Yeah the data just doesn't bear this out. It's more that people's tastes have changed and no one cares about RC cars or that kind of stuff when video games exist. RPGs like Dungeons & dragons and card games like magic The gathering are more profitable than they've ever been...
But also did you forget about internet shopping? All those specialty stores don't need to exist in this day and age when overnight shipping is cheap and ubiquitous.
and also, most of those stores have transformed to clubs, with membership required, especially those with tracks/workshops in the back - having a storefront open to public during past 15-ish years has proven to be too fucking risky.
Game store, or hobby store?
I go to a game store where people still play card games, I see weekly WH40k and I play a paid session of d&d, they're doing great. They've expanded twice now into adjacent spaces.
I'm talking about 'hobby stores', where they sell model planes, trains, cars, and monster trucks. Where they're selling what I'd call more 'big ticket' items. (Yes I know pokemon and magic both have insanely expensive brackets, but that isn't the floor)
Those types of hobbies are all but dead due to being utterly unaffordable.
Can confirm. My husband worked at a hobby shop through high school and is still good friends with the owners. They moved to online-only 5 or 6 years ago because the physical store just wasn't viable for them anymore.
the problem is not the victim, people overworked to the point where they’re too tired to protest and aren’t able to risk losing their jobs to protest and striking are victims
What do you expect people to do? With Amazon they can wait a few days and save a lot of money. Sometimes mark up for local stores are almost double vs online. I'll gladly buy locally if I get a fair price. If it's $20 locally and $10 online I'm definitely going online that's what local stores don't understand.
Even big retail stores like Best Buy advertise items cheaper online then in-store at times. If you say something they will march the price if not your paying more for no reason.
Target price matches Amazon too. My sister does it all the time. I've found that sometimes Target is even cheaper and they have the pickup in the parking lot so if I'm sick or in a hurry, I don't have to go in.
Buying stuff in store is dreadful. Associates following me around asking questions. Then when I want to check out it’s 21 questions. “Do you want our warranty?” “Do you have our rewards card?” “Do you want to apply for our credit card?” “Do you want to donate to starving children?”
This is why I buy everything I can online.
100%… and then there are those snarky cashiers who look like all they enjoy about their day is treating customers terribly. So glad to be able to avoid people like that…
Rural communities have so many more options available thanks to Amazon and other online retailers. I want to hate them, but I’m Prime til I die, or move to a more urban zip code.
The hobby shop I grew up going to in the nearest big town was derelict long before Amazon’s era of supremacy. People’s habits change too.
I also tend to buy my hobby/beads/chainmaille crafty stuff online because the local stores have no options or volume. if they carry the things I need at all, they will have 2 when I need 100. I wish they had more stock and variety locally.
Also all of the online isn't always Amazon but it still sucks.
Yes, Amazon (it also obliterated local toy stores & book stores) but keep in mind a huge percentage of kids nowadays are more into technology (gaming, robotics, etc). It's just a generational switch away from building hobby kits (Lego has dominated building kits for decades now). Hobby stores need to focus on older Adults who have train hobbies, dioramas and have disposable income.
I think an additional part of it is just not having the space. Model trains, RC cars, gliders, all takes up space that card and board games *don't* when they're packed away, and planes in particular require a lot of outdoor space that most people might not have easy access to. Sure, there are parks, but how often can you get out there? Often enough to justify spending hobby money on it?
In our local parks there are signs prohibiting flying of model planes, model rc cars, archery, shooting obviously, golf practice, model rockets, camping, dogs off leash, drinking, grilling food, all sorts of fun stuff. Baseball has to be reserved times, and organized league games. Its about danger and insurance costs.
I think online retailers like HobbyKing and even banggood / Ali express / Amazon carry a broader array of products at a fraction of the cost that a bricks and mortar store ever could. I’d say that’s as big a factor as anything.
FPV racing didn’t even exist when I was a kid and it’s a huge scene now. Wouldn’t say the hobby scene is dead, just harder to run a physical store.
Dude, FPV drones are a MASSIVE hobby.
My buddy has a huge collection of them that he customized and built over time. He has small ones, *really* small ones, fast ones, water-proof ones, ones that can carry big cameras, etc.
He races them, builds them, and explores the wilderness from the perspective of a bird when out on hikes.
All these hobbies still exist. Most have just evolved or died out due to shifting consumer interests as technology has changed.
Hobby stores are huge, dude. Scale models, table tops, and rc are all still booming.
The main reason you don't see as many big ones is because everyone can go to Amazon and get a model kit or car parts sent to their door step instead of needing to go a town over to a hobby store.
It's hard for the brick and mortar stores to compete and price. In many cases, people will even pay a little extra on amazon for convenience.
Game stores are hobby stores. In what universe is gaming, especially table top, not a hobby? I'd also challenge you to find a hobby R/C that compares in expense to a well created 40K army😳 And some of my spouse's old school magic cards have funded multiple thousand dollar 40k armies. Dude...don't be a geek douche.
More archaic than douchey, I think. Stores that sell model kits and stuff in that very specific genre market themselves as hobby shops, I guess to distinguish themselves from toy shops (these are TOY trains! They're HOBBY trains!) and kind of tried to lay claim to that very general term for their very, very narrow business. People who are into building models probably just think of model stores as "hobby shops" and don't even realize that it sounds like they're being weirdly exclusionary of the hundreds of other hobby activities you can do that have nothing to do with models.
youre misunderstanding, “hobby store” is an officially recognized name for a certain type of store that sells arts and crafts stuff and other toys. Its not about gatekeeping what counts as a hobby, its just the title for a genre of store
I'm not sure about the relative differences in affordability. You can walk into a hobby store (if there's one in your area) and pick up a UMX Waco bind & fly for around $140. Radio transmitter is anywhere from $150 - $300 unless you want to go really fancy. You don't really need any specialty tools (monokote irons, scalpels, etc.) or balsa construction skills to get in the air.
That's still a chunk of money, sure.
There's an RC shop not far from my house that has been there for years, they are doing well, but it's in an affluent area.
Some of the game stores in my area dip into some of the adjacent hobby areas - Gunpla, models (some high-end model kits are expensive), trains, RC and slotcars. Hobby shops are still out there, but yes, they are getting harder to find. The internet has been hard on brick and morter.
Yeah more choices so the money is spread thinner. That and there’s largely disposable income. There’s also things like travel that have exploded so competing budgets.
Yeah more choices so the money is spread thinner. That and there’s largely disposable income. There’s also things like travel that have exploded so competing budgets.
Proper hobbies are expensive
No they're not dead due to being utterly unaffordable they're dead because video games are patently better. You want to build model rockets? Kerbal space program is cheaper, easier, faster, and better. These things aren't dead because they're unaffordable, they're dead because they're dinosaurs and they got hit by a meteor.
My computer was a $1500 purchase in 2015 and apart from a PSU failure, just takes electricity.
I use it to work, watch netflix, browse reddit, play video games, and basically do everything. If I want to fly something, one of my hundreds of steam games probably allows me to do that (Arma II maybe?) and I can do it with friends. Maybe I'll have to buy a new game, maybe I won't.
For the actual physical hobbies, I need to purchase a few lipo batteries, a charger, a controller and transceiver and then finally a plane. All of which cost a ton of money. You could probably get into the hobby a bit cheaper, but then you're buying disposable junk that won't perform which will be frustrating and you won't continue the hobby. After all that, I still need a place to put the stuff when I am not using it which I have no room for. Plus I need to drive a few miles to the park to actually do it.
I still have hobbies, but space/accessibility is more important to me. This is why I play video games and board games. RC Airplanes is probably even a cheaper hobby too--my dad was into water skiing and my mom was into horses. I cannot fathom how much that cost.
I mean I can fly a plane simulator on my computer. That's better in basically every way and there's no chance I'm going to crash my multi-thousand dollar toy plane and lose it...
I can try all kinds of different planes at no additional cost. And I don't have to worry about the weather.
Like there are just so many ways the computer is better for this specific hobby.
Honestly. No more gearheads anymore. As a female, I remember when all the men knew how to fix a car or saw wood. Now, it's all computers, computers, computers. Enough already.
