For us ,in Belgium

mmm let's think in my hood
1 or 2 in an Antwerp ( 20 km drive )
1 in HAsselt (tooooo far)
and toy shops....but those are crap!

that's all for the "real" hobby shops

Q.

My lhs is about a 15 min walk away (no point driving, nowhere to park). They carry quite a few kits, but no after market or resin ( you have to order them). Online shopping is the future, especially for keeping the prices down, but its not the same as looking on the shelves trying to decide which one to buy of the dozens of kits you have seen and want. You also cant have a friendly chat with a online cataloge. The good old days have gone

Thanks to everyone for thier input on this, makes me feel a little better about how bad my lhs is. It is nice to see other in the same boat. There are a couple of Hobby Towns here...but a bit of a drive out of the way...and I have 4 different Hobby Lobbys on the way from work to home.
Part of my question is also being answered by the discussion of online hobby shops...example:

DML British Infanty Normady.....LHS $12.95 of line $6.70 so with tax ans shipping I still come out ahead ordering online. And it's not to often I go home and start building the kit....no it gets put inline to be done behind all the other kits I told my wife I had to have.

The biggest downfall of online stores, IMO, is the selection. I just always seem to buy more than I intended on buying.

It's the rationalization that the more I buy, the more the savings over the local place. At least that's what I tell myself! :-)

LHS?!?! HA!
That joker has kits with 2 prices, a 20% marked up
" Recommended price" and a 10% marked up "our price"

he has 2-3 sets of DML figures, 4-5 crappy hobby craft armor kits, a tamiya or trumpeter kit or two.

No aftermarket, only Model master paints...

I buy tenax and other cement there.

Best hobby shop is CRM in St Louis. A pile pickers paradise! I love that place! If they don't have it, you don't need it. Like an idiot I moved away from the St louis area, but when I visit, I bring a spare carry on bag for my loot on the return trip

Its been years since I stopped at War and Pieces, but they blew me away with their selection.

Could someone shoot me a pm with directions from the highway? I'd be stopping while headed back north to Vt, probably.

Mike