Rocketry Planet
| Online ordering threatens Maineville, Ohio hobby shop |
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| Archived Media Articles by RACHEL RICHARDSON, The Cincinnati Enquirer | |
| Thursday, November 05, 2009 | |
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But that dream job is now in peril as an explosion of online buying choices threatens to make the independent hobby shop a thing of the past.   HobbyTown USA manager Kevin Roberson stands behind the counter with employees Don Cravens and Jeremy Hutzel. The Symmes Township shop employees seven employees, many of whom specialize in a particular hobby or interest. Photo: Rachel Richardson. "Cincinnati lost five hobby shops last year alone," said Roberson, pointing to the recent closing of Davis Electronics and Trains. The 10,000-square-foot, family-owned model train supply superstore closed its doors last year after nearly 30 years of business in Milford's historic district. HobbyTown USA is a national chain of about 136 stores each independently owned and operated. Brothers Brian and Ray Miller operate the Symmes Township location and five others in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. The 5,300-square-foot shop specializes in radio control or RC cars, planes and boats, model train supplies, and slot and Pinewood Derby cars in addition to its array of educational toys, model rockets, magic supplies, military board games and dollhouses. They're hobbies that appeal to people of all ages, genders and ethnicities, said Roberson. The shop's oldest customer is 93 and its youngest a toddler. "With the economic times, a lot of people are staying home and discovering their basements," said Roberson. "This is their stress relief; it takes their minds off the day-to-day war." But the rise of Internet storefronts also has hobbyists discovering cheaper ways to fulfill their passions at the click of a mouse. The growing popularity of online ordering has seen shop sales drop by about 30 – 40 percent in the past few years, said Roberson. "People are unaware that we exist or are inpatient and want to click a button and have it delivered," he said. "The personal service you get, the trust and the quality... How can they get that online?" RC and slot car enthusiast Geoff Meyer estimates that he's spent about $30,000 on his hobbies in the past 28 years. The Newtown Duke Energy power plant worker says he spends anywhere from one to three hours a day on his hobbies. "You can go on the internet but you have to be extremely careful. I've gotten burnt a couple times," he said. "These people online can offer it cheaper because they don't have overhead. I could start an Internet hobby shop tomorrow and I don't even have to have an inventory. I don't even have to see the product." The shop has tried to fight back by offering customers an incentive program, free next-day delivery and call-ahead pick-up. It also offers customers a brick-and-mortar spot in which to socialize and meet other like-minded hobbyists. One group of teenagers meets at the shop every Saturday to play a popular war game. Meyer says that he spends so much time at the shop that he's often been mistaken for an employee. With some customers spending upwards of tens of thousands of dollars each year on their hobbies, independent hobby shops aren't only important for the economic benefits they bring to a community, says Roberson. "It's people reliving their childhood or introducing their kids to it," he said. "A lot of grandparents buy stuff they can do with their grandkids." And for dedicated enthusiasts like Meyer, the local hobby shop is more than a convenient way to indulge his hobbies. "It's more like a second home for me. If I'm not at home, I'm there," he said. "And if I don't support my local hobby shop, they aren't going to be there." HobbyTown USA is at 9120 Union Cemetery Road in the Governors Plaza. For more information, call 513-697-8224 or go to www.hobbytown.com/ohcin. Copyright © 2009, The Cincinnati Enquirer. |
MAINEVILLE, Ohio USA — Kevin Roberson grew up racing slot- and radio control cars, so when the opportunity arose to manage the Symmes Township HobbyTown USA shop, it seemed like a dream job for the Maineville enthusiast. | << Previous Article | Next Article >> |
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Pretty much if something especially interesting comes in, it goes in the showroom for a week or 2, then it goes online. He also buys stuff online to resell either in the shop or on e-bay. He seems to do a pretty good business that way.
I'm constantly amazed when I hear a hobby shop complain about the internet driving them out of business. That's like drowning in a flood when you have a canoe in the garage. You could hire 1 person to do the packing and shipping for internet sales and use that tool to DOUBLE your business!
There are at least 2 hobby shops in town who would have more business than they could shake a stick at if they did that.
