Hobby Town in south Charlotte has closed its doors.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
No lost Charlotte in a long time has not had a good LHS the Little Choo Choo shop in Spencer is the best.
Russell
I agree with the Little Choo Choo Shop being better, but this one was a LOT closer.
I am in Gastonia and Spencer is just over a hour away i don't think they ever will be a LHS around us close.
Phoebe Vet Hobby Town in south Charlotte has closed its doors.
What was the reason? Owner retire? Become ill? Stock that was a decade or more old? There has to be a reason beyond the normal-another shop closed.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
sigh. I guess it's time for the monthly why did the hobby shop close thread, again.
BRAKIE Phoebe Vet Hobby Town in south Charlotte has closed its doors. What was the reason? Owner retire? Become ill? Stock that was a decade or more old? There has to be a reason beyond the normal-another shop closed.
The owner got fed up to his eyeballs dealing with people who think they should only have to pay costume jewelry prices for flawless diamonds.
Andre
maxman sigh. I guess it's time for the monthly why did the hobby shop close thread, again.
Not to mention the"outrageous prices", "hobby is dying" and "RTR is killing craftsmanship" threads.
andrechapelonNot to mention the"outrageous prices", "hobby is dying" and "RTR is killing craftsmanship" threads. Andre
You forgot DCC vs DC
Joe
JoeinPA andrechapelon Not to mention the"outrageous prices", "hobby is dying" and "RTR is killing craftsmanship" threads. Andre You forgot DCC vs DC Joe
andrechapelon Not to mention the"outrageous prices", "hobby is dying" and "RTR is killing craftsmanship" threads. Andre
As well as the ongoing battle between those who are into operations and those who are not.
I have no idea. I was in there a couple of weeks ago and David did not say anything. My grandson begged to go there two days ago. When we arrived the windows were all covered with brown paper and there was a letter on the door thanking all their customers for their business and saying they have gone out of business.
Phoebe VetI have no idea. I was in there a couple of weeks ago and David did not say anything. My grandson begged to go there two days ago. When we arrived the windows were all covered with brown paper and there was a letter on the door thanking all their customers for their business and saying they have gone out of business.
Wow! That was sudden..Most owners I knew that closed their shops had close out sales and one was given a retirement party by his customers..Mel was a well like guy due to his ready smile,his friendliness and all around hobby knowledge.
Hobby Town is a chain. The one here in Boise is still open but the one in the next town about 12 miles from here closed it's doors about a year or so ago. Locally, I have never been impressed with their attention to Model RR stock, with little selection in motive power or rolling stock, not many structures, little in the way of detail parts and they don't seem to be restocking what they sell in Model RR goods. Fortunately there are a couple of other local stores that cater more to the model RR crowd. There is also, interestingly enough, a retired locomotive engineer here in town that goes to train shows, estate sales, etc. and buys and sells mainly motive power and rolling stock. We have three clubs and the round-robin group that I belong to within a 20 mile radius of where I live. Each of these clubs averages about 20-25 people, so there are plenty of us "railroad nuts" around here.
The one in Reading closed too. I can't say I'm sorry to see them go. Their stock has been drastically reduced in every area except RC cars. It's been a few years since I've been in one, so that may have changed, but judging by their decline, it probably hasn't. It's sad that they really can't even compete with the real Local Hobby Shops.
Modeling the Pennsy and loving it!
Still, sometimes you need what a generic non-train hobby shop does have and it is unfortunate when one close by shuts down.
Dave Nelson
Dave didn't have anything resembling the little Choo Choo Shop, but he used to stock things he knew were of interest to me, and would special order anything I asked him for. I will miss him. If he had told me he was closing I would have bought a couple hundred dollars of his stock on his way out.
E-L man tomHobby Town is a chain
Tom,I wish we had a Hobby Town here in Bucyrus anything beats a big fat zero.The nearest hobby shop is 26 miles away but,the better shops is in Columbus and that's a 120 plus mile round trip.
I envy those that has good shops near them..The reason is simple..I'm getting to the point where I can no longer justify on line shopping since I don't need more cars or locomotives..I just need a monthly resupply and that need is beginning to dwindle as well.
BRAKIE E-L man tom Hobby Town is a chain Tom,I wish we had a Hobby Town here in Bucyrus anything beats a big fat zero.The nearest hobby shop is 26 miles away but,the better shops is in Columbus and that's a 120 plus mile round trip. I envy those that has good shops near them..The reason is simple..I'm getting to the point where I can no longer justify on line shopping since I don't need more cars or locomotives..I just need a monthly resupply and that need is beginning to dwindle as well.
