HobbyTown USA
American retail chain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
 | |
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 |
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
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
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
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
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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 "disquieting", which would soon gain popularity in May 2019 as part of a creepypasta that began the collaborative work of Internet fiction, The Backrooms.[6][7]