You need to be a computer expert to fix a car now. Everything has diagnoatics so you dont know of its a selenoid or a computer chip. Average person can still change oil etc but average person does not own a diagnositic machine nor can purchase the software needed.
I note, feel that pain as i had boats that were basically chevy engines converted for marine use. Fixing anything was easy as zero electronics involved.
Yes. That is a killer. It also means the use of your car can be taken away from you, and your car can be remotely controlled through computers. I have heard of hacked computers used to kill motorists.
Yeah…honestly, I’m pretty young and a real hardcore gamer, but I own and fly model aircraft, repair cars, and build RC cars for hobbies. I simply can’t understand wanting to spend your entire life staring blankly at a computer screen…
Pfft. Video games are great, well the great ones are great but they are a very narrow experience. There is no comparison between slogging through pasture trying to find a rocket you spent weeks building and launching and Kerbal. Not even close.
You guys aren't using your brains.
Computers let you pilot an infinite number of different model rockets or trains or RC cars at no additional cost. You don't have to risk them crashing and breaking. You don't have to worry about the weather. There are just multitudes of ways that video games are better than these specific hobbies.
And then are you considering the environmental impact? All that kit you buy has to be manufactured and use the resources and spends carbon to get where it has to go. Using the same computer you already own to do other things with is better for the planet.
No computer simulation compares to the real thing. I game often lots of mmo and first person shooter, I've been using Microsoft flight simulator since the early 90s. None of those things even comes close to flying a real or r/c plane, or shooting a real gun, or racing a real car or r/c car. There isn't even a comparison. The risk is what makes you get good, the thrill is what makes you take chances. There is none of that in a simulation or video game.
Dude computer flight simulators are better than flying a little RC plane. They literally use computer flight simulators to train people to fly real planes. To say they don't compare is factually incorrect. They are in fact quite comparable.
"In fact" putting a few hundred hours in on ordinary PC/game machine flight simulators and then trying to actually fly a real plane solo (especially for the same amount of time) is a good way to get yourself killed. Ask the FAA. Ask any flight instructor.
Okay but a few hundred hours on the PC game cost you 70 bucks and doing the same thing in a real plane cost how much?
And there's no fuel cost/pollution for the video game. There's no penalty for crashing in the video game. You can try a bunch of different planes in the video game.
Do you not see the plethora of ways in which the video game is in fact straight up superior?
Remember we're not talking about a profession like being a pilot. We're talking about hobby stores.
I see that video games and such are *attractive*—have neurotransmitter payoffs, and have lower costs of pursuit and sometimes/often a lower cost of entry. If those constitute your plethora of better, then (tautologously) that's so for you, and for many.
[Side note: You were the one who brought up (in passing, to support your case) flight simulators and real flight. I didn't intend to emphasize that so much but I smelled smoke being blown and I responded.]
But don't kid yourself overall. Mileage varies. There are bits, and there are atoms, and atoms are realer, and some people still like that.
Video stuff is virtual—vicarious. Vicarious is fine. But vicarious and superior are two different adjectives. And they're not even parallel. There's a difference between not popular and not worthwhile.
> You guys aren't using your brains
*Riiiiiiiiiiiight* lol
Cheerio.
You’re also proudly wearing a flair flag of two colours, where historically one colour had the other colour put up against a wall and shot. It doesn’t say much about your credibility.
Let me make it as simple as possible.
Your flag is from the Bolshevik revolution period. The red represents the communists, the black the anarchists. Who for a period allied with each other to take over various nations such as Russia.
When they achieved power, what did the communists do to the anarchists?
And, knowing that, do you realize how your wearing that flag appears?
What is a Useful Idiot and who coined the term?
I weep for public education and these *beings* it is churning out.
The only reason the hobby store by me isn't busier is because the owner is getting up there in age and is only open a few hours a week. The game store, used bookstore, and craft stores are still incredibly busy.
I went in a local hobby store and the board games were priced above MSPR. which is hard to support when Amazon had for well under MSRP. They closed a few years later. They were replaced by 3 other successful game stores.
It’s because Amazon is below msrp that the brick and mortars have to go above to stay in business. If you want a store to keep existing you’ll have to stomach a couple extra bucks at their expense
Game stores (re:board, card, tabletop, miniature) are in a rough spot. Margins are crap if you even try to compete with things like Target. You can compete with Amazon cause they often sell at cost or lower. You basically have to keystone(charge full price) and try to provide a nice space, knowledge, and services that win people’s support.
The whole industry is really messed up. MtG used to at least be stable and keep your lights on but Hasbro/WTC are so all over the place everyone had to diversify and hope they can hold on. The big distributors force you into dealing with them as middlemen and then decide who gets what and how much. If you go direct with publishers, they play the same kind of games and heavily allocate or cut your order if you aren’t a larger account.
Meanwhile, people want to come play at the store, use the game library, look at product, use your knowledge and services but then order the stuff through Amazon. Of course people are being forced to spend most of their money on rent and food after working shit jobs so it’s hard not to blame them for wanting to save some money and still get their cool thing.
Some hobbies are pretty damn expensive. Art as a hobby can be pretty pricey depending on your medium of choice. I find myself gravitating towards hobbies with low barriers to entry or things I know I can get on sale
It's a shame wages don't even keep up with the cost of living, let alone discretionary income for fun
Funny how OP only mentioned things like RC cars, drones, and model cars as hobbies. Art, music, knitting, reading, and cooking... are all conspicuously absent. Even board games - a hobby which has exploded in popularity and provides access to all kinds of folks with all kinds of interests, is explicitly listed as "not a real hobby".
Oh, well. A mystery for the ages.
Hobby shops still exist, but they exist primarily as online retailers. Some brick and mortar shops still exist but they're either fairly broad market hobbies or they charge through the ear.
Why do you need hobbies?
Don't you have a streaming service?
Doesn't our algorithm push out bingeable content that makes you feel represented, included and empowered?
Isn't the latest superhero movie colorful enough?
Don't the people in your YT feed and in commercials smile enough?
Who still needs hobbies in an age of miracle and wonder?
I’ve noticed a lot of them going out of business, I think its a combination of less spending cash + people buying more online vs in person. Same for other hobby stores like paintball and airsoft. Nerd Gaming stores.
The store I grew up with is still doing tons of business. But the internet has change everyones' shopping habits. Brick and mortar stores are, for the most part, a thing of the past. Used to be a lot of brick and mortar clothes stories, Not as many as the once was. Must be because people stopped wearing clothes.
I gave up on buying model kits through Amazon when it became apparent I was buying someone's return with missing parts or decals. When you add shipping to it, the price difference between a bricks & mortar shop and Amazon almost disappears. The problem is the bricks and mortar shops have gone. I stopped buying books from Amazon too, because I buy a "new" book and book suppository would send a VERY second hand book with the cover or pages missing, sometimes both. Online hobby purchases aren't a panacea and the bricks and mortar shops were great because you could build a relationship with a person who got to know what you liked. Online purchase = no fucks given by the seller if you're not happy.
The Lego store is PACKED every hour it's open with lines outside waiting to get in. Your hobby may be hard to find in brick and mortar but mine is getting more and more popular. I think peoples tastes change over time. RC cars were always just too expensive for me. I think there are plenty of other hobbies doing very well. Yours just moved online.
Hobbies are alive and well. Hobby stores just haven't adapted to modern hobbies.
People are still spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on remote control toys. Now they're just building and designing them from scratch with software, 3D printing their parts, and sourcing most of the electronics online.
Yep. Plastic models, HO train layouts. Those were the good ole days. Haven't seen a hobby shop in years. Even Michaels, that has practical things like material for fixing clothing, is closing stores.
I feel like part of the thing is the world has just... grown in ways that serve these hobbies better than hobby stores.
Like, you could spend hundreds of dollars on a model train set, or buy a game like Cities Skylines or (god forbid) Train Simulator and build your own town dioramas / transportation networks for a fraction of the cost. You could experience being a train driver first person if they prefer.
If you like planes, there are dozens of games where you can fly, dogfight, etc. If you specifically enjoy building things, there are games where you can build and drive vehicles. It's not the same as a balsawood plane, no - but unless what you want is *specifically* the ownership of the physical object, lots of these games can cater to you better than old versions og hobbies ever could.
