Trains and planes: How Hobby shops survive in the 21st century
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
David Chipps stands in his space, Chipper’s Hobby Center, inside Crown Antique Mall.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Die-cast cars for sale at Chipper’s Hobby Center
Some of the model trains on display inside Chipper’s Hobby Center in the Crown Antique Mall
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Some of the hobby items inside Chipper’s Hobby Center in the Crown Antique Mall
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
David Chipps, owner of Chipper’s Hobby Center inside the Crown Antique Mall in Washington Crown Center in North Franklin Township, arranges some of his wares.
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
Books to hold collectible coins, such as Kennedy half dollars, are on display at Esther’s Hobby Shop in Millvale.
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
Magazines on display at Esther’s Hobby Shop in Millvale
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
Bob Mehler, the owner of Esther’s Hobby Shop in Millvale, talks about his store’s 80-year history.
MILLVALE – Bill Mehler calls himself “the last of the Mohicans.”
Mehler is, at the very least, a hardy survivor. At 88 years old, he is one of the dwindling number of people who can claim the title “hobby shop proprietor.”
Once a pervasive part of the retail landscape, and fixtures in just about any moderately sized community, hobby shops have been beset by the same shifts in consumer habits that have made book and record shops, along with other specialty stores, an endangered species. Moreover, many of the now-grizzled hobbyists who once spent blissful Saturdays getting their fingertips covered in glue making model airplanes, or positioning tiny trees and toy cars on model railroad layouts, say their ranks have not been replenished by younger enthusiasts.
To consider the state of hobby shops, venture no farther than Bridgeville. At Baldwin and Main streets and McLaughlin Run Road, you’ll find what was once the Family Hobby Center. A fading green and yellow sign above the door still promises that trains, electronics, tools and “everything you’ll need,” from “the expert to the novice” are contained within. The store has been closed for years.
Just a few miles away, in Scott Township, signs still beckon passersby to the Iron Horse Hobby Shop, which once housed a bounty of toy trains and supplies. It, too, has long been shuttered. The Family Hobby Center and the Iron Horse Hobby Shop have joined a host of other once-beloved hobby emporiums in the Pittsburgh region that have put “out of business” signs in their windows, such as A.B. Charles Hobby Shop, which migrated from Dormont and Mt. Lebanon to McMurray before closing, and J&C Hobbies in Penn Hills.
“Kids don’t want to build models today,” said Mehler, pointing to the lure of video games and cellphones. “They want instant gratification.”
Indeed, five years ago, an analysis in the RMA Journal, which is geared to investors, said hobby shops and toy stores faced “a risky and lackluster outlook,” pointing to online retailers, the increasing costs of plastic, resin and steel, and big-box stores. It noted that an “inhospitable operating environment left many hobby and toy stores no choice but to shut down.”
Mehler presides over Esther’s Hobby Shop in Millvale. It has been a family enterprise since the 1930s, when Mehler’s mother, Esther, opened a variety store to provide for him after his father deserted them.
“My mother opened it up to feed me,” he explained on a recent afternoon, decked in a red, white and blue tie and a white shirt with the store’s insignia on it.
It eventually became a hobby shop, with a specialty in trains, although it stocks paint, plastic model car kits, the materials to make Pinewood Derby cars and books to stash collectible coins. Mehler jokes it’s “stupidity” that keeps Esther’s open, though he’s quick to add, “I still enjoy it,” and that one of his sons plans to keep the store going. Along with all the fluctuations in the hobby marketplace, Esther’s received a gut punch on Sept. 17, 2004, when the region was beset by flooding as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. Four feet of water came pouring into the store, and merchandise worth thousands of dollars was destroyed.
Rather than deciding that was the moment to call it a day, Mehler took out a $50,000 loan and kept the store afloat.
“And I’m still here,” he said.
The plastic kits for a 1966 Chevy Suburban or a Monkeemobile in Esther’s might seem decidedly retro, but the store is in sync with the 21st century in its online presence. It’s a necessity even for brick-and-mortar hobby shops with deep roots in their communities, according to Fred Hill, the treasurer of the Hobby Manufacturers Association and the owner of the Original Whistle Stop, a model railroad store in Pasadena, Calif. The Original Whistle Stop once had to compete against more than 20 other hobby shops in Southern California; now, there are only five left, Hill added.
“It’s definitely the headwinds of the internet,” said Hill, explaining the disappearance of hobby shops. “I like that (the Original Whistle Stop) has survived, and has done so with a strong internet presence.”
When all the supplies they need are just a click away, hobbyists no longer have to rely on their local mom-and-pop shop. But the other problem weighing on hobby shops is the decreasing number of young customers. There’s the “instant gratification” of electronic gadgets that Mehler cites, and Hill believes today’s young people find assembling models to be “too difficult.” That being said, he also pointed out the cost of the merchandise has gone up, making it an increasingly expensive hobby. For instance, a model caboose that cost $30 in 1968 could run as much as $218 in today’s dollars, factoring in inflation.
“The hobby has changed dramatically,” said Bill Humphrey, spokesman for the Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum in Gibsonia. “The hobby has become much more detailed, with a lot of electronics. There’s a lot of stuff that has become complicated.”
In Washington County, the Silver Mine in South Strabane Township sells various types of models, including trains, along with stamps and coins. David Chipps, a retired coal miner and Washington resident, owned a hobby shop that was in downtown Washington until 1994. He now operates what he calls a “man cave” at Washington Crown Center’s antique mall. Chipper’s Trains is, as the name suggests, a destination for fans of model railroads, and he also stocks vinyl records, compact discs and WWE wrestling action figures.
“I think a hobby shop is a collector’s paradise,” Chipps explained. “The hobby shop is the place to go to first if you can’t find it anywhere else.”
He has one piece of advice to anyone looking to get into the business.
“If you go into this to make this a business, you’re in trouble. You have to love what you’re doing.”