An interview with the owner of a Hobbytown...

[Grendels]

I got the chance to interview the owner of my LHS and here is the video:

An interview with Hobbytown in College Station

And the tour that followed:

A tour of Hobbytown College Station TX

 

[MrNatural]

I have always wondered how other Hobby Towns in different cities compare to mine. I must say I am completely shocked at how much better yours is. Mine doesn't have a third of the inventory and the model section is an absolute joke.

Thanks for posting this I really enjoyed it!

 

[Grendels]

Glad you liked it!

 

[hooterville75]

I have always wondered how other Hobby Towns in different cities compare to mine. I must say I am completely shocked at how much better yours is. Mine doesn't have a third of the inventory and the model section is an absolute joke.

Thanks for posting this I really enjoyed it!

I wish my local Hobbytown USA had this amount of inventory as well seeing my local Hobbytown shut the doors a few years ago. Really hated seeing that. Wish Id have been into scale models back then to enjoy the huge clearance sales they had on all inventory in the store ha ha.

 

[dkev]

Not very big actually. Mine has 4 isles of kits plus a 24ft section of aircraft floor to nearly the ceiling. It's impressive. Only one problem. They charge full retail on most of their kits. So I relegate them to supply only status. What a waste. ??? Great vids though. ;D

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

They charge full retail on most of their kits. So I relegate them to supply only status. What a waste.

Not to open a can of worms here, but you do know that running a hobby shop isn't free right?

You have most times, rent, heat/AC, lights, insurance, employees if the store is big enough, and you still have to make enough money to live on.

Too many people compare an LHS to buying from the various places in Asia for their kits. Fact of the matter, you can't compare when those places in Asia are buying their stuff factory direct, and the factories are usually down the street, or if nothing else the same city or country. Yet LHS' here can't buy factory direct (unless they have some really deep pockets, and even then sometimes you can't), so they have to go through importers and suppliers, who in turn buy from the factories and have to have them shipped half way around the world, which doesn't come cheap either.

So...they sell for full retail, likely because they have no choice. Otherwise the place wouldn't be there at all, and you then wouldn't have them to buy your supplies from.

Everyone thinks we LHS's are getting rich based on the prices we charge, I can tell you, couldn't be further from the truth.

 

[hooterville75]

Hobbytown USA isn't really a mom and pop LHS is it ? I always though it was a National Chain. Ours closed like a few years ago so I never really got to enjoy the pleasure of shopping in a Hobbytown USA. I believe the closest to me now is like 2.5 hours away in Wyomissing, PA

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Hobbytown USA isn't really a mom and pop LHS is it ? I always though it was a National Chain. Ours closed like a few years ago so I never really got to enjoy the pleasure of shopping in a Hobbytown USA. I believe the closest to me now is like 2.5 hours away in Wyomissing, PA

It is a chain, but most of them are franchises, which means it has an owner and not just a manager, like the one near John. Yes they have company support, but that guy still had to pony up some serious coin to purchase a franchise, not to mention likely a sizable rent at the location they are in.

The one benifit he has, would be he isn't buying his product from numerous suppliers as the company over all would have buyers for that, and the store owners would just draw off of whatever Hobbytown USA buys from companies and suppliers. So he is only dealing with really one supplier, which would be Hobbytown USA, rather than multiple suppliers for different products, like I do. Great for him as with the toys, games, RC, etc, etc, there would be many more suppliers to deal with that even what I do. Would be all you could do to keep it all straight if they didn't have buyers at the company level looking after it all for them.

 

[dkev]

They charge full retail on most of their kits. So I relegate them to supply only status. What a waste.

Not to open a can of worms here, but you do know that running a hobby shop isn't free right?

You have most times, rent, heat/AC, lights, insurance, employees if the store is big enough, and you still have to make enough money to live on.

Too many people compare an LHS to buying from the various places in Asia for their kits. Fact of the matter, you can't compare when those places in Asia are buying their stuff factory direct, and the factories are usually down the street, or if nothing else the same city or country. Yet LHS' here can't buy factory direct (unless they have some really deep pockets, and even then sometimes you can't), so they have to go through importers and suppliers, who in turn buy from the factories and have to have them shipped half way around the world, which doesn't come cheap either.