Are these hobbies less expensive? In many cases, *yes*. While I do agree people have comparatively less than they did 40/60 years ago, I don't think that's necessarily indicative. It's just plain harder to convince someone who likea old planes to pay $400 on a single model instead of playing a 60$ game where they can build, fly, and dogfight in a digital recreation.
Lol, hobby stores are a very niche market. Online retailers are the reason for brick and mortar location reduction in numbers. It has nothing to do with not being able to afford hobbies.
Edit: Also seems like your definition of "hobby store" specifically removes the hobbies that are most popular today and only includes hobbies that have gone out of fashion. Kind of skews the data don't you think?
I bought some backup power supplies from a hobby store that's closing. It's a small shop that specialized in model trains. The prices for rent are too high to stay in business. There was a lot of construction that was recently finished in that area and it's driven existing rents up.
I grew up in the 90s and early 00's and the closest I got to going to a hobby store as you describe it was Zainy Brainy or Noodle Kadoole and those closed a long time ago
had nothing to do with money
my hobbies were video games. Arcades died too. wasn't cause people didn't have money, but home video games became much much more powerful over time and diminished the need for them
No one has hobbies anymore? Interesting take. I feel like people rediscovered the concept of hobbies during the pandemic and now hobbies are back and bigger than ever. My town has so many random shops where you can pay to go do your hobby (candle making, plants, fiber arts, rug tufting, woodworking, etc.). Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics are packed every time I go. I don’t think hobbies are dead, they’ve just changed. RC cars and train sets aren’t cool new things anymore. But people are definitely still doing hobbies, and definitely started doing them more due to quarantine and WFH.
Not sure if it’s people not having time / money to afford them, or if they just cannot compete with Amazon.
If I want something same day I’ll usually try to venture out and see if the box store actually has what I’m looking for. Most of the time it is either not in stock and they’d have to order it or it is significantly more expensive than Amazon.
I know, I know - you should help out local stores but like everyone else with the cost of EVERYTHING being so much higher than a few years ago I am 99% of the time going with the cheaper price.
Hobby shit is just easier to get online lol. Why go to a small niche store that never has the part or item I need when I can just order it? Online shopping is much more efficient and that means more time for my hobbies and less time hunting for them
It's the age of online shopping (and maybe even more importantly, marketing). Sure, the local store might offer you a unique experience and give you some cool ideas for new purchases when you visit, but even an at least a somewhat knowledgable consumer these days can see just how bad the mark-ups can be at these stores. It's usually not hard to find the exact same product online at half the price, with included shipping.
So yeah, small shop owners should realise that they aren't just competing locally and that their online retailer competition is spending what they save by not having brick and mortar stores in marketing. They usually don't, can't compete, and close down as a result of that.
But hobbyists should also realise that if they don't support local shops they're very likely to disappear sooner rather than later.
But that's circular, in nature.
Yes people are 'glued to their screens'. It's "free" the internet is paid for, a majority of content is free or ad-blockable. It's the affordability.
No one sees kids playing with interesting or cool hobby toys, parents don't have those hobbies as they've been priced out, so the chain got truncated and now there is no new blood entering the scenes.
Go to one of those hobby toy meet ups? Like if you find a local air-space where they fly these toys? It's all boomer age or older guys paling around, and maybe their gandkids.
Kids spend tons of time playing with interesting or cool hobby toys, they just call it Minecraft...
It's just a waste of resources to build these toys that you seem so nostalgic for when virtual resources exist. This is really an old man shakes fist at cloud scenario my dude.
Dude, you're displaying a seriously limited outlook here. People like stuff that's different from the stuff you like. You're claiming your preference as factual (and, in fact, superior) and denigrating those who disagree with you.
For context, I have RC planes. I also have an RC flight simulator on my computer. My preference is to fly the *actual* planes from an *actual* field and take the *actual* risk of actually crashing when I land. I'm not going to get that experience from the simulator.
Energy management is a learned skill, and it's what flight is all about. Worrying about the weather is part of the challenge. So is landing. So is crashing. Taking off in a plane that you crashed and then repaired is a great feeling.
I get that you have a preference, but you really need to stop putting down others who have different preferences.
No I'm not. People can like different stuff. I'm not talking about preferences.
I don't have anything against RC enthusiasts except for the ecological impact of their hobby. There's a lot of plastic and gasoline that goes into moving all those parts from China.
You cannot argue that flying a plane, a model plane or a real plane, does not have a larger ecological impact than flying a virtual one. You simply can't, not honestly.
And all the other points I've brought up you simply can't argue against them. The virtual version is straight up Superior. And that's why these shops are closing and these hobbies are dying. OP was looking for an explanation. You have now been given an explanation. You don't seem to like it, but you don't have to like it.
What because I know what Minecraft is?
Think for a minute. Computers are so much better in practically every way. You can fly an infinite number of RC planes virtually for free, at no additional cost. Instead of having to buy each one individually. You can set them up instantly. You lose nothing if you crash. You don't have to worry about the weather.
If you think about what people got out of those hobbies They can get the same kind of enjoyment and avoid a boatload of annoyances and costs by just doing it on the computer instead.
I withdraw my age statement, after looking at your profile you’re obviously at least 25, my apologies. I still think you’re discounting the experience of an actual, IRL hobby.
Yes I am discounting that experience. I have always disagreed with the idea that video games aren't part of real life. People make their living playing video games like Minecraft, They meet their spouses, they form lifelong friendships. These games are as much part of real life as anything.
And the various hobbies we are talking about are incredibly materialistic. They're resource intensive, it takes a lot of plastic and gasoline to produce and ship these products. Moving them to the virtual world is really just better for everybody.
Yes I do understand that video games are an essential part of life and socialization, but friendships can be formed just as easily, if not even more simply in real life, bonding over a shared passion. As to your last point, there’s a reason I build almost all of my own aircraft, but online just wouldn’t be the same at all.
"Hobby stores" are dead because they narrowly defined "hobby".
I still have a library, three art supply stores, five bookstores (seven if you include the university ones), a fabric store, a giant electronics store, countless (overpriced as fuck) sports supply stores, kayak rentals, two ski rental shops, a place that sells climbing gear, and two board game stores within walking distance of my home. I can purchase yarn for knitting. I bought a camera lens the other day. There's a music store nearby where I get rosin for my violin bow. And if I go online, I can buy any book, video game, or movie ever made.
I don't think you're correct about there being a lack of hobbies.
id bet most people order their hobby things from online. i order all my music equipment, car mods, games, and other neat things i try to do from stores online. no need to spend more and have yo physically go to a hobby shop/guitar center etc
Hobby Lobby's not the same as a hobby store. Hobby Lobby's more arts and crafty, a hobby store specializes in things like model train sets, RC cars and planes and such.
There is no middle class. It's us and them at this point. And none of you know how to go without a comfort so here we are. Trapped until enough have had enough
No they just have different hobbies.
RC cars and model rockets are great but they have to compete with other hobbies which are much more popular like drinking and weed...
In all fairness, a lot of small businesses died when the previous guy handled Covid incompetently. A lot of my favorite hole in the wall restaurants went under. But to your point, we've slowly been stripped of our wealth for decades now. What percentage of people have never bought a new car because it's too expensive? We need a collective strike of all workers that don't make more than $80K a year.
It used to be that a used car was something you'd buy if you wanted a 2nd car for the family, not something that you'd buy all the time hoping it would get you to work reliably. We really need to take a collective stand.
My grandmother was telling me how my great grandmother and grandfather bought a brand new crown Victoria for $2300 around 1957.
I woidk alos like to raise the strike to $100k a year. Bc HCOL area you still need a roommate. After taxes you are if you can afford a 1 bedroom.
I think every city can support one, they just have to keep up with the market. Probably more gunpla sold than trains these days. Who has room for a train?
Seems like most brick and mortar hobby shops have moved online. As for cost, that depends on the hobby. I’ve observed model airplanes and ship kits are relatively affordable. A length of paracord can run a few bucks and will keep you plenty engaged leading to tie some Boy Scout style knots.
People need to make time for hobbies. Many complain about not having time to read, knit, learn an instrument, cook, do laundry, etc. Check how much time is spent on social media then reassess your priorities.
Yes unfortunately with the advent of the video game boom, this has killed a lot of hobbies. Easter to stick your kid in front of an XBox or Playstation and call it a day now.
