My wife sent me this link. Fun story, and fun to know that the host of Marketplace Morning Report is a rocketeer.

https://www.marketplace.org/2021/05...ANrjySKsDGY6kMo

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

I consider myself very lucky to have five "olde tyme" hobby shops within an hour's drive from my home. One is only 15 miles away, but is not very good.
Prop Shop Warren is the best.
Nankin in Farmington is second, then Nankin in Ypsilanti.
Rider's in Flint is the worst of the four but still a lot better than "Hobby Lobby" which has very LITTLE in actual Hobby goods.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

So much for Hobby Lobby's good Christian ethic. They put profit over morals and sold smuggled
and protected goods. They got caught and have to pay 3 Million in fines, I wonder how high up the chain of command that plan to market those items went?

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Neal Miller
Master Blaster NAR# 58296

Typical two-faced hypocrites.
Church on Sunday, screw/back-stab your neighbor Mon-Sat.

3 million in fines is nothing to them.
Unless we make financial penalties to corporations that really hurt them and stockholders/owners this crap will continue.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

I'd heard that David Brancachio (sp?) was a rocket guy a few years back. Nice to know it is influencing his program's segment choices!

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NAR #27085 - Oregon Rocketry - SAM

That NPR piece had nothing to do with Hobby Lobby and I don't appreciate turning this thread into yet another "discussion" about that company.

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

I guess my point with Hobby Lobby is: that sense I have lived here on the South East coast of Florida, 20+ Brick and Mortar Hobby Shops have gone to the way side.
It was E commerce and the big chain stores that caused most of this.
I remember some of these "Old Stores" from when I would visit back in the 70's , The only Irony in this is that Felix Hobbies that was started by my friend Pablo Felix in the 1970's in North Miami is now in Lauderdale Lakes Florida. Felix had sold the shop to some guy's that sell primarily RC Cars. They do very well and have moved the store 25 miles north just last year.

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Neal Miller
Master Blaster NAR# 58296

Hmmmmmm.....

Hobby Lobby didn't make it to this area until recently. I can think of only one relatively local hobby shop that's gone away since they did, and that one was more of a "we don't have anyone to carry on the business" sort of closure, or so I was told by the proprietor. The shop was far enough away from me that I was not a regular customer.

The rest in this area were already long gone.

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

Bernard
We lost Galaxy Hobbies in Lynnwood over a year ago (I don't recall quite when, but it was pre-pandemic so that wasn't the reason). They'd opened a Hobby Lobby almost literally next door a few years before that. One time when I was in Galaxy I asked the owner about the Hobby Lobby and he said it hadn't hurt - they catered to a different client.
I read someplace where Galaxy closed because they lost their lease - but last time I was by there it was still vacant so I wonder. I'm sure having a huge Hobby Lobby next door didn't help...

Our LHS closed a couple years ago due to the owner’s retirement, he made an effort to sell the shop on but evidently didn’t get any takers. It was a general purpose shop with a little bit of everything - primarily model railroading, slot cars, plastic models and model planes. There was a couple big for our population r/c oriented shops in the area so he was never heavy into that. He carried model rocketry basics - Estes and Quest sets, kits and motors. What he did have plenty of was hobby hardware - tiny nuts, bolts, screws, plastic structural stuff, wood, glues, paints, etc. Back when I did model railroading (very badly, by the way) I bought stuff from him rather than mail order because I was never quite sure what I needed to do what I planned.

He helped me out in a big way a few years ago when I needed an Estes C11 motor for a school demo flight.

I think our up-and-down economic situation along with e-commerce and the shift in demographics pretty much spells the end for brick and mortar LHS, at least in low-density population areas. Like the saying goes, the best way to make a million bucks in the hobby shop business is to start with two million...