytown.
The craft industry and those retailers who sell such brick a brac work a lot differently than do the LHS. Margins at craft stores is far better than those found in a LHS. Craft stores which carry and stock items such as plastic model kits and accessories do so for two reasons. To attract as many of the family members as possible (they want dad and juniors dollars too) and because they can make a return on their investment with very little square footage sacrificed.
The big box stores eliminated plastics for the same reasons they did so for other categories of products they once stocked. The ROI might have been their but not the volume to justify the retail space those items used up. Sears has eliminated several categories, adjusting their mix to get the best ROI both in margin and volume versus space. Sears used to sell boats, but a boat takes up a tremendous amount of space and if you sell one or two a month, its better to drop them and move on to something that sells more and does use as much space.
Again using Sears as an example, guys like tools and such…notice how little lawn and garden equipment they display and carry? Fewer lines, fewer models and much less physical representation on the floor. You can order a greater variety from their catalog, than you’ll find in the stores.
We used to have music stores in our local mall…gone. We used to have toy stores in our local mall…gone. I used to be able to find just about everything I needed at my LHS…many of those items are gone and so too are some of the LHS I used to visit.
As long as Hobby Lobby maintains good sales, they’ll keep kits. Wal-Mart was seeing good overall sales on kits but their system was broken. I talked to several area managers across the state specifically about kits. The logistics and ordering system WM was and is using was flawed.
A store here could order dozens of cases of kits and be lucky if they got one. Yet a store elsewhere that had limited success selling kits got them all, all the time. When the management at WM went checking to see if the products were selling they used the overstock/dead inventory information from the store which couldn’t give kits away as their justification to discontinue them.
Meanwhile those stores who’s shelves were always empty and customer begging for more were not figured into the formula. Store managers were transferring inventory to other stores that wanted them, but they had to go through the WM logistic system which again from what I was told was coded overstock or dead inventory which depending on the day and which way the wind was blowing determined if the items were sent to the store wanting it or returned to the mfr.
Doing business with WM has consequences…you can stand to sell a lot to them and make a ton of money fast. But you’re also on the hook to purchase it all back if it doesn’t sell. That’s why a lot of companies are no longer doing business with WM or are out of business themselves. WM also expects dropping pricing each purchasing cycle that they do business with you. They know what they are willing to pay initially and mfrs try to produce to meet those prices, but they more often than not don’t factor in the declining purchasing price WM insists on. So that 50% just dropped to 40% then to 30% then 20% all when you have to continue at a 38% minimum margin to cover overhead costs. FAIL.
Watch for a marriage and consolidation between the craft and hobby industry in the very near future. The two need each other to survive. Both are facing challenges due to changing interests and demographics. When you go to a industry trade show in the not to distant future, the ladies will most definitely want to go with you…there will be both worlds represented…hobby and craft all under one roof.
We lost our last LHS about four years ago and the only place you can find any plastic kits anymore is Michael’s Arts & Crafts. They have about 1/4 of an aisle in the back of the store for models (mostly Revell) & a Testors paint display rack. I give them some credit for doing even that. It’s okay for the casual modeler/beginner, but does nothing to attract the business of serious modelers. If it wasn’t for Sprue Bros and Squadron online I’d be out of the hobby.
Mark
I too miss the days of having an LHS from which to buy. Alas, those days seem to be long gone. I can’t find any in the FW area. HL just keeps the same old, tired crap until they end up putting it on the clearance rack. When someone buys it from there, it seems that someone at the store says, “Hmm, they must really like those. Let’s buy some more.” and they order the exact same ones that sat on the shelves for an eternity, thus the cycle starts continues.
Fortunately I do have a HobbyTown close by in Arlington (TX) and I do buy a fair number of kits and most of my supplies there; but I have been forced to turn to the Dark Side. That’s right, I buy off eBay. It appears to be the last bastion for the LHS, setting up an online store there.
If you are in San Antonio stop wasting your time with the big stores.
Go see that guy. He has or can get anything you need and his prices are very reasonable.
Hear! hear! I try and buy all of my kits & supplies (and have) from my LHS’s here in “River City”. Unfourtanately one of the best is GOB (MVR hobby) but we still have another excellent store willing to order what I want (at a discount) Major Art & Hobby.
Hate to be the buzzkill, but if it weren’t for ebay, Greatmodels, and other online stores, I wouldn’t have the stash that I have, because the LHS charges so much more for retail prices on kits. I still support the shops for supplies and occasionally magazines, but I won’t be paying inflated prices just to say “first”.
