Well this past Saturday I spent a few hours at a hobby shop called Granddad's in Springfield Virginia. What was depressing about it was that the shop was closing due to a raise in the rent. I spent some lunch hours there looking around for new kits or pieces parts for various projects.

Now there are very few model shops in the area. It was sad to see Granddad's close but rumor is that they will re-open in West Virginia. Wonder if the other half is up for a road trip.

Yes, it was a pretty sad end for Granddad's. When I returned to the hobby a year ago that was the first shop I hit (I found it on the Web), and it took me back to my childhood. The owner was very helpful and knew a lot. Their armor selection was very good, especially since they carried a wide variety of AM items, and they were the only source of Humbrol and Gunze paints that I know of in the inner suburbs of NoVA. The only other hobby shop I have nearby, HobbyWorks, is nice enough, but they have virtually no AM stuff, and their armor selection is fair at best. I hear there is another good shop (Piper Hobby, I think) out by Dulles, but that's quite a hike for me.

Even though I got a lot of good bargains from their going-out-of-business sale these last few weeks, I left the store each time with a heavy heart, especially the couple of times I saw the owner, who clearly wore the grief on his face.

Around here, two major hobby shops closed. One was San Antonio Hobby," toted as the "Largest Hobby Shop in the USA" in FSM for many years. SA Hobby closed because the owner retired or had health reasons. I was really hoping the employees or the owner could've found someone to bankroll the store (being in Silicon Valley...no shortage of rich people) but this was not the case. Another was a Gundam store in "The Avenues."

However, four hobby shops did open recently. Yannis Hobbies opened across the street from SA Hobby and sells kits and magazines---new releases too.

Another is a "Airplane Hobby Shop" called "Wings" ironically close to the airport. But he doesn't sell kits because he said, "No one builds kits anymore." He only sells diecasts, wooden, and premade planes on a pedestal---and no paint.

Another is a R/C hobby shop with nothing but R/C and an indoor race track. However, 1/3 of his shop is bare space. I emailed him hoping he can sell model paints.

The final one that opened is a "import toy/collectible/trinket store" next to a comic book store. This one stocked stationary, clothes, dolls, posters, resin statues, prepainted models, and a few unpopular Gundams. The items were mostly "nice to see" than "nice to have."

I really don't know how those two niche hobby shops will fare. On one hand, having a niche topic means there's less investment in stock and no need to stock items that don't really sell. On the other hand, having such a narrow focus severely limits the kinds of hobbyists who come in.

So while some LHSs close, always look in your new Yellow Pages phone book each year to see if any new ones open. Drive to another town, look in that phone book too because LHSs often only advertise on their local town phone book.

The only hobby shop I've seen a lots of people in is GamesWorkshop, ironically enough, inside a mall. Kids were there to play wargaming miniatures...can't tell if they were buying though.