So...they sell for full retail, likely because they have no choice. Otherwise the place wouldn't be there at all, and you then wouldn't have them to buy your supplies from.

Everyone thinks we LHS's are getting rich based on the prices we charge, I can tell you, couldn't be further from the truth.

There is this little gem of a model and RC store in an old strip mall here. The dude is nearly as cheap as a lot of online places and totally blows away HT in pricing across the board. But I will concede he is a one man operation so he doesn't have the over head HT does. But as a consumer I want the most for my dollar. So HT losses on that front. I'm sure you have a great store and the people that work for you are very knowledgeable. There is something to be said for that. That's just from my perspective.

 

[Grendels]

Hobbytown USA isn't really a mom and pop LHS is it ? I always though it was a National Chain. Ours closed like a few years ago so I never really got to enjoy the pleasure of shopping in a Hobbytown USA. I believe the closest to me now is like 2.5 hours away in Wyomissing, PA

It is a chain, but most of them are franchises, which means it has an owner and not just a manager, like the one near John. Yes they have company support, but that guy still had to pony up some serious coin to purchase a franchise, not to mention likely a sizable rent at the location they are in.

The one benifit he has, would be he isn't buying his product from numerous suppliers as the company over all would have buyers for that, and the store owners would just draw off of whatever Hobbytown USA buys from companies and suppliers. So he is only dealing with really one supplier, which would be Hobbytown USA, rather than multiple suppliers for different products, like I do. Great for him as with the toys, games, RC, etc, etc, there would be many more suppliers to deal with that even what I do. Would be all you could do to keep it all straight if they didn't have buyers at the company level looking after it all for them.

I know he deals with more than one supplier, since I order stuff from him all the time. But I know he is not dealing with more than two or three of them.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

They charge full retail on most of their kits. So I relegate them to supply only status. What a waste.

Not to open a can of worms here, but you do know that running a hobby shop isn't free right?

You have most times, rent, heat/AC, lights, insurance, employees if the store is big enough, and you still have to make enough money to live on.

Too many people compare an LHS to buying from the various places in Asia for their kits. Fact of the matter, you can't compare when those places in Asia are buying their stuff factory direct, and the factories are usually down the street, or if nothing else the same city or country. Yet LHS' here can't buy factory direct (unless they have some really deep pockets, and even then sometimes you can't), so they have to go through importers and suppliers, who in turn buy from the factories and have to have them shipped half way around the world, which doesn't come cheap either.

So...they sell for full retail, likely because they have no choice. Otherwise the place wouldn't be there at all, and you then wouldn't have them to buy your supplies from.

Everyone thinks we LHS's are getting rich based on the prices we charge, I can tell you, couldn't be further from the truth.

There is this little gem of a model and RC store in an old strip mall here. The dude is nearly as cheap as a lot of online places and totally blows away HT in pricing across the board. But I will concede he is a one man operation so he doesn't have the over head HT does. But as a consumer I want the most for my dollar. So HT losses on that front. I'm sure you have a great store and the people that work for you are very knowledgeable. There is something to be said for that. That's just from my perspective.

I am also a one person operation (aside from my wife that looks after the books), but that doesn't mean that I am making money hand over fist either. I am cheaper than other shops in the region on most things and carry quite a few items that the other shops don't which keeps things going. I am also alot smaller than someone like a Hobbytown, or similar store, so everything I do for my store, would be magnified 10 fold at a larger store like that of a Hobbytown, with bigger store, bigger rent, employees and such, so based on what I have to do, I can completely understand why other shops charge what they do.

I understand that people want to get the most bang for their buck, but at the same time, if people are only supporting their LHS for supplies (paint, knives, tools, etc.), then eventually they won't be able to support themselves on that alone, and will either venture into something else to make up for it (and thus neglecting the model side of the shop), or close altogether, and you are then left with no place to buy your supplies from. And while knives and tools can be shipped through the mail...most paint can't unless your postal service still has a surface option (which most are doing away with) or you spring for the extra cost of using a courier.