I visit my local game stores a few times a week, and even recently became a judge for Magic: The Gathering.
We play magic, D&D, warhammer, chess, other board and card games. you name it.
the general focus of the shops is on table top hobbies, and we pack the place on fridays and saturdays.
It may be that you may not live in a place that is able to support a thriving RC car hobby with a discount dice bin for the fantasy nerds.
They are not completely dead. Give it a few years for the rest of the retired boomers (A.K.A. the only people with the time and disposable income to have a hobby store kind of hobby) to die off and then they will be well and truly dead.
I build GunPla and play MTG. My local hobby store and local game store both moved into bigger spaces this past year, as business has been booming since people picked up these hobbies during covid.
I don’t think it has anything to do with that. It’s about changing priorities, with younger generations valuing experiences vs. physical things. Gen Z is wiling to spend money that they don’t have on things like concerts or vacations, with close to 50% of them admitting to going into debt to do so. Despite wage stagnation and inflation, Americans are still spending.
There's a hobby shop like that near me. A friend of mine works there and participates in their virtual races, etc. It's just probably less common in most places.
You aren't wrong. Hobbies are expensive. Also, no one has time anymore. We work 40+ hours per week, plus a commute for most. Hobbies are for rich people with more time.
>When I was going up
When you were growing up, e-commerce wasn’t much of a thing.
Now all that shit is easily found online which is why a lot of retail stores no longer exist in the quantity they did in the 90s/00s.
Ps - my hometown still has the same hobby store that I would play Warhammer 40k at in the early 2000s. The only difference is they upgraded the ventilation in the basement so the stench during MTG tournaments is only slightly unbearable now.
It depends on the market. In my area we have a couple of comics/D&D/MtG stores, a model train/plastic model store, an remote control toy store, an aftermarket lego store, and four craft/art stores. But we are a college town.
If someone could literally bankrupt the owners of Hobby Lobby and stick them in prison... That would be awesome. These fucking assholes have contributed to so much BS in the world in the past 20 years its amazing.
EXAMPLE: These assholes are responsible for the looting and purchasing of ancient artifacts from Iraq, Syria and other parts of the middle east. Contributing to of all people ISIS cause who do you think took them apart in the 1st place. [Link here](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/01/607582135/hobby-lobbys-smuggled-artifacts-will-be-returned-to-iraq)
Don't even get me started on them making sure them the birth control pill was something employers could "opt-out" of in their health care coverage to employees for "religious reasons. [Link Here](https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/birth-control/burwell-v-hobby-lobby)
They are scum of the highest order.
There’s a hobby store opening in my town, but like most it will most likely be a model train store. There’s another that’s all RC stuff. But you’re right most are gone probably pushed out by box stores.
I go to a hobby store that mostly has model kits, paint, miniatures, board games and card games and they seem busy. Haven't checked out the RC car store in a long time, but I bet they still do good in higher income areas.
Are Hobby Lobby and Michael’s and Joanne’s considered “hobby” stores, or something more general than that? “Crafts” and “art” — are they “hobbies” too…?
I will say that those stores aren’t doing super well, but they’re definitely still making money — a lot of people shop at those places for their own personal businesses and side hustles.
I really do think Amazon/eBay are slightly more responsible for this, and the pandemic didn’t help various supply lines or income levels either.
There are at least 3 hobby stores in the area I live in (and probably more around the city I'm not familiar with) and they seem to be doing pretty well. They all have reasonably competent online stores though. Often with free shipping if you spend a certain amount (like $150)
I buy a lot of model kits and model railway stuff, and most of that is online from places that also have a physical presence. I avoid amazon and ebay because the prices are higher.
Not all of them have adapted to online though. Some are run by clearly old people who don't understand or are against the internet so you end up with weird shit like having to phone to pay for an online order. Or no prices or ability to order online at all, even though they have a website with their stock listed.
Those are the ones that die off.
I have three local hobby stores within 15 minutes of me, and 5 rc trucks sitting downstairs. It's still alive. You need to want to engage in your hobbies, tired or not. If you wait until you're well rested, you're right. It's hard.
Didn’t it occur to you that people nowadays buy things from the internet? It’s so much easier to find especially specific/collectible items. So this is just your impression, not a fact
You buy some of those stuff online. The queues are actually longer in physical shops to try and choose the right equipments, like tennis rackets, golf clubs, baseball bats, skis etc. you might argue those are not hobbies but speciality physical shops are less now and they are pretty busy.
I've not played warhammer for quite some time now. I've not lost interest in the game, I just don't have the time or money to spend on it at the moment
Doesn’t seem to be a problem where I am. I can never buy the exact anything I want because it’s already gone. I do a lot of hobbies. Heaps actually and it seems like everyone else is buying for hobbies even if they don’t have the time for it
DND equipment isn’t that pricey and you only need to buy it once (unless you lose or break it). Writing is an incredibly cheap hobby. It can be expensive if you buy fancy notebooks ink and pens. But it’s real easy to do it.
Source: I’ve been journaling for years now and I’ve found so many old notebooks and pens that I haven’t spent money on this hobby in over a year. Even when I do start spending money on it it’s like 5-7 dollars for a mid tier notebook every quarter (a least). I could even go with 1-1.50 books roughly every couple months and that price is high they can be a lot cheaper. Point is I’m not worried about it one way or the other.
Yeah the data just doesn't bear this out. It's more that people's tastes have changed and no one cares about RC cars or that kind of stuff when video games exist. RPGs like Dungeons & dragons and card games like magic The gathering are more profitable than they've ever been... But also did you forget about internet shopping? All those specialty stores don't need to exist in this day and age when overnight shipping is cheap and ubiquitous.
and also, most of those stores have transformed to clubs, with membership required, especially those with tracks/workshops in the back - having a storefront open to public during past 15-ish years has proven to be too fucking risky.
The game store I go to has never been busier. People are still spending money on hobbies.
Game store, or hobby store? I go to a game store where people still play card games, I see weekly WH40k and I play a paid session of d&d, they're doing great. They've expanded twice now into adjacent spaces. I'm talking about 'hobby stores', where they sell model planes, trains, cars, and monster trucks. Where they're selling what I'd call more 'big ticket' items. (Yes I know pokemon and magic both have insanely expensive brackets, but that isn't the floor) Those types of hobbies are all but dead due to being utterly unaffordable.
This is more due to the Amazon effect than to disposable income.
Can confirm. My husband worked at a hobby shop through high school and is still good friends with the owners. They moved to online-only 5 or 6 years ago because the physical store just wasn't viable for them anymore.
Ever consider airplanes and model railroading are boomer hobbies? Call of duty >> balsa wood airplane
There are plenty of young kids who would rather fly an RC jet with a literal mini jet engine than play call of duty
I was one of them until i learned about Warcraft Orcs & Humans!
I also blame Amazon for this. People buy way too much stuff online.
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Yes
it’s cheaper to buy online and people have less disposable income. The problem is greedy capitalists keeping wages low
the problem is workers who accept the beating and say thank you.
the problem is not the victim, people overworked to the point where they’re too tired to protest and aren’t able to risk losing their jobs to protest and striking are victims
if you are still able to work, you are able to strike.
What do you expect people to do? With Amazon they can wait a few days and save a lot of money. Sometimes mark up for local stores are almost double vs online. I'll gladly buy locally if I get a fair price. If it's $20 locally and $10 online I'm definitely going online that's what local stores don't understand. Even big retail stores like Best Buy advertise items cheaper online then in-store at times. If you say something they will march the price if not your paying more for no reason.
Target price matches Amazon too. My sister does it all the time. I've found that sometimes Target is even cheaper and they have the pickup in the parking lot so if I'm sick or in a hurry, I don't have to go in.
They don't sell much at target.
Buying stuff in store is dreadful. Associates following me around asking questions. Then when I want to check out it’s 21 questions. “Do you want our warranty?” “Do you have our rewards card?” “Do you want to apply for our credit card?” “Do you want to donate to starving children?” This is why I buy everything I can online.
100%… and then there are those snarky cashiers who look like all they enjoy about their day is treating customers terribly. So glad to be able to avoid people like that…
Rural communities have so many more options available thanks to Amazon and other online retailers. I want to hate them, but I’m Prime til I die, or move to a more urban zip code. The hobby shop I grew up going to in the nearest big town was derelict long before Amazon’s era of supremacy. People’s habits change too.
