Hobby shop closure is a loss for radio-controlled enthusiasts

The Internet and a ‘shake and bake’ attitude have changed people’s approach to hobbies, By Nancy Kriz MONROE - Gary Dean is proud to be a radio-controlled hobbyist and considers his pastime to be rewarding and educational. He painstakingly maintains his three helicopters and 11 cars in his basement, which features a full shop dedicated to parts, accessories and other supplies. For the past 18 years, Dean estimated that he’s purchased 99 percent of what he owns from Hometown Hobbies, a Monroe store specializing in radio-controlled cars and airplanes as well as large scale models. But it’s not just the products that Dean has bought over the years which are important to him. It’s the friendships he’s developed with his colleague hobbyists and the shop’s owner, Jay Newler, which are equally valuable. But all that will change at the end of the month when Hometown Hobbies closes its doors for good. After almost two decades of being known in the area for its wide range of radio-controlled products, Newler said there are three reasons behind his decision to shut down. “The economy is a reason,” he said. “People have less discretionary money to spend. Then, there’s the Internet. More people want to shop that way. It’s stolen business from me for the last six or seven years. “And then there’s the young adults. They don’t want to get into the hobby ‘hands-on.’ They want ‘shake and bake.’ Open the box and have it ready to go.” ‘Dying breed’ Serious radio-controlled hobbyists know that buying a car or airplane is only the starting point and beginning of challenging work. The exciting and rewarding part of the hobby is customizing that car or plane by removing and adding parts and accessories and knowing how those components function. “Now, everything is assembled,” said Newler. “You have to put together only a couple of components. You don’t know how to build it; it’s already been done. “But what if it needs repair? This is a hobby. If something breaks, you should be able to fix it. “Today, many people buy stuff because of the intrigue. They don’t know anything about what they’re buying.” Except the die-hard radio-controlled enthusiasts. Dean, a former Monroe resident, said some of his cars have taken him up to three years to build and some are valued at over $2,400. Since Dean was a teenager, he’s been a regular at Hometown Hobbies, learning everything he possibly could about building and maintaining his radio-controlled fleet. “Guys like me and Jay are a dying breed,” said Dean, who moved to Minisink four years ago but has continued to faithfully travel to the Monroe shop for all his radio-controlled needs. “We know how to put these things together and how to fix them. We’re like master mechanics. The kids today don’t want to take the initiative. They want to have someone else fix them.” When Newler told him Hometown Hobbies was closing, Dean was in disbelief. “I was shocked by it,” said Dean. “It is an industry that doesn’t have the popularity that others have. But I didn’t want to hear it. I met Jay when I was 16. I’ve grown up with him and I’ve become good friends with him.” Newler felt the radio-controlled hobby world is not what it used to be. “People are saying, ‘I don’t want to learn about it, I just want to go play with it,’” he said. “There are still many hobbyists in the industry. But it is becoming extinct.” What the Internet can and cannot do Regular and long-term customers like Dean are wondering what they will do after the shop closes. “We really don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Dean. “It really forces us to go to the Internet. But you can’t ‘see’ what’s on the Internet like in person and you can’t ‘talk’ to anyone. I never wanted to buy on the Internet. Loyalty seemed right to me … it was a moral standard for me. Jay’s always been honest and truthful. He’s one of the best hobby shops in the area. It’s a drastic loss. If you had a problem, he always helped you to learn and get the problem corrected.” Dean, a heavy construction manager, is hopeful to have a Hometown Hobbies memento to add to his personal collection. “There’s a neon sign in the window which I’ve e-mailed Jay about,” said Dean. “It says ‘radio-controlled cars.’ I hope to be taking it home to hang in my garage ... as a remembrance.” Both men independently noted there’s a huge social component to the radio-controlled hobby field. “I’ve met a lot of fine men like Gary,” said Newler. “It’s the camaraderie with a special group of people. I’ve met people from around the world in one way or another. I’ve learned a lot from them. While some are loners in this field, others do like to get together in clubs or hang out with other people.” Women know where to find their husbands That’s what Dean did for a long time. When he lived in Monroe, he’d stop by Hometown Hobbies on his way home from work to hang out and spend hours “talking shop” with Newler, adding “my wife always knew where to find me when she wanted to.” Newler said he has other customers who are in his shop so frequently that he gets calls from their wives, asking Newler to pass on grocery store lists to their husbands so they could go shopping when they left. “What makes somebody like this?” Newler said. “It’s the fascination of whatever it might be. It’s fulfilling a fantasy …maybe they always wanted to be a NASCAR driver or a pilot.” Now, in the shop’s waning days, Newler is continuing with his clearance sale. The shelves are becoming barren, but large scale models still float from the ceiling, and hundreds of packaged small parts still hang on racks from behind the main counter. “People are telling me, ‘We’re sorry to see you go … what are we going to do now?’” said Newler. “But the baby has grown up. It’s been 18 years. It’s time to move on.” But Newler won’t walk away from the radio-controlled hobby industry. He has radio-controlled trains at home and is hoping to have a mail order business from his home if his distributors will allow it. “There’s no reason you shouldn’t continue with the hobby and continue to learn,” he said. “I’m still going to keep in contact with all the people I’ve met.” Newler felt his hobby advice to others can be adapted to all areas in life. “Investigate,” said Newler. “Learn about what you’re doing.”