Vicious circle unfortunately!

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Hobbytown USA isn't really a mom and pop LHS is it ? I always though it was a National Chain. Ours closed like a few years ago so I never really got to enjoy the pleasure of shopping in a Hobbytown USA. I believe the closest to me now is like 2.5 hours away in Wyomissing, PA

It is a chain, but most of them are franchises, which means it has an owner and not just a manager, like the one near John. Yes they have company support, but that guy still had to pony up some serious coin to purchase a franchise, not to mention likely a sizable rent at the location they are in.

The one benifit he has, would be he isn't buying his product from numerous suppliers as the company over all would have buyers for that, and the store owners would just draw off of whatever Hobbytown USA buys from companies and suppliers. So he is only dealing with really one supplier, which would be Hobbytown USA, rather than multiple suppliers for different products, like I do. Great for him as with the toys, games, RC, etc, etc, there would be many more suppliers to deal with that even what I do. Would be all you could do to keep it all straight if they didn't have buyers at the company level looking after it all for them.

I know he deals with more than one supplier, since I order stuff from him all the time. But I know he is not dealing with more than two or three of them.

Yeah, I wasn't sure if the individual stores would deal with suppliers on their own, or if the company as a whole would have buyers for them, as they could purchase larger quantities, thus be able to buy at a less expensive price, than say a Mom & Pop shop would be able to. Maybe a little bit of both, or HT has a deal set up with certain suppliers that the individual stores deal with the suppliers directly, but they get better deals on the prices as there are so many stores buying from the same suppliers.

It's like Michaels, their prices on kits are crazy, yeah they offer 40-50% off coupons, but their retail price is also 40-50% higher than what I would sell the same kit for. Being that they are a larger company, I would think their price per unit would be lower than what I can buy them for, simply because they can buy factory direct (which results in a lower cost, as you cut out the supplier) and buy at a larger volume (also lowering the per unit cost), yet, their retail prices are 40-50% more than what I charge.

 

[dkev]

We don't have any issue with paint shipping in the states. Matter of fact I'm getting ready to make a 100+ bottle purchase of Vellejo Air and shipping is only a little over $10. Not bad.

 

[Quaralane]

Been on both sides of this discussion, as I used to manage a LHS for a bit.
There is not a lot of margin to be made.

Now, in defense of buying kits from the LHS, even though the prices aren't usually marked down....
There's a good chance that most of that 'online discount' you're getting will be eaten up in shipping costs.
LHS=no shipping costs

 

[JohnSimmons]

My LHS sucks but it is still nice going in and actually walking out with a kit that I've ordered even though I could have got it online cheaper and quicker.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

We don't have any issue with paint shipping in the states. Matter of fact I'm getting ready to make a 100+ bottle purchase of Vellejo Air and shipping is only a little over $10. Not bad.

Yeah, Vallejo and maybe Lifecolor are about the only paints that can actually be shipped through the mail "legally" (with the exception of the Vallejo Liquid Gold series), but any of your solvent/enamel paints, even Tamiya acrylics, which aren't really acrylics, are not supposed to be shipped because they are flammable.

 

[hooterville75]

We don't have any issue with paint shipping in the states. Matter of fact I'm getting ready to make a 100+ bottle purchase of Vellejo Air and shipping is only a little over $10. Not bad.

Yeah, Vallejo and maybe Lifecolor are about the only paints that can actually be shipped through the mail "legally" (with the exception of the Vallejo Liquid Gold series), but any of your solvent/enamel paints, even Tamiya acrylics, which aren't really acrylics, are not supposed to be shipped because they are flammable.