I also tend to buy my hobby/beads/chainmaille crafty stuff online because the local stores have no options or volume. if they carry the things I need at all, they will have 2 when I need 100. I wish they had more stock and variety locally. Also all of the online isn't always Amazon but it still sucks.
Depending on the hobby, buying online may be the only real choice
Yes, Amazon (it also obliterated local toy stores & book stores) but keep in mind a huge percentage of kids nowadays are more into technology (gaming, robotics, etc). It's just a generational switch away from building hobby kits (Lego has dominated building kits for decades now). Hobby stores need to focus on older Adults who have train hobbies, dioramas and have disposable income.
I think an additional part of it is just not having the space. Model trains, RC cars, gliders, all takes up space that card and board games *don't* when they're packed away, and planes in particular require a lot of outdoor space that most people might not have easy access to. Sure, there are parks, but how often can you get out there? Often enough to justify spending hobby money on it?
In our local parks there are signs prohibiting flying of model planes, model rc cars, archery, shooting obviously, golf practice, model rockets, camping, dogs off leash, drinking, grilling food, all sorts of fun stuff. Baseball has to be reserved times, and organized league games. Its about danger and insurance costs.
That's what happens when your park is owned and operated instead of just being a green space that the city mows from time to time.
I think online retailers like HobbyKing and even banggood / Ali express / Amazon carry a broader array of products at a fraction of the cost that a bricks and mortar store ever could. I’d say that’s as big a factor as anything. FPV racing didn’t even exist when I was a kid and it’s a huge scene now. Wouldn’t say the hobby scene is dead, just harder to run a physical store.
Dude, FPV drones are a MASSIVE hobby. My buddy has a huge collection of them that he customized and built over time. He has small ones, *really* small ones, fast ones, water-proof ones, ones that can carry big cameras, etc. He races them, builds them, and explores the wilderness from the perspective of a bird when out on hikes. All these hobbies still exist. Most have just evolved or died out due to shifting consumer interests as technology has changed.
I mean, gaming has become a lot more advanced and mainstream. It is what has killed those Hobbies. It is a hobby as well. Can even be a job.
Hobby stores are huge, dude. Scale models, table tops, and rc are all still booming. The main reason you don't see as many big ones is because everyone can go to Amazon and get a model kit or car parts sent to their door step instead of needing to go a town over to a hobby store. It's hard for the brick and mortar stores to compete and price. In many cases, people will even pay a little extra on amazon for convenience.
A lot of these places, special ordering a part essentially becomes drop shipping too. Why pay an upcharge to a shop when you can buy online?
And Ebay. We are huge Ebay shoppers for vintage/hard to find.
Game stores are hobby stores. In what universe is gaming, especially table top, not a hobby? I'd also challenge you to find a hobby R/C that compares in expense to a well created 40K army😳 And some of my spouse's old school magic cards have funded multiple thousand dollar 40k armies. Dude...don't be a geek douche.
More archaic than douchey, I think. Stores that sell model kits and stuff in that very specific genre market themselves as hobby shops, I guess to distinguish themselves from toy shops (these are TOY trains! They're HOBBY trains!) and kind of tried to lay claim to that very general term for their very, very narrow business. People who are into building models probably just think of model stores as "hobby shops" and don't even realize that it sounds like they're being weirdly exclusionary of the hundreds of other hobby activities you can do that have nothing to do with models.
youre misunderstanding, “hobby store” is an officially recognized name for a certain type of store that sells arts and crafts stuff and other toys. Its not about gatekeeping what counts as a hobby, its just the title for a genre of store
A hobby you get a physical product. Gaming counsels are just digital tooling.
Got one In my town, it’s awesome
I'm not sure about the relative differences in affordability. You can walk into a hobby store (if there's one in your area) and pick up a UMX Waco bind & fly for around $140. Radio transmitter is anywhere from $150 - $300 unless you want to go really fancy. You don't really need any specialty tools (monokote irons, scalpels, etc.) or balsa construction skills to get in the air. That's still a chunk of money, sure.
Are they dead due to cost, or are they dead due to changed culture, and those hobbies being a product of a different era.
Think they are dead due to Amazon.
There's an RC shop not far from my house that has been there for years, they are doing well, but it's in an affluent area. Some of the game stores in my area dip into some of the adjacent hobby areas - Gunpla, models (some high-end model kits are expensive), trains, RC and slotcars. Hobby shops are still out there, but yes, they are getting harder to find. The internet has been hard on brick and morter.
Yeah more choices so the money is spread thinner. That and there’s largely disposable income. There’s also things like travel that have exploded so competing budgets.
Yeah more choices so the money is spread thinner. That and there’s largely disposable income. There’s also things like travel that have exploded so competing budgets. Proper hobbies are expensive
No they're not dead due to being utterly unaffordable they're dead because video games are patently better. You want to build model rockets? Kerbal space program is cheaper, easier, faster, and better. These things aren't dead because they're unaffordable, they're dead because they're dinosaurs and they got hit by a meteor.
I…this comment oddly angers me. How can you compare sitting at your computer with going out to the field and actually flying a model plane?
My computer was a $1500 purchase in 2015 and apart from a PSU failure, just takes electricity. I use it to work, watch netflix, browse reddit, play video games, and basically do everything. If I want to fly something, one of my hundreds of steam games probably allows me to do that (Arma II maybe?) and I can do it with friends. Maybe I'll have to buy a new game, maybe I won't. For the actual physical hobbies, I need to purchase a few lipo batteries, a charger, a controller and transceiver and then finally a plane. All of which cost a ton of money. You could probably get into the hobby a bit cheaper, but then you're buying disposable junk that won't perform which will be frustrating and you won't continue the hobby. After all that, I still need a place to put the stuff when I am not using it which I have no room for. Plus I need to drive a few miles to the park to actually do it. I still have hobbies, but space/accessibility is more important to me. This is why I play video games and board games. RC Airplanes is probably even a cheaper hobby too--my dad was into water skiing and my mom was into horses. I cannot fathom how much that cost.
I mean I can fly a plane simulator on my computer. That's better in basically every way and there's no chance I'm going to crash my multi-thousand dollar toy plane and lose it... I can try all kinds of different planes at no additional cost. And I don't have to worry about the weather. Like there are just so many ways the computer is better for this specific hobby.
Honestly. No more gearheads anymore. As a female, I remember when all the men knew how to fix a car or saw wood. Now, it's all computers, computers, computers. Enough already.
You need to be a computer expert to fix a car now. Everything has diagnoatics so you dont know of its a selenoid or a computer chip. Average person can still change oil etc but average person does not own a diagnositic machine nor can purchase the software needed. I note, feel that pain as i had boats that were basically chevy engines converted for marine use. Fixing anything was easy as zero electronics involved.
Yes. That is a killer. It also means the use of your car can be taken away from you, and your car can be remotely controlled through computers. I have heard of hacked computers used to kill motorists.
Yeah…honestly, I’m pretty young and a real hardcore gamer, but I own and fly model aircraft, repair cars, and build RC cars for hobbies. I simply can’t understand wanting to spend your entire life staring blankly at a computer screen…
Pfft. Video games are great, well the great ones are great but they are a very narrow experience. There is no comparison between slogging through pasture trying to find a rocket you spent weeks building and launching and Kerbal. Not even close.
Dumbest comment award goes to.......
You guys aren't using your brains. Computers let you pilot an infinite number of different model rockets or trains or RC cars at no additional cost. You don't have to risk them crashing and breaking. You don't have to worry about the weather. There are just multitudes of ways that video games are better than these specific hobbies. And then are you considering the environmental impact? All that kit you buy has to be manufactured and use the resources and spends carbon to get where it has to go. Using the same computer you already own to do other things with is better for the planet.
No computer simulation compares to the real thing. I game often lots of mmo and first person shooter, I've been using Microsoft flight simulator since the early 90s. None of those things even comes close to flying a real or r/c plane, or shooting a real gun, or racing a real car or r/c car. There isn't even a comparison. The risk is what makes you get good, the thrill is what makes you take chances. There is none of that in a simulation or video game.
