Hobbytown USA

Have any of our forum users had any experience with this franchise store? There is one opening up, here in the western suburbs of Pittsburgh, next Monday. I stopped in today at lunch time and talked with the owner. I handed him my Brodak catalog and asked if there was any chance they would be carrying any control line stuff. We talked for a few minutes, he recalled building model airplanes as a kid and commented about the "instant gratification" sought by so many of todays kids. It seems the franchise is a Great Planes and Top Flite dealer and most of what they seem to have are RC ARF planes.
He said he would talk to the "franchise" and see if it was o.k. to bring in another line of products. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I will keep my fingers crossed.
It would be a shame to have this store turn out to be a glorified toy store, instead of a real hobby shop. I told him to keep the Brodak catalog and look through it. Maybe something there will catch his eye,
or the corporations eye, and they will take a chance on Brodak and control line.
At the very least I'd like to see them carry a few kits, mid-size to larger engines and good fuel. Not just the Cox RTF stuff I always seem to find in 'hobby' shops and toy stores.
So, has anyone else had any luck getting this store to pick up the Brodak line?

Looking forward to reading your responses,
Tim

We have one here in Columbus, OH near our flying site. Most of the stuff is on no interest to us C/L's but they do have some general stuff that we use like props, spinners, plastic fuel tanks, etc. And, they give a 10% discount to any hobby club members. They are real big into R/C cars, both fuel and electric.

LAST EDITED ON Jul-03-03 AT 01:28 PM (CDT)
 
The one near where we fly in the Twin Cities has been fairly helpful. He carries Sig fuel, lines, dope, and a few accessories. But folks have made a point of patronizing his place and telling them that this stuff is for CL. Keep reminding your guy, and most important, buy from him. If you have out-of-town visitors, be sure they drop in, too. Easy sales for him.

Then, another shop that we visited in Oshkosh said, "Oh, you can fly those anywhere," when I asked him if there was a CL flying site around the area. Depends on the franchisee's attitude.

In Oregon, Eugene Toy & Hobby (a poor choice of a name) carries Brodak paints and a few kits. They will order any Brodak item, thus saving shipping from PA. I appreciate that.

The one that was near my house had a few odds and ins, like someone else mentioned, props, glow plugs, a few rc kits. But, everything was retail, I don't know about where you live, but I haven't bought hobby supplies at that suggested retail price in many many years. I mainly bought magazines there, but it is mostly kind of a toy store, they did have lots of train stuff and remote control car stuff, and static model stuff. The one in the mall in Mississippi was the same, but they may vary elsewhere, at least they did know where I could get in touch with the people that got me started in the hobby.

themouse

Austin Nelson

One just opened here in Huntsville, Alabama. It carries mostly train, plastic models (planes, tanks, ships), puzzles and some rc stuff, ARF and dirt rc trucks. Friendly, but thought cl died 20 years ago. Set him straight on that, but like most franchises, they are obligatedd up to a certain percentage of their product from the true owners. On the same thought, I did stop at one in Longmont, Colorado and it carried everything including rubber powered free flight kits. I think it was a Hobby Town.

Plastic Model trains, planes, Dungeons and Dragons, etc. But.

The stores carry franchise merchandise AND specific materials according to the owner. We have one that carries a bunch of Estes model rockets and another that carries those and other HPR things. One carries jsut a little RC aircraft, the other a bunch. All depends on what the owner knows, wants or needs. The closest one has no problem with ordering things from anyone for us, just tell em where and when. He won't stock it unless it becomes a staple but if it does, he'll stock it. Get everyone in town to use him as a source even though it may cost a little more, and you will have supplies in town, sooner or later. So it's no panacea, but it ain't that bad either.

The Hobbytown in Port Huron, MI, which I used for hardware supplies and the small items, is now closed. Found the doors locked about a week or two ago. Planes,Trains,Auto's in plastic and diecast. Lots of r/c car parts. Fair selection of r/c aircraft hardware. Not sure what the problem was. Nothing c/l specific though,...maybe that was the rub?

LAST EDITED ON Jul-04-03 AT 06:23 AM (CDT)
 
HobbyTown USA sponsors a half hour TV show on the DIY network. It appears that they mostly demonstrate the items that they carry. They will show how to assemble and use an ARF. I think you can see examples of what they cover at diynet.com, under Radio Control Hobbies.

They vary a lot. There are a couple of small ones in in my area (Orange County, CA) that don't offer too much, but they do have props, fuel (no Castor), covering material and dope. No C/L specific stuff. The best one I have seen is in Las Vegas. It's a really big store and carries a large inventory of modelling stuff, although I don't recall any CL specific stuff again. They compete well with Hobby People (Shack) down the street.
So, to answer your question, there isn't an answer. Depends on the individual store.
Bare