We are pretty spoiled in the Minneapolis area we have 2 Hub Hobby Stores and Scale Model Supplies. I visit them whenever possible and avoid shopping online to help them stay strong. I could not imagine living anywhere without a brick and mortar shop but that is sadly increasingly common.
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I have a good brick and mortar close by named Great Lakes Hobby and Train. Good selection of kits. Paints and tools. I try to stop in and give them some business when I can.
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@LonCray shop called Tech Toys is in North Jersey too; PACKED old school shop from wall to wall with kits. They even had a full rack of Model Master paints!
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Good googly moogly! Thatās literally on the way from Kenvil Hobbies in Kenvil to Zeppelin Hobbies in Wayne! Thank you so much, Iām now up to six hobby shop stops on my MosquitoCon trip.
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Iāve done that exact Zepplin to Tech Toys to Kenvil trip last year. Of those shops, Tech Toys has BY FAR the most kits. Enjoy!
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Thank you! Itās my favorite trip; I get Modellbahn Ott in PA and AAA Hobbies in Magnolia (for the last time) plus my aunt and uncle live in the old family homestead in Kinnelon so thereās no hotel.
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AAA is my āsemi-localā and iām super bummed theyāre going away.
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Check out this thread that I started a while back when we started down this rabbit hole several months ago. Lots of good info on brick and mortar stores in there.
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In the Sacramento area we are down to three that I am aware of. Railroad hobbies in Roseville, which focuses on trains, but has a good selection of styrene, wood, and metal for scratchbuilding/kitbashing, and Woodland Scenics for dioramas. The other two are RC focused - Fast Track in Rocklin, which does have some plastic available, and RC Country Hobbies in Rancho Cordova, which has a selection of plastic and paint. RC does buy and resell plastic, which is nice. I have found some surprisingly nice kits at Fast Track and good value on pre-owned at RC Country, although neither has a huge selection.
I buy local when I can - nothing like a little instant gratification whether it be strip styrene, paint, or a new kit.
I miss San Antonio Hobbies, which used to be in the South Bay. Still have a couple of boxes in the stash with their price tag.
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Oh my god that brings back feelings of trepidation and fearā¦my ex put the fear of GOD into me with a similar phraseā¦āI saved $300 today, everything was 10% off !ā.
My purchasing weakness is āFree shippingā
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BOGO is pretty compelling too 
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I have bought many reference books from Kings hobbiesā¦internet though
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My go to is Brookhurst Hobbies which is a staple for us SoCal modelers! I gotta keep enjoying it while Iām still in school!
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I have bought reference books from Kings Hobby on a few occasions.
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The closest that still exists for me is in Tomās River, a Hobbytown, pretty well stocked.
We do have a train store nearer, so there are supplies to be had.
In Red Bank there is now a craft-and-food store, Build and Brew, that includes 3d printing services. I have some STLs to print out and donāt ahve the space or money for my own printer that can print in fine enough scale for 1/700 and 1/600.
We also have a makerspace in our local library. The printers there arenāt a capable, but I am getting two STLs printed for the cost of US$3.50 - a hadrosaur and a 3d relief of eastern Monmouth County, NJ.
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I have multiple HobbyTowns from and hour to hour and a half in light traffic from my home (50-90 miles). I donāt really call them hobby shops since they focus on RC but have models to various degrees of volume.
Today I am my hobby shop as I think I have all the models I could ever want or build from here on out.
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I told my wife about the Awasso hobby shop closing up and that I have ordered a couple of hard to find models so we went up there to get them (long story about why I went to this hobby shop) and when we got there he had everything marke 30-50+% off.
Letās just say I saved enough money to pay for my gas there and back and then some. That jeep was packed as full as we could get it including the little bits like decals and wheel sets. I think I bought about $3,000 and after discount we spent $900 for a savings of $2100.
This is what my wife is telling me as I did not want to see the cost. The proprietor made sure I did well for my trip so im sure the discount was much higher than 50 off.
Mind you my wife was there with the credit card and told me to gather it up and take advantage of the discounts.
I have a wonderful wife
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I just joined I.P.M.S. in Saginaw and it was suggested I go to L&C crossing hobby Depot which I did, and noticed that they had a 3D printer.
I asked if they did printing for customersā¦yesssss they do !
I literally felt my brain start pumping āfeel goodā juice, I opened my phone and showed them the file I have for the 5 blades props for the OV-10D ICM 1/48 scale kit to convert it to the cal fire OV-10D.
The cost ? $3.50 USDā¦so I bought two sets.
This was the second hobbyshop I have physically entered in thirty years.
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Boy, I wish there was someplace like that around where I live.
Iāve got a set of 3D files for some 1/48 pilots and Special Forces figures for my upcoming Little Bird build, and Iāve been trying to figure out where I can get them printed without buying a resin printer myself just yet.
Sounds like thereās a real market for this kind of thing. Maybe a few of us should get together and open our own business. 
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Wait a minute. Your wife was standing there with the credit card telling you to keep grabbing models because they were such a good deal?
You do realize youāve just described the perfect wife, right?
And $3,000 worth of hobby stuff for $900? I think at that point you were financially obligated to fill the Jeep.
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