LHS went out of business in my town… 50%-75% off all plastics…
I bought every piece of armor they had left.
I am so happy, so very happy.
Good luck for you, but too bad that you no longer have that hobby shop to buy from.
But how far will you have to travel for the next nearest LHS?
It’s good to get kits that cheap though…
Hobby shop closing are a Sad thing, but at least you have some suveniers to remember it.
Chris
He might not have to worry too much if he purchased all the armor kits they had left as he said. He may be busy for some time.
Glad to hear that you got great deal on armor kits, but sad to hear that another LHS closed down. [BH]
That is a shame the LSH is out of business.
The LHS has gone the way of the dodo bird…extinct.
Yeah it is definatley a shame that Laws (the LHS) closed down. It had been open since 1975. I managed to pick up some sweet kits though. There is another close buy thats kinda pricey. Oh well, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy now. They had 11 kits left, I bought all of them.
cool now tell us what you got [:)]
I was at 1 of my 2 Lhs’s.[I say local,though they’re about 1/2 hour apart,I still call them my local’s ] Last week.A man came in asking for help on getting his airbrush to work.Recognizing it wasn’t from a line he sold,The owner of the store asked the man where he got it.Of course he said 1 of the online companies.So after about 10-15 minutes cleanig,he had it working.I think he fixed it for free just to make a point,cuz after he was done,he told the customer," next time it’s dirty , send it back to them" !!! And that’s what has hurt so many Lhs’s & other small local businessess.But I must admit my own hypocrisy,since I do use web stores cuz the little shops can’t tie up 10,000.00 to stock up very single Eduard PE set,Or every Verlinden Item & so on,all to work on a 5% margin. It really is a paradox. Rudedog
It’s a shame that it’s harder and harder for the LHS to compete with the net. We lost 2 LHS’s last year, although neither to the net. We still have a couple LHS’s left, along with 4 or 5 of the national chain HS’s. About 90% percent of the business I do is with one of our “Mom n Pop” LHS. It’s true they don’t have the inventory of the net stores, but they can order what ever I want, and they have Lay a way. There is no “press 1 for”…, or “due to high call volume”… when there is the rare problem, it’s always dealt with without any problems or aggravation. Sure I could get things quicker and cheaper, but I like to gab, and love the smell of styrene in the morning. OK, back to the bench.
I’m pretty lucky, right between two great independent hobby stores: Compleat Hobbies in Colorado Springs, and Colpar Hobbies in Denver. Compleat has a lot more kits, but Colpar really has them beat on aftermarket materials like PE sets, metal barrels and workable track links.
Both of them do really great business; I’ve never been there when there hasn’t been a few folks there in the buying mode.
It is sad to hear mom & pop stores going out of business, but that’s sort of the way of modern business; those who can’t continue to compete, or adapt to the new rules of the game, fold. I know a lot of folks buy online, but to me, a lot of times the savings you get on the initial price is eaten up with shipping and handling or end up getting beaten really badly in transit. Plus, I’m not really good at “delayed gratification” when I want a new model.
Do you guys find that the shipping and handling charges negate the lower prices from the online hobby houses?
I have three hobby stores within 1/2 hour drive of me. I buy most of my stuff off the net. At least when I order from off the net, I know my order will be filled in full and on my doorstep in a week. I hate going to the local hobby store just to get a bottle of paint and finding it out-of-stock when I get there.
The internet is here to stay. Hobby stores will probably be mostly gone in 10 years. It’s just how technology causes change. Think about it, how many Cobblers stores do you see around?
-Jesse
Bittersweet news I’d say.
What’d you get? [:)]