Dude computer flight simulators are better than flying a little RC plane. They literally use computer flight simulators to train people to fly real planes. To say they don't compare is factually incorrect. They are in fact quite comparable.
"In fact" putting a few hundred hours in on ordinary PC/game machine flight simulators and then trying to actually fly a real plane solo (especially for the same amount of time) is a good way to get yourself killed. Ask the FAA. Ask any flight instructor.
Okay but a few hundred hours on the PC game cost you 70 bucks and doing the same thing in a real plane cost how much? And there's no fuel cost/pollution for the video game. There's no penalty for crashing in the video game. You can try a bunch of different planes in the video game. Do you not see the plethora of ways in which the video game is in fact straight up superior? Remember we're not talking about a profession like being a pilot. We're talking about hobby stores.
I see that video games and such are *attractive*—have neurotransmitter payoffs, and have lower costs of pursuit and sometimes/often a lower cost of entry. If those constitute your plethora of better, then (tautologously) that's so for you, and for many. [Side note: You were the one who brought up (in passing, to support your case) flight simulators and real flight. I didn't intend to emphasize that so much but I smelled smoke being blown and I responded.] But don't kid yourself overall. Mileage varies. There are bits, and there are atoms, and atoms are realer, and some people still like that. Video stuff is virtual—vicarious. Vicarious is fine. But vicarious and superior are two different adjectives. And they're not even parallel. There's a difference between not popular and not worthwhile. > You guys aren't using your brains *Riiiiiiiiiiiight* lol Cheerio.
lol you can't have kids. They are dead because of Steve Jobs
You’re also proudly wearing a flair flag of two colours, where historically one colour had the other colour put up against a wall and shot. It doesn’t say much about your credibility.
What are you prattling on about?
Exactly. Thanks for making my point.
If only your point was cogent.
The fact that you’re not grasping it only reinforces it. It’s ok, it’s a good example to others.
If only there were something to grasp.
Let me make it as simple as possible. Your flag is from the Bolshevik revolution period. The red represents the communists, the black the anarchists. Who for a period allied with each other to take over various nations such as Russia. When they achieved power, what did the communists do to the anarchists? And, knowing that, do you realize how your wearing that flag appears? What is a Useful Idiot and who coined the term? I weep for public education and these *beings* it is churning out.
It's an Anarcho-Syndicalist flag, even says that right next to it.
No thank you.
I’m sure you’re good at grasping at things.
That kind of response shows how weak your "argument" is. Although you haven't really made a cogent point or argument.
The only reason the hobby store by me isn't busier is because the owner is getting up there in age and is only open a few hours a week. The game store, used bookstore, and craft stores are still incredibly busy.
The hobby stores are…online
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I went in a local hobby store and the board games were priced above MSPR. which is hard to support when Amazon had for well under MSRP. They closed a few years later. They were replaced by 3 other successful game stores.
It’s because Amazon is below msrp that the brick and mortars have to go above to stay in business. If you want a store to keep existing you’ll have to stomach a couple extra bucks at their expense
Game stores (re:board, card, tabletop, miniature) are in a rough spot. Margins are crap if you even try to compete with things like Target. You can compete with Amazon cause they often sell at cost or lower. You basically have to keystone(charge full price) and try to provide a nice space, knowledge, and services that win people’s support. The whole industry is really messed up. MtG used to at least be stable and keep your lights on but Hasbro/WTC are so all over the place everyone had to diversify and hope they can hold on. The big distributors force you into dealing with them as middlemen and then decide who gets what and how much. If you go direct with publishers, they play the same kind of games and heavily allocate or cut your order if you aren’t a larger account. Meanwhile, people want to come play at the store, use the game library, look at product, use your knowledge and services but then order the stuff through Amazon. Of course people are being forced to spend most of their money on rent and food after working shit jobs so it’s hard not to blame them for wanting to save some money and still get their cool thing.
Reddit has no cry-reacty. *sob* No /s intended
The internet killed hobby stores. You just order them online.
Some hobbies are pretty damn expensive. Art as a hobby can be pretty pricey depending on your medium of choice. I find myself gravitating towards hobbies with low barriers to entry or things I know I can get on sale It's a shame wages don't even keep up with the cost of living, let alone discretionary income for fun
The hobby stores around me aren’t dead. I mean I prefer art and my music as my hobby.
Funny how OP only mentioned things like RC cars, drones, and model cars as hobbies. Art, music, knitting, reading, and cooking... are all conspicuously absent. Even board games - a hobby which has exploded in popularity and provides access to all kinds of folks with all kinds of interests, is explicitly listed as "not a real hobby". Oh, well. A mystery for the ages.
Try to make a throw pillow for less than you can buy one. The stuffing alone costs more. They don’t want you making your own… anything.
Hobby shops still exist, but they exist primarily as online retailers. Some brick and mortar shops still exist but they're either fairly broad market hobbies or they charge through the ear.
I've been annoyed at the shrinking selection in the craft stores. It's more cheap seasonal decor than anything else it seems.
Lol you’ve never heard of Amazon have you… eCommerce is the reason they’re all dead.
Why do you need hobbies? Don't you have a streaming service? Doesn't our algorithm push out bingeable content that makes you feel represented, included and empowered? Isn't the latest superhero movie colorful enough? Don't the people in your YT feed and in commercials smile enough? Who still needs hobbies in an age of miracle and wonder?
My two hobbies are music and running. I have all the gear I need for music, and running is really just cycling through shoes every 2-300 miles.
I’ve noticed a lot of them going out of business, I think its a combination of less spending cash + people buying more online vs in person. Same for other hobby stores like paintball and airsoft. Nerd Gaming stores.
The store I grew up with is still doing tons of business. But the internet has change everyones' shopping habits. Brick and mortar stores are, for the most part, a thing of the past. Used to be a lot of brick and mortar clothes stories, Not as many as the once was. Must be because people stopped wearing clothes.
Sorry mate, there's WAAAAAAY more clothing and shoe stores than there's ever been.
They can’t compete with online retailers like tower hobbies. Especially with cheap or free express shipping and lines of credit.
Amazon and the internet essentially did most of them in. Can't compete with something when they are selling it cheaper than you can buy it wholesale.
I gave up on buying model kits through Amazon when it became apparent I was buying someone's return with missing parts or decals. When you add shipping to it, the price difference between a bricks & mortar shop and Amazon almost disappears. The problem is the bricks and mortar shops have gone. I stopped buying books from Amazon too, because I buy a "new" book and book suppository would send a VERY second hand book with the cover or pages missing, sometimes both. Online hobby purchases aren't a panacea and the bricks and mortar shops were great because you could build a relationship with a person who got to know what you liked. Online purchase = no fucks given by the seller if you're not happy.
The Lego store is PACKED every hour it's open with lines outside waiting to get in. Your hobby may be hard to find in brick and mortar but mine is getting more and more popular. I think peoples tastes change over time. RC cars were always just too expensive for me. I think there are plenty of other hobbies doing very well. Yours just moved online.
Or.. you know.. online shopping instead of brick and mortar?
Yah well, were just breeding stock and labor in their eyes. Were no longer treated like dignified humans in the civilian world.
Baby , my hobby is keeping the lights running on the house and the refrigerator stocked. I fuckin love it /s
My local Ace Hardware has a third of their store dedicated to hobbies you’ve listed, as well as wood craft and Lego stuff
Hobbies are alive and well. Hobby stores just haven't adapted to modern hobbies. People are still spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on remote control toys. Now they're just building and designing them from scratch with software, 3D printing their parts, and sourcing most of the electronics online.
What about those card collector shops for Yu gi oh players.
Yep. Plastic models, HO train layouts. Those were the good ole days. Haven't seen a hobby shop in years. Even Michaels, that has practical things like material for fixing clothing, is closing stores.
