Support your LHS they say...

[Tamiya Fan 1]

Back in the day, hobby shops every where, Ma and Pa stores, had everything. I can't find one any where now. (illinois) It's a shame

I shopped Tower Hobbies like crazy years ago. I mean alot of stuff!! The go to store for me, had great deals and stock all the time. Hate it now with Horizan in charge, just not the same.

Hobbytown by me was a family run store. Even though franchised. I would go, look, buy, get parts I wanted quickly. Would look at their RC kits and it was all Traxxas stuff. A Tamiya Lunchbox. Not one tamiya semi truck, trailer, tank , newer Wild Willie , nothing! Sadly they went out of bussiness. But kit stock didn't make me want to brouse kits in the store. Must have been corperate idea's? I think they got there stuff from Tower Hobbies if they ordered somthing for you?

 

[Saito2]

Hobbytown is currently owned by Amain now I believe.

Tower definitely got the bulk of my money in the last 20 years before the bankruptcy. I was willing to see how things made out with Horizon running the show but after watching folks not get their pre-orders and being double or tripled billed yet not receiving anything, I wasn't sticking my hand in the that hornet's nest no matter if the deals were good or not. I also don't care if it was the worst computer systems "upgrade" in history. That's just bad business.  

[Siclick33]

On 11/3/2024 at 7:20 PM, Wooders28 said:

Like all small businesses , they're competing with the Internet giants, so just can't have huge amount of capital tied up in stock.

I believe it also costs to 'buy in' to be a recognised retail outlet for brands, (heard a rumour is around the £20,000 mark for Tamiya?) 

As a club, we talk to our LHS and they try and stock parts for our cars, as there's a good chance they won't be on the shelf for long.

Speak to the owner, tell them what you're looking at buying, and see what they can do for you, the more everyone buys the more they'll have in stock, I'm thinking Kev Talbot's LHS is going to have stock 🙄🤣 (although, he's moved to his tax haven now..)

I briefly dabbled with my own online store selling modelling products. I have no idea what the Tamiya requirements are but I did see minimum order requirements on some lines. If that is the same with Tamiya then £20,000 doesn't get you a massive amount of stock (for a moderate volume retailer). Even £20,000 per year likely wouldn't be excessive, but would be for a small shop that only stocks a handful of kits.

We have just had another well-known model shop close down in the UK. It is a great shame as I loved going in to browse but, whilst the shop had a lot of stock, the last time I went in there they didn't have anything I wanted and I didn't buy anything, even though I had money to spend and went with the intention of coming home with new toys. When I can pay £5 for postage that means my LHS needs to be very local or it will cost me more in petrol to even get there, and that's before taking into account that I can almost always find a deal somewhere for the item I want.

I used to love going in to a LHS when I was a kid, but the reality is that I barely have the need to go to one any more. The only real benefit to me is for things like fuel/paint or something urgent that I can't wait to be delivered; I don't think any LHS would be able to survive on that. High value items are often significantly cheaper online.

One of the model shops I used to frequent has a good, parallel, physical shop and website/mail order business. Their shop isn't massive but they've always had everything in stock that I've ordered online. Maybe this is the best compromise to keep businesses alive that also have physical shops.

 

 

[Wooders28]

2 hours ago, Siclick33 said:

I have no idea what the Tamiya requirements are but I did see minimum order requirements on some lines. If that is the same with Tamiya then £20,000 doesn't get you a massive amount of stock

For a Modelshop, to get a premises (pay business rates, utilities etc) and stock , you're looking at close to £50k to get off the ground, then to compete with online retailers (usually they're pretty much just a warehouse) and the likes of Amazon (with a Tamiya DT03 Racing Fighter on there atm for just over £80!) , is a tall tall order.

 

[MadAnt]

In today's age a hobby shop can't just be a store, they need a pretty good reason for you to drive there and shop. Some shops have race tracks, host events or get involved with local clubs. Being just a store is not enough.