HobbyTown or HobbyTown USA is an American retail hobby, collectibles, and toy store chain headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. There are more than 100 HobbyTown franchise stores located in 39 states in U.S.
Beginning with the purchase of a local business by Merlin Hayes, Mary Hayes, and Thom Walla, HobbyTown was founded in 1980, incorporated in 1985, and began
franchising
Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...
in 1986. Most stores offer a full line of
radio control
Radio control (often abbreviated to RC) is the use of control signals transmitted by radio to remotely control a device. Examples of simple radio control systems are garage door openers and keyless entry systems for vehicles, in which a small ...
hobbies,
scale model
A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...
s, games, toys, educational items, paints, tools and
model railroad
Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.
The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...
items. The stores also carry seasonal items such as rockets, pinewood derby cars, educational toys, and kites. The website for HobbyTown provides
E-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...
for customers worldwide.
History
Chick Bartlett's Hobby Town
Charles "Chick" Bartlett (died 2012) opened Lincoln Hobby Supply on 23 February 1946, later advertised as the "first full-time hobby shop in Nebraska".
His hobby business took the name Hobby Town in 1958.
The store was located in the
Stuart Building in downtown Lincoln.
Great Race and Hobby Place
Ron Justvig opened Great Race and Hobby Place in 1978, in Lincoln's Bethany neighborhood.
It was later acquired by Merlin Hayes, Mary Hayes, and Thom Walla. A second Great Race store opened in south Lincoln in the early 1980s.
Hobby Town
When Chick Bartlett retired in 1980,
the Great Race owners bought his Hobby Town store and the brand name. The new owners began offering franchises in 1986. As of January 2022, Hobby Town had 111 units, all in the US.
References
External links
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Companies based in Lincoln, Nebraska
Retail companies established in 1980
Toy retailers of the United States
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