I have to agree…I have 1 half-a$$ed HS near me and the guy is insane with his prices…cant believe he sells anything. Most of my stash is from Ebay and never came close to paying what some of these LHSs want for their kits. Its a shame...I really like browsing a well stocked shop but cant bring myself to over pay for something.
Hey ,REslusher , Hi and good morning. DALLAS/FT.WORTH you say ?That means you are not far from CARROLLTON, right ??. As you probably already know that,s where SQUADRON calls home ! I am in NEW BRAUNFELS and I have done business with them for years. They were the first "mail-order "house I dealt with . Now all these years later I am still a very satisfied customer. tankerbuilder
Hey There ! DOOGS hows it going?? One of these days we need to meet . I shop at KINGS all the time and also HILL COUNTRY HOBBIES out on BANDERA rd. in S.A. . The guys at KINGS have always done me right . By the way ,when you are in there check out the display case . That,s my GERMAN ww1 ship in there and there,s some cars too , especially my 69/70 MALIBU which I call “MALIBLU”. When I come to AUSTIN next time I will let you know and maybe we can get to meet over lunch okay ?? tankerbuilder
Here in Huntington we still have a good LHS left. While we have Hobby Lobby, I’ve only bought something there twice since it opened, partly because of prices and partly because of non-hobby-related concerns I have about the place.
The LHS gets my business for anything they have that I want, with the main PITA limitation ( not the store’s fault ) being her distributor not carrying much of the SF stuff I want or much from Japan. I recently went so far in supporting this store over online options that the stockpile of PL Refit Enterprise kits I recently got came from there instead of Starship Modeler despite the extra cost to me. While I have no problems with the online site, I figured getting the basics locally and specialty stuff online was a fair way to get what I want and contribute to keeping a good local business ( especially given as helpful as they are to the few local modelers that seem to be left with special orders and such ) going.
You do provide an explanation regarding why I would notice some WM stores would never re-stock kits, some would have meager re-stock but others were frequently re-stocked.
Oddly, I used to hear ( late 1960s ) that manufacturers who were supplying Sears orders
( back when Sears was the 900 lb gorilla )
but were unable to produce enough for both increased Sears demands and Sears competitors, would concentrate on supplying Sears and end up out of business when Sears dropped them.
Don’t know how true it was at the time…
Absolutely agree with you! Gary is great and his selection is far better than Hobbytown IMO. He is also quick to order whatever you want and takes/sells consignment kits too. My only complaint is that he needs a bigger shop with more stuff! 
Yes lot of large Stores are available to fulfill you purpose. you need only to search in your local area where you can get your desired product…
A big-box store (also supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. Examples include large department stores such as Walmart and Target.
You know that,s very funny .I told GARY the last time I was there ( the first week of the month) that he needed to run off the shop next door and expand to that space too ! We had a good laugh over that. He does his best with the room he has and the thing I like is , like KINGS in AUSTIN , he will order stuff for me and that,s just a phone call ! I have only visited DIBBLES in S.A. One time .The selection was at best garbled and very train oriented .He really didn,t have anything I wanted or needed . Now when I go to HILL COUNTRY (GARY,S shop) or KING,S I find what I want about 95% of the time and order the rest . Between those two LHS I have been able to keep up eith my client in ARIZONA . HOBBYTOWN is also in for a good share too ! I do shop SQUADRON and that,s it for mail order . I think I bought from MICRO-MARK once . So there you have it . tankerbuilder
Nah, I’m not too far from Squadron’s place. IPMS-North Central Texas puts on a show near there in May each year. They even run a shuttle bus over to Squadron and you can buy stuff for a fairly descent discount. Also there’s EagleQuest every year that Squadron puts on; but it’s admission is a little steep for me.
I’m gonna head over to HobbyTown in Arlington this weekend…gotta pick up some more paint.
I also see a problem with the distributors. Sometimes, my LHS sometimes cannot get a new kit. It seems that they reserve many new kits for the big online stores. For example, I ordered the Vulcan Models Vickers Mk VI through my LHS. They couldn’t beg for a copy, but Great Models gets a restock in mere days!? There seems to be certain labels that get broad distribution while others (especially the smaller Asian companies) are parceled out in small lots if that. Italeri, for one, is easy to get a new release, but the smaller brands are handed out in dribs and drabs.
I ended up buying the Vulcan Kit overseas and still saved money over the prices listed here.
Mike T.