Hello Mondo,
If I may, I would like to share with you my experience on owning and running a hobby shop here in the Philippines. I owned a hobby shop in Shangrila from 1993 to 1998. My shop then carried RC planes, choppers, cars and a few boats, as well as the parts for all these and of course, plastic models. Back then the economy was good, the dollar was 26 to 1, and kits were relatively cheap(I recall the most expensive Tamiya armor kits at the time were the new Panther series selling at P498!). The bulk of my sales and profits were from the RC lines. Especially when the "almost-ready-to-fly" kits came out as these were easy to build and could get customers flying in days rather than weeks or even months building a kit. The models were selling okay, especially when I met the guys of the club which I am a proud and happy member of at present. Then of course, the first asian crisis hit us, causing the peso to take a nose dive into the abyss. And since all of the items I carried were imported, they suddenly became expensive to both me and my customers. The mall I was in also wanted to hit me with an increase in rent. With a double whammy staring me in the face, I decided to close shop. Looking back, it may have been a bad decision to close down because after 18 months, the Mini 4 Wheel Drive craze hit the Philippines. Now everyone wanted to open a hobby shop carrying M4WD items alone. In September of 2000, I opened another hobby shop in the Katipunan area. The store did well until the impeachment trials begun. The fad began to fade, until it eventually died. A short time later though, the Beyblade craze started, helping with the sales of the store. But that also didn't last long as most of the afficionados were kids, unlike with M4WD wherein EVERYBODY was in on it. I also carried RC cars and that also did well, but, I had no track to put my customers in. I referred them to the other tracks owned by other shops and naturally, they became their customers as well. In all that time, I also carried models. Anyway, with no new fad to boost sales of my store, and with only models and paint to sell, I had to close shop in Aug. of 2003. So what am I saying.
If you noticed, all the hobby shops here in the Philippines carry other lines as well. There is no "pure" modelling shop here as most also carry comics, toys, trading cards, computer and playstation games/consoles, radio control, die cast, action figures and even synthetic/artificial soil! Anything to increase the critical mass of the store, to boost sales and most importantly, to turn a profit or at the very least, survive. That entails money, of which sadly I did not have enough of. I tried to be that "pure" modeling shop, much to the likes of B&D Hobbies of the 80s, and Lil's of the 70s. But even they had to modify their inventories. In fact, there are three hobby shops here specializing in RC cars only and they are surviving, since a set already involves a substantial amount of money. Let's face it, the modeling community here in the Philippines is nothing compared to Japan, the US, Europe, or even Hong Kong. The demographics of a typical modeller would be a an employed/professional male, mid-20s to 60 years of age, with average modelling skills. As for his buying/spending power? Not a whole lot since most modelers already have what they want, acquired through the years and only wait for the newer stuff. Aftermarket stuff junkies? Very few which is why nobody in the local industry keeps them in stock, at least not in substantial quantities. What some of the hobby shops do is just order them when modelers want them - indent orders, in other words. Then, of course, there's the internet. Where one can easily get the stuff one needs.
Another consideration is supply. Tamiya and Italeri have an exclusive distributor here(Lil's). So does Revell-Germany(JMN). So it would be logical to acquire these particular brands from the distributors than get them from a wholesaler elsewhere. Your prices would only be higher and here, price matters. Academy will sell to anyone, that means everyone will have it. Hasegawa, Revell USA, Promodeler, the defunct Skybow, AFV Club are free-for-alls so it boils down to a price war with these brands. Trumpeter, Dragon and Panda are being battled by Lil's and another store. The sci-fi brands like Bandai are also a free-for-all. Which leaves the Eastern European and English brands. Frankly I would like to see a lot more of these in the hobby shops but the quality is still not at par with the Asian brands. And more than average modelling skills are needed to build them, what with multimedia parts, making them intimidating to beginners.
Bottom line is, you need a lot of capital, a good inventory, a good location. And of course, good patronage.
So there you have it. I hope my input did not discourage you, as that wasn't my intention. Just sharing my inputs and experience. If ever you do open up a hobby shop, I will definitely gravitate to it.
By the way, modesty aside, I don't think I have ever been labeled boring, aloof or un-informative by anyone. On the contrary, I gave my all and more to the two shops I owned. In fact, was even abused by the "customer/friends" I accomodated. Which is why even when I closed my stores, I still had customers.
SM malls is a standard location and very expensive. My mom owns a spot in almost every SM in Luzon. Give us suggestions. Anything would be welcome. 