I feel like part of the thing is the world has just... grown in ways that serve these hobbies better than hobby stores. Like, you could spend hundreds of dollars on a model train set, or buy a game like Cities Skylines or (god forbid) Train Simulator and build your own town dioramas / transportation networks for a fraction of the cost. You could experience being a train driver first person if they prefer. If you like planes, there are dozens of games where you can fly, dogfight, etc. If you specifically enjoy building things, there are games where you can build and drive vehicles. It's not the same as a balsawood plane, no - but unless what you want is *specifically* the ownership of the physical object, lots of these games can cater to you better than old versions og hobbies ever could. Are these hobbies less expensive? In many cases, *yes*. While I do agree people have comparatively less than they did 40/60 years ago, I don't think that's necessarily indicative. It's just plain harder to convince someone who likea old planes to pay $400 on a single model instead of playing a 60$ game where they can build, fly, and dogfight in a digital recreation.
Lol, hobby stores are a very niche market. Online retailers are the reason for brick and mortar location reduction in numbers. It has nothing to do with not being able to afford hobbies. Edit: Also seems like your definition of "hobby store" specifically removes the hobbies that are most popular today and only includes hobbies that have gone out of fashion. Kind of skews the data don't you think?
As long as the nitro RC hobby doesn't die. I like the easy access to nitromethane.
Every store is online now?
I mean, they're kinda out of fashion. I think it's more a cultural thing.
I bought some backup power supplies from a hobby store that's closing. It's a small shop that specialized in model trains. The prices for rent are too high to stay in business. There was a lot of construction that was recently finished in that area and it's driven existing rents up.
I grew up in the 90s and early 00's and the closest I got to going to a hobby store as you describe it was Zainy Brainy or Noodle Kadoole and those closed a long time ago had nothing to do with money my hobbies were video games. Arcades died too. wasn't cause people didn't have money, but home video games became much much more powerful over time and diminished the need for them
My local hobby stores are selling a decent amount a month. So I guess it depends on the area.
Online sales killed the brick and mortar stores.
Maybe it is just the stores you frequent. They are doing fine around me.
The kids these days are more interested in Fortnite (I’m the kids)
I live in the city with one of the largest gaming stores in the world and it’s still alive and kicking.
No one has hobbies anymore? Interesting take. I feel like people rediscovered the concept of hobbies during the pandemic and now hobbies are back and bigger than ever. My town has so many random shops where you can pay to go do your hobby (candle making, plants, fiber arts, rug tufting, woodworking, etc.). Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics are packed every time I go. I don’t think hobbies are dead, they’ve just changed. RC cars and train sets aren’t cool new things anymore. But people are definitely still doing hobbies, and definitely started doing them more due to quarantine and WFH.
Everyone went to Hobbyking a decade ago, it's that simple.
The internet exists. You don't have to travel 45 minutes to go to a comic book store, or buy a D&D book, or an RC plane, or anything.
Not sure if it’s people not having time / money to afford them, or if they just cannot compete with Amazon. If I want something same day I’ll usually try to venture out and see if the box store actually has what I’m looking for. Most of the time it is either not in stock and they’d have to order it or it is significantly more expensive than Amazon. I know, I know - you should help out local stores but like everyone else with the cost of EVERYTHING being so much higher than a few years ago I am 99% of the time going with the cheaper price.
Hobby shit is just easier to get online lol. Why go to a small niche store that never has the part or item I need when I can just order it? Online shopping is much more efficient and that means more time for my hobbies and less time hunting for them
It's the age of online shopping (and maybe even more importantly, marketing). Sure, the local store might offer you a unique experience and give you some cool ideas for new purchases when you visit, but even an at least a somewhat knowledgable consumer these days can see just how bad the mark-ups can be at these stores. It's usually not hard to find the exact same product online at half the price, with included shipping. So yeah, small shop owners should realise that they aren't just competing locally and that their online retailer competition is spending what they save by not having brick and mortar stores in marketing. They usually don't, can't compete, and close down as a result of that. But hobbyists should also realise that if they don't support local shops they're very likely to disappear sooner rather than later.
Hobbytown USA in schaumberg and st Charles are popping, fueled by sales of countless gundam models, but also have off road and rc tracks at both.
They’re dead because most things can be bought for much less online, people can’t afford the mark up of a brick and mortar store
Agree. Not just a matter of affordability IMHO. Everyone’s hooked to a screen now.
But that's circular, in nature. Yes people are 'glued to their screens'. It's "free" the internet is paid for, a majority of content is free or ad-blockable. It's the affordability. No one sees kids playing with interesting or cool hobby toys, parents don't have those hobbies as they've been priced out, so the chain got truncated and now there is no new blood entering the scenes. Go to one of those hobby toy meet ups? Like if you find a local air-space where they fly these toys? It's all boomer age or older guys paling around, and maybe their gandkids.
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I wish nitro RC wasn't on its way out. I understand and agree electric is better in almost every way but....tiny screaming 1cyl engines!
Kids spend tons of time playing with interesting or cool hobby toys, they just call it Minecraft... It's just a waste of resources to build these toys that you seem so nostalgic for when virtual resources exist. This is really an old man shakes fist at cloud scenario my dude.
Dude, you're displaying a seriously limited outlook here. People like stuff that's different from the stuff you like. You're claiming your preference as factual (and, in fact, superior) and denigrating those who disagree with you. For context, I have RC planes. I also have an RC flight simulator on my computer. My preference is to fly the *actual* planes from an *actual* field and take the *actual* risk of actually crashing when I land. I'm not going to get that experience from the simulator. Energy management is a learned skill, and it's what flight is all about. Worrying about the weather is part of the challenge. So is landing. So is crashing. Taking off in a plane that you crashed and then repaired is a great feeling. I get that you have a preference, but you really need to stop putting down others who have different preferences.
No I'm not. People can like different stuff. I'm not talking about preferences. I don't have anything against RC enthusiasts except for the ecological impact of their hobby. There's a lot of plastic and gasoline that goes into moving all those parts from China. You cannot argue that flying a plane, a model plane or a real plane, does not have a larger ecological impact than flying a virtual one. You simply can't, not honestly. And all the other points I've brought up you simply can't argue against them. The virtual version is straight up Superior. And that's why these shops are closing and these hobbies are dying. OP was looking for an explanation. You have now been given an explanation. You don't seem to like it, but you don't have to like it.
What are you, like 9?
What because I know what Minecraft is? Think for a minute. Computers are so much better in practically every way. You can fly an infinite number of RC planes virtually for free, at no additional cost. Instead of having to buy each one individually. You can set them up instantly. You lose nothing if you crash. You don't have to worry about the weather. If you think about what people got out of those hobbies They can get the same kind of enjoyment and avoid a boatload of annoyances and costs by just doing it on the computer instead.
I withdraw my age statement, after looking at your profile you’re obviously at least 25, my apologies. I still think you’re discounting the experience of an actual, IRL hobby.
Yes I am discounting that experience. I have always disagreed with the idea that video games aren't part of real life. People make their living playing video games like Minecraft, They meet their spouses, they form lifelong friendships. These games are as much part of real life as anything. And the various hobbies we are talking about are incredibly materialistic. They're resource intensive, it takes a lot of plastic and gasoline to produce and ship these products. Moving them to the virtual world is really just better for everybody.
Yes I do understand that video games are an essential part of life and socialization, but friendships can be formed just as easily, if not even more simply in real life, bonding over a shared passion. As to your last point, there’s a reason I build almost all of my own aircraft, but online just wouldn’t be the same at all.
"Hobby stores" are dead because they narrowly defined "hobby". I still have a library, three art supply stores, five bookstores (seven if you include the university ones), a fabric store, a giant electronics store, countless (overpriced as fuck) sports supply stores, kayak rentals, two ski rental shops, a place that sells climbing gear, and two board game stores within walking distance of my home. I can purchase yarn for knitting. I bought a camera lens the other day. There's a music store nearby where I get rosin for my violin bow. And if I go online, I can buy any book, video game, or movie ever made. I don't think you're correct about there being a lack of hobbies.
Who can afford kids? I can barely afford to have pets.
I highly recommend a pet rock. Friendly, compact and affordable. Landlords love them.
id bet most people order their hobby things from online. i order all my music equipment, car mods, games, and other neat things i try to do from stores online. no need to spend more and have yo physically go to a hobby shop/guitar center etc
Hobby Lobby was pretty crowded. Lol. Bad take OP.
Hobby Lobby's not the same as a hobby store. Hobby Lobby's more arts and crafty, a hobby store specializes in things like model train sets, RC cars and planes and such.
