HobbyTown USA
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | September 24, 1985, in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States |
| Founder | Thom Walla |
| Headquarters | Lincoln, Nebraska, United States |
Number of locations | 105 (2024) |
Areas served | United States |
Key people | Bob Wilke (president) |
| Products | Remote-controlled cars, Radio-controlled aircraft, Radio-controlled boat, Models, Paints, Tools, Toys |
| Website | www |
Hobby Town Unlimited, Inc. is an American retail hobby, collectibles, and toy store chain headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. There are more than 105 HobbyTown franchise stores located in 39 states in the United States. [1]
Most stores offer a full line of radio control hobbies, scale models, games, toys, educational items, paints, tools and model railroad items. The stores also carry seasonal items such as rockets, pinewood derby cars, educational toys, and kites. The website for HobbyTown provides E-commerce for customers worldwide.[2]
History
[edit]Thom Walla, Merlin Hayes, and Mary Hayes founded HobbyTown Unlimited, Inc. in 1985 and opened the first franchise store in 1986.
As of 2023,[update] HobbyTown USA has 106 franchise stores are located in 35 states in the continental United States. The company describes itself as the largest brick-and-mortar hobby retailer in the world.[3]
RadioShack
[edit]On July 13, 2018, RadioShack announced they would start opening "express stores" in HobbyTown locations in hopes to bring RadioShack "back to the suburbs". About 80 out of the 110 stores at the time decided to carry RadioShack products.
Acquisition
[edit]Online retailer AMain Hobbies announced on July 26, 2023 an agreement in principle to the acquisition of HobbyTown. The agreement includes the Lincoln, Nebraska headquarters and distribution center. AMain Hobbies, with this agreement, now has three distribution centers across the United States.[4]
In popular culture
[edit]In 2002, HobbyTown acquired a vacant outlet in Oshkosh, Wisconsin to expand their business. Prior to renovations, photos were taken, showing the state of the interior from the former tenant, and were posted on their website in 2003, documenting the renovations.[5] One of the photos would be shared in various 4chan message boards, describing the image as 'creepy'. The image would soon gain popularity in May 2019 as part of a creepypasta that would launch the Internet legend The Backrooms.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "About Us". HobbyTown Franchise. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- ^ "International Shipping - HobbyTown".
- ^ Muccigrosso, Catherine (July 27, 2023). "Online toy company with Charlotte HQ to buy world's largest retail hobby franchise". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- ^ "Hobbytown Acquisition". AMain Hobbies. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ "The New". Archived from the original on 2003-05-03.
- ^ "/x/ - Paranormal » Thread #22661164". 2022-02-01. Archived from the original on 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
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External links
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