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Best brick and mortar hobby store in DC area
Chuck4
Joined: November 13, 2013
KitMaker: 403 posts
Armorama: 401 posts
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2017 - 11:34 PM UTC
What's the best brick and mortar hobby store in the greater D.C. area?
chrisw
Joined: September 08, 2009
KitMaker: 51 posts
Armorama: 43 posts
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2017 - 11:55 PM UTC
The only independent hobby shop is Piper Hobby in Chantilly, VA, near Dulles airport. Mostly aircraft, small armor selection, as well as tools and supplies. They are currently having a sale, 50% all inventory until further notice.
There are several branches of Hobby Works (Fairfax VA, Laurel MD, Rockville MD) which can be hit or miss for armor.
There are several branches of Hobby Works (Fairfax VA, Laurel MD, Rockville MD) which can be hit or miss for armor.
Kevlar06
Joined: March 15, 2009
KitMaker: 3,670 posts
Armorama: 2,052 posts
Posted: Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 01:01 AM UTC
Quoted Text
The only independent hobby shop is Piper Hobby in Chantilly, VA, near Dulles airport. Mostly aircraft, small armor selection, as well as tools and supplies. They are currently having a sale, 50% all inventory until further notice.
There are several branches of Hobby Works (Fairfax VA, Laurel MD, Rockville MD) which can be hit or miss for armor.
I haven't been to Piper Hobby in years (at least since 2002-4) when I was TDY to Washington D.C. quite frequently, but even then it was a great shop. There was another good shop in Fairfax I think, but it's long out of business. The nice thing about Piper is it's close to Dulles and Udvar-Hazy. Back then you could make an appointment and go to Udvar-Hazy for the morning and stop by Piper in the afternoon on a Saturday before heading back to D.C. When I first started going to D.C. For TDY in the mid 80's there were probably 7-8 good LHS from Bethesda to Richmond, but to my knowledge Piper is the only one left in the area, at least it was on my last trip out there in 2004. In 1995, I spent 4 months living at the Washington Naval Yard going to an immersion German language course in downtown D.C., and had my weekends free, so I did a lot of exploring in the area. At one time, one of the larger hobby shops specializing in old kits was out in a warehouse area in Bethesda-- (Rare-plane detective maybe?) wow--there was a lot of stuff on his shelves. I could have spent all my per deim money there, had I not wanted to eat too! Anyway-- have a great trip, you'll like Piper, they were an all-hobby shop, with just about everything on the shelves in a small strip-mall area as I recall.
VR, Russ
backswampcub
Joined: July 12, 2013
KitMaker: 172 posts
Armorama: 157 posts
Posted: Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 08:57 AM UTC
I just bought a circa 1991 testers boxing of the B-2 from rare plane detective off of ebay and he has a site. So he is still around just maybe not in brick and mortar form.
Kevlar06
Joined: March 15, 2009
KitMaker: 3,670 posts
Armorama: 2,052 posts
Posted: Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 12:32 PM UTC
Quoted Text
I just bought a circa 1991 testers boxing of the B-2 from rare plane detective off of ebay and he has a site. So he is still around just maybe not in brick and mortar form.
I knew he was, I think he moved from Louisiana to Las Vegas after Hurricane Katrina, but I think he was the same guy who ran the one I was talking about near Bethesda back in the 1990s-- but I could be wrong about that-- the shop there was a lot like Rare-plane. By the way, it's my understanding Rare-plane Detective has a storefront in Las Vegas, which used to be open to walk-ins, unless something has changed in the last couple of years.
VR, Russ
LonCray
Joined: August 24, 2005
KitMaker: 348 posts
Armorama: 256 posts
Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 08:22 PM UTC
Piper is my FLHS, and I go there at least once a month. They have a good supply of plastic, and even some AM stuff as well as paints and tools.
barron
Joined: December 01, 2001
KitMaker: 666 posts
Armorama: 598 posts
Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 10:00 PM UTC
I try to get there once a month also. I live about 100 miles from there 
Petition2God
Joined: February 06, 2002
KitMaker: 1,526 posts
Armorama: 1,294 posts
Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 11:11 PM UTC
Quoted Text
The only independent hobby shop is Piper Hobby in Chantilly, VA, near Dulles airport. Mostly aircraft, small armor selection, as well as tools and supplies. They are currently having a sale, 50% all inventory until further notice.
There are several branches of Hobby Works (Fairfax VA, Laurel MD, Rockville MD) which can be hit or miss for armor.
Yup, Piper Hobby is still there. It is close to Dulles airport. Hobby Works in Fairfax, VA is still there, too - don't know about the Maryland locations.
Kevlar06
Joined: March 15, 2009
KitMaker: 3,670 posts
Armorama: 2,052 posts
Posted: Monday, January 23, 2017 - 01:52 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Quoted TextThe only independent hobby shop is Piper Hobby in Chantilly, VA, near Dulles airport. Mostly aircraft, small armor selection, as well as tools and supplies. They are currently having a sale, 50% all inventory until further notice.
There are several branches of Hobby Works (Fairfax VA, Laurel MD, Rockville MD) which can be hit or miss for armor.
Yup, Piper Hobby is still there. It is close to Dulles airport. Hobby Works in Fairfax, VA is still there, too - don't know about the Maryland locations.
Now that I'm thinking about it-- the three I used to frequent most in that area were Piper Hobby, the one in Bethesda that I mentioned reminded me of Rare-Plane, and one in or near Burke on the SW side-- I think that one closed too-- I've heard folks talk about Hobby Works-- Isn't that a chain similar to Hobbytown? In any case-- Piper is a great LHS, and it's vicinity to Udvar-Hazy makes it even better.
