Tower Hobbies closing next week?
 

I just came from my local hobby shop and the owner told me Tower's website and all phone lines are to be turned off on July 19th, a week from today. This is contrary to what was said a month ago by Horizon but I know things change.

I'm not sure if the hobby shop owner had non-public information or was just mistaken? Has anybody else heard anything like this?

He probably was saying "great planes" distributing was shutting down,, Great Planes supplied hobby shops with inventory from Hobbico,,, Tower is/was Hobbico's internet retailer

He specifically said Tower a handful of times. I put an order in at Tower for some stuff last night and they didn't have the props I needed so I went by the hobby shop hoping they would. He orders much of his stock from Tower and we were specifically talking about them and their lack of stock, he said the backorders/on order status/etc on the products was because they aren't getting any more product and 'everything will go dark' next week.

I also think he meant the distribution side of things and I think the Tower name will be around for a while even though they will just be a face for Horizon.

I don't think Horizon would pay 18 Million for it just to shut it down, it just doesn't make sense.
At any rate the 19th is next Thursday so we don't have long to wait & see.

No, it doesn't make sense to shut it down to me. He said Horizon didn't think they would actually win the auction and weren't actually prepared to take over the company.

Looking at Tower's site and social media they don't look like a company that plans to disappear in six days.

I would think Horizon's expense of running Tower would be mainly keeping the website up and whatever Hobbico employees they keep.

I just got an email with coupon codes and specials.

Anything is possible but I'm chalking this one up to fake news

I think the dealer side is closing,, I'm not sure but maybe Tower processed the dealer orders, that's where the confusion lies.

Horizon has made it clear Tower as an internet retailer is staying open,, if not why would they have bothered adding Horizon brands to the Tower site,,

Great Planes is closing July 19th. GP was the distributor side io Hobbico. Horizon bought Hobbico to get the Tower website and they just added Spektrum radios. Tower is not closing.

...and there ya have it.....



Dealer orders were processed through Great Planes Model Distributing, though AFAIK they were fulfilled from the same warehouses. When I worked for the LHS, GPMD wouldn't even acknowledge that Tower was part of the same company.

Well, here it is the day after and the web site is still up.

It is the 20th ... website is up and running... but some color are different :)
Same logo though

REgards,
Parick

;) I know it's all to easy to get hung up over nostalgia , and folks will likely be just as upset to see the "Great Planes" name disappear , but in this day of the corporate mega merger the bottom line is that what sells and is profitable of Hobbico will remain marketable and what doesn't will disappear along with the Great Planes name . I honestly wouldn't expect Horizion to maintain the full lineup of Hobbico's business , there had to be a reason Hobbico was broke and ripe for a "short sale" purchase and Horizion will I'm sure cherry pick the best and most profitable and ditch the rest . Including , it would appear , the Great Planes name . R.I.P. Great Planes , it was fun while it lasted .....

sounds like restructuring,.....getting rid of divisions that are not as profitable as they should be. our hobby is shrinking, sales are falling and keeping all divisions of sales is costing way too much. I have seen in the past where whole businesses that have retail and wholesale divisions in the same building will completely close their doors and re-open some time later, all re structured. sometimes they dump the retail side, sometimes they dump the wholesale side of the business. sometimes, if a major financial element of a business closes, all it's subsidiaries must stop temporarily and take an accurate inventory as of a specific date, for the restructuring .

Init4fun, we posted the same time, saying essentially the same thing !.

Made an online $200 purchase at Tower night before last. Got word it has shipped. YEA :)

Well I am a return flyer so I am learning how things have significantly changed. I placed my order before I had read any of the reports. They filled it immediately and it arrived in 2 days. You are right... Tower was KING

catalogue
 

Just recieved the Tower catalogues recently for what its worth

I think we can put this rumor to bed.

If I were told by a hobby shop that an online supplier was going out of business, I would have to ask myself, why would a hobby shop make that kind of a comment? Could there be an ulterior motive? Is it true? Is it a vicious rumor being used as a tool? Is it verified? Is it bs? All sorts of possibilities there.

Frankly I did a LOT of business with Tower back in the day and I hope they survive and thrive. If the old guys come back to the hobby (in droves) they will automatically turn to Tower

Well if you think about Hobbico and Great planes are history what they have left is what they are selling. I made an order on monday and got this note if I made it for 100 bucks they throw in free shipping which I did but it wont be at my doorstep until the middle of next week!

That's a good point Lee. I would like to think that with these forums, people would be/get interested again.
I know for a fact they've reignited my interest. I've been flying models now for 50 years. Took off for a couple of years sometimes, but reading these boards, I get the itch again.

Absolutely MB. A LOT of the Boomer Generation put the hobby aside because there was a world to run. Mouths to feed. Bills to pay. etc. I bought a simulator this week. Been looping and trimming, and spinning, and landing. Its GREAT! Plans to visit 3 local flying fields tomorrow.