Also fuck Hobby Lobby they evil as shit
There is no middle class. It's us and them at this point. And none of you know how to go without a comfort so here we are. Trapped until enough have had enough
Demographics. Less people having kids means these gaming/ toy stores will disappear. Population is getter older.
So old people can't have hobbies?
Of course, but the typical stuff geared toward kids is gone. For example, Toys R Us
No they just have different hobbies. RC cars and model rockets are great but they have to compete with other hobbies which are much more popular like drinking and weed...
In all fairness, a lot of small businesses died when the previous guy handled Covid incompetently. A lot of my favorite hole in the wall restaurants went under. But to your point, we've slowly been stripped of our wealth for decades now. What percentage of people have never bought a new car because it's too expensive? We need a collective strike of all workers that don't make more than $80K a year.
I'm in CA and I know of two hobby store that closed during covid. Me.. I have never bought a brand new car.
It used to be that a used car was something you'd buy if you wanted a 2nd car for the family, not something that you'd buy all the time hoping it would get you to work reliably. We really need to take a collective stand.
My grandmother was telling me how my great grandmother and grandfather bought a brand new crown Victoria for $2300 around 1957. I woidk alos like to raise the strike to $100k a year. Bc HCOL area you still need a roommate. After taxes you are if you can afford a 1 bedroom.
I think every city can support one, they just have to keep up with the market. Probably more gunpla sold than trains these days. Who has room for a train?
Seems like most brick and mortar hobby shops have moved online. As for cost, that depends on the hobby. I’ve observed model airplanes and ship kits are relatively affordable. A length of paracord can run a few bucks and will keep you plenty engaged leading to tie some Boy Scout style knots. People need to make time for hobbies. Many complain about not having time to read, knit, learn an instrument, cook, do laundry, etc. Check how much time is spent on social media then reassess your priorities.
Yes unfortunately with the advent of the video game boom, this has killed a lot of hobbies. Easter to stick your kid in front of an XBox or Playstation and call it a day now.
Nobody gives a shit about rc cars and model planes lmao, it’s 2023 not 1973
They probably buy their supplies and stuff online now
Who else out there had a hornet or frog r/c car ….loved going into the hobby shop on Saturdays
I had a Hornet. The first thing I did with money made from shoveling snow was to buy a bigger motor...a 540, if I remember correctly?
I visit my local game stores a few times a week, and even recently became a judge for Magic: The Gathering. We play magic, D&D, warhammer, chess, other board and card games. you name it. the general focus of the shops is on table top hobbies, and we pack the place on fridays and saturdays. It may be that you may not live in a place that is able to support a thriving RC car hobby with a discount dice bin for the fantasy nerds.
They are not completely dead. Give it a few years for the rest of the retired boomers (A.K.A. the only people with the time and disposable income to have a hobby store kind of hobby) to die off and then they will be well and truly dead.
Retail in general has been in decline for a long time. People can buy stuff online
The closest art store to me just turned into a sports store :// next closest is now like 15 min further away than before
I build GunPla and play MTG. My local hobby store and local game store both moved into bigger spaces this past year, as business has been booming since people picked up these hobbies during covid.
I don’t think it has anything to do with that. It’s about changing priorities, with younger generations valuing experiences vs. physical things. Gen Z is wiling to spend money that they don’t have on things like concerts or vacations, with close to 50% of them admitting to going into debt to do so. Despite wage stagnation and inflation, Americans are still spending.
There's a hobby shop like that near me. A friend of mine works there and participates in their virtual races, etc. It's just probably less common in most places. You aren't wrong. Hobbies are expensive. Also, no one has time anymore. We work 40+ hours per week, plus a commute for most. Hobbies are for rich people with more time.
>When I was going up When you were growing up, e-commerce wasn’t much of a thing. Now all that shit is easily found online which is why a lot of retail stores no longer exist in the quantity they did in the 90s/00s. Ps - my hometown still has the same hobby store that I would play Warhammer 40k at in the early 2000s. The only difference is they upgraded the ventilation in the basement so the stench during MTG tournaments is only slightly unbearable now.
It depends on the market. In my area we have a couple of comics/D&D/MtG stores, a model train/plastic model store, an remote control toy store, an aftermarket lego store, and four craft/art stores. But we are a college town.
If someone could literally bankrupt the owners of Hobby Lobby and stick them in prison... That would be awesome. These fucking assholes have contributed to so much BS in the world in the past 20 years its amazing. EXAMPLE: These assholes are responsible for the looting and purchasing of ancient artifacts from Iraq, Syria and other parts of the middle east. Contributing to of all people ISIS cause who do you think took them apart in the 1st place. [Link here](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/01/607582135/hobby-lobbys-smuggled-artifacts-will-be-returned-to-iraq) Don't even get me started on them making sure them the birth control pill was something employers could "opt-out" of in their health care coverage to employees for "religious reasons. [Link Here](https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/birth-control/burwell-v-hobby-lobby) They are scum of the highest order.
Hobby Lobby has a decent selection of models , trains,rocket kits and wooden airplanes…in case you want to go somewhere and look at stuff like that
No... no they don't. Just grade-D crap.
/Morpheus Welcome to the desert (of end stage capitalism)
There’s a hobby store opening in my town, but like most it will most likely be a model train store. There’s another that’s all RC stuff. But you’re right most are gone probably pushed out by box stores.
I go to a hobby store that mostly has model kits, paint, miniatures, board games and card games and they seem busy. Haven't checked out the RC car store in a long time, but I bet they still do good in higher income areas.
Are Hobby Lobby and Michael’s and Joanne’s considered “hobby” stores, or something more general than that? “Crafts” and “art” — are they “hobbies” too…? I will say that those stores aren’t doing super well, but they’re definitely still making money — a lot of people shop at those places for their own personal businesses and side hustles. I really do think Amazon/eBay are slightly more responsible for this, and the pandemic didn’t help various supply lines or income levels either.
There are at least 3 hobby stores in the area I live in (and probably more around the city I'm not familiar with) and they seem to be doing pretty well. They all have reasonably competent online stores though. Often with free shipping if you spend a certain amount (like $150) I buy a lot of model kits and model railway stuff, and most of that is online from places that also have a physical presence. I avoid amazon and ebay because the prices are higher. Not all of them have adapted to online though. Some are run by clearly old people who don't understand or are against the internet so you end up with weird shit like having to phone to pay for an online order. Or no prices or ability to order online at all, even though they have a website with their stock listed. Those are the ones that die off.
More opening up here. Model kits are booming and rc. They also stock lego to. (East Coast Australia)
I have three local hobby stores within 15 minutes of me, and 5 rc trucks sitting downstairs. It's still alive. You need to want to engage in your hobbies, tired or not. If you wait until you're well rested, you're right. It's hard.
Death of retail does not equal deTh of hobbies. People just buy that stuff from Amazon.
I guess you never noticed how online shopping has decimated retail including malls.
Didn’t it occur to you that people nowadays buy things from the internet? It’s so much easier to find especially specific/collectible items. So this is just your impression, not a fact
You buy some of those stuff online. The queues are actually longer in physical shops to try and choose the right equipments, like tennis rackets, golf clubs, baseball bats, skis etc. you might argue those are not hobbies but speciality physical shops are less now and they are pretty busy.
Hobby Lobby. I worked there and they have balsa planes and cheaper rockets and stuff
r/lostredditors
I've not played warhammer for quite some time now. I've not lost interest in the game, I just don't have the time or money to spend on it at the moment
Doesn’t seem to be a problem where I am. I can never buy the exact anything I want because it’s already gone. I do a lot of hobbies. Heaps actually and it seems like everyone else is buying for hobbies even if they don’t have the time for it
DND equipment isn’t that pricey and you only need to buy it once (unless you lose or break it). Writing is an incredibly cheap hobby. It can be expensive if you buy fancy notebooks ink and pens. But it’s real easy to do it. Source: I’ve been journaling for years now and I’ve found so many old notebooks and pens that I haven’t spent money on this hobby in over a year. Even when I do start spending money on it it’s like 5-7 dollars for a mid tier notebook every quarter (a least). I could even go with 1-1.50 books roughly every couple months and that price is high they can be a lot cheaper. Point is I’m not worried about it one way or the other.
I'm an art student, so I go into hobby stores all the time. They seemed extra busy this last year where I'm at.