VR, Russ
Petition2God
Joined: February 06, 2002
KitMaker: 1,526 posts
Armorama: 1,294 posts
Posted: Monday, February 13, 2017 - 09:24 AM UTC
Piper Hobby in VA is indeed closing its doors... This sad news is from the NoVA IPMS blog...
"Confirmed when I was in the shop Saturday that Piper Hobby is planning on shutting down when the current lease expires on March 31. Apparently the landlords have raised the rent by 50% and the shop was never that profitable."
:(
"Confirmed when I was in the shop Saturday that Piper Hobby is planning on shutting down when the current lease expires on March 31. Apparently the landlords have raised the rent by 50% and the shop was never that profitable."
:(
LonCray
Joined: August 24, 2005
KitMaker: 348 posts
Armorama: 256 posts
Posted: Monday, February 13, 2017 - 08:34 PM UTC
Yeah, it's sad. The owner died and his widow wants her basement back. A lot of what's on sale there now is his previous 20,000 kit collection - mostly planes. I went there a week and a half ago and the armor was mostly gone, and many shelves were empty. There is talk that some of their folks are seeking a more affordable location but I'll not hold my breath.
Kevlar06
Joined: March 15, 2009
KitMaker: 3,670 posts
Armorama: 2,052 posts
Posted: Monday, February 13, 2017 - 08:48 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Piper Hobby in VA is indeed closing its doors... This sad news is from the NoVA IPMS blog...
"Confirmed when I was in the shop Saturday that Piper Hobby is planning on shutting down when the current lease expires on March 31. Apparently the landlords have raised the rent by 50% and the shop was never that profitable."
:(
This seems to be a problem everywhere anymore- not just for hobby shops -- folks say the internet puts small business owners out of business, but a 50% increase in rent is incredible, and shows the current dog-eat-dog world in the retail real estate business. Frankly, having been to Piper Hobby on many occasions in the past, that strip mall shopping center it's in is pretty old for a huge price increase like that, but I guess they must figure if they are in the D.C. Area, they can get away with it. Sad. The old LHS I used to work at was fortunate in that they had a long term lease agreement with the building owner, who knew he had a good thing going. My current LHS (26 miles away) is in a rather run down area of The Seattle suburbs, in a rather run down strip mall-- but that's how they keep the lights on. Soon, if you want to find a LHS, you'll have to find them in a dark, seedy alley at this rate. A good example is a local strip mall that had a space for a family owned drug store. When it went out of business, the strip mall owner decided to raise the rent in the store from $5000 a month to $11000 a month. What small business can afford that? That was 8 years ago, and the store front is still empty, but it shows what business owners are faced with today. It's not just the Internet killing the LHS.
VR, Russ
johnnyD
Joined: August 07, 2003
KitMaker: 60 posts
Armorama: 47 posts
Posted: Monday, February 13, 2017 - 10:05 PM UTC
Sorry to jump in on your conversation guys, but I feel like all of us are losing the local hobby shop. When I was a growing up in the 70's we had 3 fairly competitive shops in our area. The ability to drop into a shop with variety of kits was good. But now the closest shop 45 minutes away is a HobbyTown and the variety is really poor because the cost of stocking kits is outrageous. These days you better take out a loan before getting more than 1 kit at at time.Getting the younger generation involved isn't that good unless they happen into a Hobby Lobby or Michael's or such and they pickup one of the few kits they have available. They better have saved up to buy a kit which is usually from one of the old 70-80 molds. I really envy the guys that can review so many of the latest kits for the magazines or websites, because that's about the only way a normal guys can get a glimpse at all the new products on hand today and decide what next to buy. Don't get me wrong I appreciate the online shops and can occasionally pick up a good deal on some of the latest kits; I only think that a really good era has passed where you can stroll into a local shop and see what some of the locals are putting out and have a good conversation with the local shop owners. Ok, now I'm off of my soap box.
landshark4
Joined: June 04, 2012
KitMaker: 103 posts
Armorama: 88 posts
Posted: Monday, February 13, 2017 - 10:19 PM UTC
Thats a crying shame. That was one of my favorite reasons to be in DC every year for training. It was a darn good store. Not much in aftermarket stuff but kit selection was always great. Spent way too much money there. Also in that strip mall was a real good game store that had everything from minatures to board wargames and all the card games and role playing stuff. Plus there was a used book store in the strip mall. You could really spend a day nerding out at that strip mall. One of the other comments mentioned the cost of kits these days. I dont get why tamiya and italeri don't release there stuff from 40 or 50 years ago for pennies on the dollar to get kids into the hobby. I am amazed when they do rerelease their old stuff and its ust as expensive as new kits. Those molds were paid for a hunded times over. And speaking of Hobby Lobby they used to years ago carry new Tamiya kits and then just stopped. With their 40% off coupon i got some great stuff. Well at least they still carry basic model supplies.
LonCray
Joined: August 24, 2005
KitMaker: 348 posts
Armorama: 256 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 14, 2017 - 09:29 PM UTC
Game Parlor (same strip mall as Piper Hobby) went out of business a year or two ago because the owner retired. The dead KMart between the two stores is being torn down to be replaced by a Home Goods store. For an aging strip mall, they do pretty good business; at least their parking lots are usually full.
Chuck4
Joined: November 13, 2013
KitMaker: 403 posts
Armorama: 401 posts
Posted: Saturday, March 25, 2017 - 05:02 PM UTC
Piper hobby went out of business too. 
Tojo72
Joined: June 06, 2006
KitMaker: 4,691 posts
Armorama: 3,509 posts
Posted: Saturday, March 25, 2017 - 11:54 PM UTC
I remember I always use to make it a point to stop at Squadron Shop in Silver Springs MD when we used to pass thru the DC area
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