N
Pretty much if something especially interesting comes in, it goes in the showroom for a week or 2, then it goes online. He also buys stuff online to resell either in the shop or on e-bay. He seems to do a pretty good business that way.
I'm constantly amazed when I hear a hobby shop complain about the internet driving them out of business. That's like drowning in a flood when you have a canoe in the garage. You could hire 1 person to do the packing and shipping for internet sales and use that tool to DOUBLE your business!
There are at least 2 hobby shops in town who would have more business than they could shake a stick at if they did that.
N
How would people find them? Branding and marketing are very important to making an internet business viable. Additionally the local brick and mortar stores face overhead that internet shopping sites may not have. Lastly the ability to buy in bulk and resell is not always available to everyone due to financing - this is even more true with the loss of CTI group in the banking industry.
Google analytics and ads.
Any wisely run business spends 15% of gross profit on marketing and advertising and drops dead advertising and expands effective advertising on a monthly or weekly basis. Google analytics shrinks that to daily resolution. Hourly for some businesses. Probably not hobby retail.
Look at it this way. They already have the overhead of the store, the inventory, the business services, the employees. Why not leverage it to widen the customer base from beyond a 50 mile radius? They even already have shipping accounts.
Jerry
There are ways. There's at least 5 rocket forums... more if you count the yahoo groups that are out there... Facebook, Myspace...
RC-universe, RMR, RMS, probably 50 plus big crafting/scrapbooking forums... Buy advertising, join a free forum and do promotions or plug your business, the internet is not a limiting factor, it is a limitless resource.
Limitations on the retailer are time, advertising budget, and willingness to supplement local advertising on radio, TV, billboards, etc. with ONLINE advertising. You can't sit in the back room and wait for people to find you... you gotta go find them and show them why they want to buy from you. This is the same as before, but instead of going out on the street in your town, you go to a suitable online community.
Big, flashy expensive websites are cool to look at, but simple works, too. Online credit card transactions don't have to be Paypal... my bank does online and POP credit card payment services as well.
I cannot fathom why any "brick & mortar" business would be dying other than they are not giving their customer the shopping experience they are looking for. Everyone talks about the rocket hobby dying off and the median age of rocketeers increasing... You gotta start advertising the hobby and craft scene where your new generation of customer hangs out.
This is the newest "Warehouse Store" mentality. We went from small shops to strip malls to Wal-Mart to SUPER Wal-Mart.... Now you have the entire planet at your fingertips. The entire flippin' planet. We're advancing backward in time back to the days of the catalog store (Sears and Roebuck), except the catalog is WHATEVER you want and the store is the ENTIRE online commerce world.
How can you not make money when you can potentially do business with any person on the planet who owns a computer?
N
Look at it this way. They already have the overhead of the store, the inventory, the business services, the employees. Why not leverage it to widen the customer base from beyond a 50 mile radius? They even already have shipping accounts.
And how do they differentiate themselves from every other store in the same position who tries this? I'm sorry but I don't get it. I'm not saying no one can succeed here - just saying that only a few will.
Not every bookstore is an Amazon there are good reasons for that.
Thats why you have to work hard to earn money!
Not every bookstore is an Amazon there are good reasons for that.
But any bookstore can sell THROUGH Amazon. Amazon is not a sheet-metal building with 30 million books in it any more than E-bay is a pole-barn auction house with 100 million items for sale. I have friends who sell their books through Amazon. Apogee sells through Amazon. Individuals sell through Amazon.
The potential is there if, instead of saying "We're doomed" you instead say, "Where in this day and age can I find my customers and sales outlets?"
N
The only overhead a brick and mortar store has that an internet business doesn't is the showroom. Both companies need a roof, walls, heating, telephones, water and sewer, etc. Yes, the showroom and knowledgeable employees to staff the showroom are expensive, but you probably aren't going to hire a minimum-wage kid to run your shipping department, no matter whether you're internet-based or not.
The "advantage" an internet store has is that it can be more flexible, react quickly to customer demand, and may not have to stock everything in the showroom... real advantages, to be sure. But, a traditional brick and mortar store that doesn't sell on the 'net is just not "with it".