Used to have two hobby stores in my town, but one recently closed down. That store had two aisles of RC stuff, two for rubber stamps(!?!) and about 2000 sq. ft. dedicated to an indoor car track that was used once a week. No wonder it closed down.

The second one was just taken over by a new owner and while he's trying, I still think he's doing it wrong. He's got a very small store and now has the front 3rd dedicated to a railroad display set up. Nothing for sale, jut a railroad set that is meant to be only looked at...in the front window...taking up about 200 sq. ft. of a store that's only about 1000. He just doesn't get that that space could be much better put to use as sales area. He's also started jacking prices simply because he thinks he can. One of our club members went in to get a Blade CP Pro and he had it on the shelf at LIST price! Member said he'd buy it if he matched Horizon's price and while he initially refused, he eventually agreed. He though because he was local that he could charge a premium over Horizon's price. He didn't quite get that Horizon's is only 40 miles away and anyone can order one day and receive the order the next day...with ground shipping.

Last weekend I really needed a servo, so I decided to let my car's nav system do the walking for me and lead me to Venture Hobbies in Wheeling (NW Chicago suburb). I finally know what it's like to be in a real hobby store. The ceiling was covered with hanging airplanes...all for sale. They had probably 75 kits/ARFs of all kinds. A good selection of engines, building supplies and electronics. Not to mention a model section that had more models than you could shake a stick at. Granted, they are in a much more populated area than Central IL, but the smaller shop down here should take a page from their book. Almost no floor space was used for demos or displays (like a monsterous train set). In fact, I think the only displays they had were for G3 and FSOne which they had set up at demo stations. Every other inch of the store was dedicated to nothing other than merchandise. And the prices were the same as you would get from an online retailer.

Wish I had the capital it invest because I think a hobby store done right in this town would do well...