E-L man tom Hobby Town is a chain
Brakie, I know what you mean about Columbus having some great train stores. Maybe there aren't as many as there were when I was living in Dayton until I moved from there in 1998. Dayton, as well as Cincinnati also had some great stores while I lived there.
One thing I loved about living in Ohio was that, on almost any given weekend, there was a train show or a swap meet somewhere in the state. Many of them were either fairly close by or right in the Dayton-Cincinnati area. Those shows are hard to come by in this area of the country. There is a very good train show each year in Ogden, UT (so they tell me), but that is about a 6 hour drive from here.
E-L man tomHobby Town is a chain. The one here in Boise is still open but the one in the next town about 12 miles from here closed it's doors about a year or so ago. Locally, I have never been impressed with their attention to Model RR stock, with little selection in motive power or rolling stock, not many structures, little in the way of detail parts and they don't seem to be restocking what they sell in Model RR goods. Fortunately there are a couple of other local stores that cater more to the model RR crowd. There is also, interestingly enough, a retired locomotive engineer here in town that goes to train shows, estate sales, etc. and buys and sells mainly motive power and rolling stock. We have three clubs and the round-robin group that I belong to within a 20 mile radius of where I live. Each of these clubs averages about 20-25 people, so there are plenty of us "railroad nuts" around here.
Not sure if you're aware (I just found out myself about a week ago) but a guy just opened a Model RR shop right off Vista & Overland in Boise a few months ago. I believe it's called Hardwoods, Hardware and Hobbies (http://www.woodcraftparts.net/). He doesn't have a huge amount of inventory but he's definitely looking to expand and grow. What other places (other than Hobbytown) carry model RR stuff in Boise and surrounding areas?
DanOHNot sure if you're aware (I just found out myself about a week ago) but a guy just opened a Model RR shop right off Vista & Overland in Boise a few months ago. I believe it's called Hardwoods, Hardware and Hobbies (http://www.woodcraftparts.net/). He doesn't have a huge amount of inventory but he's definitely looking to expand and grow. What other places (other than Hobbytown) carry model RR stuff in Boise and surrounding areas?
Dan, yes I have. I heard about it from my fellow model railroaders about a month or so ago. I drive by that place at least twice a week but I haven't gone in there yet.
As I mentioned before, there's a retired locomotive engineer who is in the business of buying and selling Model RR equipment out of his home. As mentioned, he goes to train shows and estate sales to buy and his inventory of motive power and rolling stock is quite extensive. There's also Team Dewey in Nampa; he really caters to the RC car crowd but he purchased some of an extensive inventory of a guy who passed away about 7 or 8 years ago who had his own store. Dewey is not replacing the inventory he has (but neither is Hobby Town), and, at least the last time I've been in the store, he doesn't even have all of that inventory on the shelves. Other than that, we don't have any one else who has any kind of a model RR inventory of any sort. If you're interested in the retired locomotive engineer guy, I can give you his name and contact information; just email me.
The first, last, and only time I was in the Hobby Town in Tucson, Arizona, the only model railroad products they had were a few scenery items, some Bachmann EZ track, and a Bachmann Christmas train set.
Their main emphasis was RC cars, because people are always crashing them and buying repair parts or new cars as replacements.
The one that just closed here had a good amount of both. The left side of the store was trains and the right side was RC, cars and aircraft. The back had the plastic kits you remember from your youth.
He had N, HO, and O plus the usual scenery stuff.
E-L man tomAs I mentioned before, there's a retired locomotive engineer who is in the business of buying and selling Model RR equipment out of his home. As mentioned, he goes to train shows and estate sales to buy and his inventory of motive power and rolling stock is quite extensive. There's also Team Dewey in Nampa; he really caters to the RC car crowd but he purchased some of an extensive inventory of a guy who passed away about 7 or 8 years ago who had his own store. Dewey is not replacing the inventory he has (but neither is Hobby Town), and, at least the last time I've been in the store, he doesn't even have all of that inventory on the shelves. Other than that, we don't have any one else who has any kind of a model RR inventory of any sort. If you're interested in the retired locomotive engineer guy, I can give you his name and contact information; just email me.
Thank you for the info! I'll pm you for his info.