Whatever happened to the placard system and being able to ship anyway you chose to have shipped ? I know when I worked at Overnite Transportation now currently UPS Freight, we had specific loads that came in that were all Hazardous Materials and the loads were all placard up. Each box would even be marked flammable liquid, nonflammable liquid, Slippery when wet, etc. Kind of stinks you cant ship anything flammable because half the liquid products you deal with Id assume are all flammable liquids. I wish I had a local hobby shop that I could drive too if I ever needed a product or ran out of something. The closest hobby shop to me is a hour or more away. So if I ever run out of anything Im stuck until I can order it online and have it shipped to the house OR am going on a road trip somewhere and happen to pass by a hobby shop. Other then Michaels or AC Moore, Im not even sure if we have a actual mom and pop owned hobby shop within a hour from me. Models arnt a big thing in my area which stinks so the demand for a hobby shop in my area isn't really needed. The places I can get anything hobby related, carry Testors ONLY paint. The Hobby Lobby carries a very minimal amount of Vallejo. So paint selection sucks as well unless ordering online somewhere.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

We don't have any issue with paint shipping in the states. Matter of fact I'm getting ready to make a 100+ bottle purchase of Vellejo Air and shipping is only a little over $10. Not bad.

Yeah, Vallejo and maybe Lifecolor are about the only paints that can actually be shipped through the mail "legally" (with the exception of the Vallejo Liquid Gold series), but any of your solvent/enamel paints, even Tamiya acrylics, which aren't really acrylics, are not supposed to be shipped because they are flammable.

Whatever happened to the placard system and being able to ship anyway you chose to have shipped ? I know when I worked at Overnite Transportation now currently UPS Freight, we had specific loads that came in that were all Hazardous Materials and the loads were all placard up. Each box would even be marked flammable liquid, nonflammable liquid, Slippery when wet, etc. Kind of stinks you cant ship anything flammable because half the liquid products you deal with Id assume are all flammable liquids. I wish I had a local hobby shop that I could drive too if I ever needed a product or ran out of something. The closest hobby shop to me is a hour or more away. So if I ever run out of anything Im stuck until I can order it online and have it shipped to the house OR am going on a road trip somewhere and happen to pass by a hobby shop. Other then Michaels or AC Moore, Im not even sure if we have a actual mom and pop owned hobby shop within a hour from me. Models arnt a big thing in my area which stinks so the demand for a hobby shop in my area isn't really needed. The places I can get anything hobby related, carry Testors ONLY paint. The Hobby Lobby carries a very minimal amount of Vallejo. So paint selection sucks as well unless ordering online somewhere.

That's fine if you want to use a courier and spend the extra money the comes with that. UPS charges a premium if it is a dangerous goods, unless it is shipped via ground, but even then, the prices to ship via courier is more than what USPS or Canada Post is.

When CP was on strike a year or so ago, I contemplated switching to Fed Ex (next cheapest after CP), but they were still a couple of bucks more to ship for a similar size and weight parcel, going to the same address as CP was. Ultimately, it is the customer that pays for the shipping, so I would prefer to keep the costs as low as possible.

 

[dkev]

We don't have any issue with paint shipping in the states. Matter of fact I'm getting ready to make a 100+ bottle purchase of Vellejo Air and shipping is only a little over $10. Not bad.

Yeah, Vallejo and maybe Lifecolor are about the only paints that can actually be shipped through the mail "legally" (with the exception of the Vallejo Liquid Gold series), but any of your solvent/enamel paints, even Tamiya acrylics, which aren't really acrylics, are not supposed to be shipped because they are flammable.

Wow no kidding? I actually got all my 10ml bottles of Tamiya through the mail. Is it the same with thinners? I mean you see these sites say they have to ship the stuff ground but I haven't seen anybody say this can't be shipped at all. Even my lacquer thinner I get through the mail.

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Wow no kidding? I actually got all my 10ml bottles of Tamiya through the mail. Is it the same with thinners? I mean you see these sites say they have to ship the stuff ground but I haven't seen anybody say this can't be shipped at all. Even my lacquer thinner I get through the mail.

Shipping them in the states is no problem, you just can't do it via the online click and ship.

It must be done at the post office, you need to tell them so they can mark it and ship it correctly as it's not allowed to be shipped via air and can only be shipped domestically, no international shipments.