Another Hobby Shop Gone

[Mike Griffin]

Just found out that Hodges Hobbies owned by Mac Hodges has gone out of business.  Mac was a fellow club member when we moved from New Orleans to Georgia after Katrina.  I was fortunate enough during the five years I lived there, to be a member of the Georgia Aircraft Modeling Association which put on the Southeastern Model Show in Perry, GA which grew to be the biggest model airplane swap meet in the country.  Mac was a big supporter of the show and a great friend to me.  He had one of the best Hobby Shops I have ever seen and had acres of sod farm flying area.  He would let anyone fly who wanted to come by.  I have actually seen full scale planes land there, taxi up to the front door and the pilot go in and buy supplies.  He is most famous for his huge B29 Bomber which dropped an X1 from its belly.  He traveled around the country with the plane and put on exhibitions.  He was a regular at Joe Nall.

Mac and his shop will be missed by everyone in the state of Georgia.  He has decided to retire and enjoy his hobby and flying his Piper Cub.  So sad to see another great hobby shop go away.

Mike

[John Stiles]

Well...I guess it coulda been worse....my fave H-S burned to the ground. All those items on my wish list went with it. He had a mountain of dope....every color ever made. He says he lost a couple million.

[Mike Griffin]

That is terrible John.... The closest good hobby shop we have that is close is in Baton Rouge which is about an hour away..

Mike

[Peter Grabenstein]

Way back in the seventees we had 5 LHS in my hometown.
They all gone now for years.
Online Shopping from the Big Ones  is the worst enemy for all the small ones LHS.
Support your LHS, dont buy at .owers.

Peter

[55chevr]

As has been stated often. "Wall Mart ruined America". To paraphrase it, "Tower Hobbies killed the American hobby shop".

Joe

[john e. holliday]

No, we killed the local hobby shop by buying direct.   Then there are the hobby shops that do a lot of business via mail order.

[55chevr]

Tower started the downward spiral. Before they produced their own products, they dumped brand names at deep discounts and made their money on the difference of volume buying, high sales and low profit margins. They flat out undersold the local hobby shops.  We, the consumer, contributed by buying from them.  Not unlike what Home Depot and Lowe's has done to the local hardware stores and lumber yards. No one that has purchased from any of the big mail order internet houses has to look far for the reason there are no longer LHS. We did it to ourselves.

Joe

[Dave_Trible]

This is true but also the kids lost their fascination with airplanes.  Cable TV, video games and the Internet took the youth interest elsewhere.  Few have any concept of investing time in building something for future enjoyment.  A wealthier society made it easy to just buy new toys.  We've simply changed.  Is the hobby doomed?  No.  There will always be a few but it will be up to us to encourage and pass the torch.  (And not let competing outlets run us over-IRCHA)

Dave

[55chevr]

The LHS in Queens was Wilson's.  The son Pete is still running the business but it is all model cars now.  He just couldn't make a living providing Dubro links, props, paint and fuel while everyone bought the big tag stuff (radios, engines, kits) from the big houses.  If he didn't own the building I doubt he could make a living on the cars either.   


Joe

[Jim Thomerson]

The trend started back in the 1960's when mail order discounters, other than AHC, proliferated.  Around 1975, I decided I would spend $150 a year at local hobby shops, and the rest, at about 50% off, delivered to your door, with the discounters.  That was not enough to keep the majority of hobby shops alive in my area. 

[john e. holliday]

At Hobby Haven they were showing the new small multi rotor hover craft today.