Hobby Lobby downsizing?

[Gizzy]

I went to a Hobby Lobby in Lima Ohio today.It looked to me they had significantly less models than my last stop about 6/8 weeks ago.Anybody else noticed other stores with less stock on the shelves or is it just me?

[Dave Van]

Mines the same!

[Motor City]

I went to the one near me last Saturday and it looks the same as usual.

[slusher]

Mine looked the same Thursday just two empty spots.

[mikemodeler]

Could be many different reasons, but the best answer would be from someone who works there. They could be getting ready for a reset, waiting for a shipment, moving the aisle, the list goes on. 

[Mike999]

For some time now, it seems like the 3 HL's near me have been stocking more die-cast and fewer plastic models.  

The 1/64 and 1/24 scale die-casts used to take up a small space near the end of the aisle. But now they're taking up quite a bit of the rack space that used to be dedicated to plastic models.  That may be my own grumpy bias toward plastic, but it sure looks that way.  At least some of the 1/24 die-casts are interesting stuff, like the Greenlight vintage camper trailers.

[espo]

This last week I visited the three HLs close to me. The first two looked very normal in the kit display area and nothing in the clearance area. The third one had many open holes in the kit display. Could be no one had restocked the shelves or were about to since it was Friday. One thing I noticed was the absents of Tamiya masking tape. This was the reason for my visit and I have bought the tape there in the past. They were offering a different brand that I had never seen or heard of before. I went to a local Hobby Shop that I often use for supplies and the not only had the tape I wanted but it was also less expensive than HL. 

[Tom Geiger]

I don’t know if they are downsizing or just filling up the shelves. I don’t know if new Revell has been shipping the volume that Hobbico did, which would leave some space. Time will tell

[Gizzy]

22 hours ago, Mike999 said:

For some time now, it seems like the 3 HL's near me have been stocking more die-cast and fewer plastic models.  

The 1/64 and 1/24 scale die-casts used to take up a small space near the end of the aisle. But now they're taking up quite a bit of the rack space that used to be dedicated to plastic models.  That may be my own grumpy bias toward plastic, but it sure looks that way.  At least some of the 1/24 die-casts are interesting stuff, like the Greenlight vintage camper trailers.

That's what it looks like to me too

[Bucket T]

The selection of kits at the HL closest to me started to shrink several months ago.  No empty slots of kits to come.  A few of the newer kits but nothing floats my boat even with the coupon.

[Mr. Metallic]

Several months ago many of the stores underwent a reset that kept the shelf space for automotive subjects the same, but about 1/3 of the spaces that were previously occupied by plastic kits were taken over by diecast kits and pre-builts. 

[Tom Geiger]

16 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

I don’t know if they are downsizing or just filling up the shelves. I don’t know if new Revell has been shipping the volume that Hobbico did, which would leave some space. Time will tell

 

2 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

Several months ago many of the stores underwent a reset that kept the shelf space for automotive subjects the same, but about 1/3 of the spaces that were previously occupied by plastic kits were taken over by diecast kits and pre-builts. 

See my point above.  Hobby Lobby is notorious on having no empty spaces on their shelves.  Could they just be filling in with diecast and once Revell is shipping product in quantity again, that be back filled with plastic?

[vamach1]

Brand new one opened last Friday a few miles away from me in FairLakes in the old ToysRus.  It was pretty well stocked but sadly nothing in either diecast or models that I had to have.  I also forgot my phone to get a discount but at least I got to see what they are going to carry.  The paint and tools and acessories selection looked pretty good but I was hoping there would be more Autoworld or Johnny Lightning diecast.  The kit selection was pretty good but of of course the prices are all retail.

[tbill]

The one I frequent seems to have a smaller car model area, as noted , more diecast. I also used to get tamiya tape there, looks to have been replaced by the hobby lobby brand tape, along with a few other items that look the same, but are now hobby lobby branded.....

[chasracer]

I only have one HL near me and I get there maybe once or twice a year. The last time they had a fairly full isle on one side with various car/plane/ship models, supplies and small amount of paint. My regular hobby shop used to have just about any model car kitted (recent issues) but now has cut that down to 2 small mid-height shelf areas. One worker told me the higher price of the kits just stagnated the sales so they reduced and blew out what they could. R/C stuff in cars and airplanes is probably the most active from the looks of the inventory now.

[Eshaver]

Since moving to Bend Oregon back last August , I've NOT seen any changes .

[Bills72sj]

Just visited the nearest one to me (Salem, OR) to get some flat tan paint. The kits were well stocked. The customizable diecasts seem to be slowly encroaching on the styrene kit shelf space.

[carrucha]

I went to the HL in Elk Grove, CA and the kit selection seems to be the same.

[Roadrunner]

There's a HL not too far from here, and I've not been there for several months, but I will be going in a couple of weeks.

[Roadrunner]

I just went to the local HL yesterday, and it was better stocked than I've ever seen it previously. Despite that, the only two cars that even remotely appealed, were the '67 & '69 GTX kits. While I bought neither, I may well go back for the '69.

[SfanGoch]

Unless you're content with seeing the same four or five models on the shelves, there are plenty of online stores which carry a much larger variety of kits and supplies than you could ever find in a HL.

[Roadrunner]

26 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

Unless you're content with seeing the same four or five models on the shelves, there are plenty of online stores which carry a much larger variety of kits and supplies than you could ever find in a HL.

True enough, but you don't find 40% off at most places.

[SfanGoch]

If this is the case, that puts a crimp on things. Your shopping choices are severely restricted to what's on hand. Live by the coupon, die by the coupon.

[PHPaul]

Unfortunately, HL is the ONLY hobby shop within reasonable driving distance of me and that one is 60 miles away.  I was just there yesterday.

The model section consists of both sides of one short aisle.  Decent selection of plastic, didn't pay any attention to the diecast section as that's not my thing.

Their selection of scratch building supplies is extremely limited.  Some K&S brass sheet, tubing and rod in limited sizes and a paltry collection of Evergreen plastics.  Tool selection is not much better.  They do have a reasonable assortment of Testors and Model Master paints but overall, it's not really worth the trip.

Used to have a really great Mom and Pop place about 20 miles away had a full display of K&S, Plastruct and Evergreen, models out the wazoo and pretty much anything you wanted in HO train stuff.  Sadly, they closed up shop 4-5 years ago.

Thank Goodness for online shopping.

[mikemodeler]

21 minutes ago, PHPaul said:

Unfortunately, HL is the ONLY hobby shop within reasonable driving distance of me.

Thank Goodness for online shopping.

Sadly this is the case for many of us. Living in Charlotte NC, we only have HL and Michael's. I spend where I have to get to what I want/need. Online, shows, and trades is how I get most of what I want/need. The coupons at HL & Michael's are nice, if it's what I am looking for.