You just pushed my rant button...
I've been obsessing on this for many years. I remember as a lad going to the local hobby shop, and it was amazing, all sorts of balsa kits, plastic models, trains, books, and it was all crammed into a wing of this family's house. The father and son ran the business. The old man would sit in his corner, and he would build the most amazing aircraft out of balsa. Whenever I tried, I'd end up with a disjointed collection of somewhat connected balsa sticks, some of which were semi permanently glued to my hands. As amazing as it was, I remember the feeling that the customers were supposed to feel lucky that they were there. Which was something they could get away with back then. Your choices for purchasing hobby gear was either at the hobby shop, or through mail order. Shipping wasn't cheap, and the delay was painful. So you went with the hobby shop more often than not.
Then came the internet. Clubs that felt alienated by their hobby shops would share the newest sites where you could find the best deals. They would steer the new guys away from the brick and mortar locations and tell them the internet was where things were. Now when you'd walk into the LHS, and they told you something wasn't in stock, but they could order it for you, but it would take 4-6 weeks. Well, I can order it myself, and for less money, and often get it quicker!
The realization that it was easier and cheaper to buy online hadn't sunk in on the LHS guys. They still had the mentality that you should walk into their shop full of gratitude. Only now when I'd visit a shop, no longer was it covered from floor to ceiling, (and often all over the ceiling as well) in hobby awesomeness, instead I'd find half empty shelves, and the promise that "we can order that for you". Speaking with the shop owners, there was a bitterness about internet shops, as if that was the only problem they faced. And you did NOT mention Hobby King without spitting after saying the name. That would likely get you kicked out of the shop in a hurry.
In my many hours of dwelling on the situation, I came to realize the problem wasn't that the internet guys were selling the same stuff cheaper, it was that the LHS wasn't selling something they could compete with. The mantra was preached that "well you're not getting the customer service on the internet that you'd get at the shop". That may have been true to a point. If you found a shop that wasn't staffing a teen who was only interested in rc cars, and you actually got the owner to talk to you about your problem you might be ok. But only if you were asking about a balsa plane, using a nitro engine and a 72 mHz radio. If you dared ask about lipo batteries, electric motors and 2.4 transmitter systems, you'd be dismissed with "you don't need any of that toy crap, you need a good dependable plane to learn on."
I don't know how many times I've witnessed, (or participated in) the steering of a newbie away from the hobby shop after seeing the soul crushing that the LHS salesman bestowed upon the poor guy who walked into the shop wanting to know how to get into the hobby. Finding out that the "only" way to start out was with $500-$1000 worth of investment into a box of sticks, glues, covering, covering irons, t-pins, nitro motor, starter, battery for the starter, glow plugs, glow heaters, hours of difficult build time, and the nearly ensured failure that would result in the destruction of your hard work and large investment.
Then add to that soul crushing the continued ego decimating effect that the wrong club has on the guy who gets directed to them by the hobby shop, to "find someone to teach them" and the new guy runs into the wall of "old flying buddies" that aren't interested in any newbs coming in and bothering their talking with annoying flying questions.
What I think is needed is a completely new way for the LHS to go about developing customer loyalty. Don't put your new hobby shop in a strip mall or worse, a shopping mall. Sure there's more "traffic" there, but men don't mall. A couple guys mentioned that their LHS sponsor a field. I say take it a step further, the LHS should own their own field. Instead of the customer that comes in, checks out what's on the shelf, goes home to look for the reviews on the internet. Then decides that because it's ten bucks cheaper online (even though it's got a $30 shipping fee) that they'll order it rather than getting it from the LHS. Instead of all of that, you have a customer that you can put on the flight sim, take them out to buddy box with a plane that you stock, and then sell them the plane that they now feel comfortable flying.
Sure, time invested might be more than what the profit margin was worth on that kit. But you've just created a loyal customer. Not only that, as the people who arrive with the interested of using the flying field increases, you'll likely find many of them interested in mentoring the new pilots. Instead of a customer base that's turning away new customers, you get a group who has an active interest in keeping the shop viable. Fields are getting harder to find. And while sure you can go fly many of the new planes at just about any open space, and the multirotors can be flown anywhere larger than the aircraft itself, we like community. We like flying with each other, and we like gathering for events. (Did you notice the success of Flite Fest 2014? Huge turn out for their first try at such an event.)
I also think that build nights would be a great idea. Hobby shops that team up with Flite Test, sell their kits and organize gathering like what went in in the build tent at FF14. Even if you let the customers bring their own HobbyKing electronics, they're still going to forget things, and want to buy them from the shop so they can complete their builds. And if the hobby shops had a more "if you can't beat them, join them" mentality and carried some of the budget electronics instead of just writing off anything that didn't come from Tower Hobbies or Horizon Hobby as "junk" maybe they'd be able to get the new guys with a limited budget in the door. As they grow in their flying confidence, and need for more quality gear, then they'll buy the more expensive stuff from the shop.
Did I mention that I have a rant button?
I've been obsessing on this for many years. I remember as a lad going to the local hobby shop, and it was amazing, all sorts of balsa kits, plastic models, trains, books, and it was all crammed into a wing of this family's house. The father and son ran the business. The old man would sit in his corner, and he would build the most amazing aircraft out of balsa. Whenever I tried, I'd end up with a disjointed collection of somewhat connected balsa sticks, some of which were semi permanently glued to my hands. As amazing as it was, I remember the feeling that the customers were supposed to feel lucky that they were there. Which was something they could get away with back then. Your choices for purchasing hobby gear was either at the hobby shop, or through mail order. Shipping wasn't cheap, and the delay was painful. So you went with the hobby shop more often than not.
Then came the internet. Clubs that felt alienated by their hobby shops would share the newest sites where you could find the best deals. They would steer the new guys away from the brick and mortar locations and tell them the internet was where things were. Now when you'd walk into the LHS, and they told you something wasn't in stock, but they could order it for you, but it would take 4-6 weeks. Well, I can order it myself, and for less money, and often get it quicker!
The realization that it was easier and cheaper to buy online hadn't sunk in on the LHS guys. They still had the mentality that you should walk into their shop full of gratitude. Only now when I'd visit a shop, no longer was it covered from floor to ceiling, (and often all over the ceiling as well) in hobby awesomeness, instead I'd find half empty shelves, and the promise that "we can order that for you". Speaking with the shop owners, there was a bitterness about internet shops, as if that was the only problem they faced. And you did NOT mention Hobby King without spitting after saying the name. That would likely get you kicked out of the shop in a hurry.
In my many hours of dwelling on the situation, I came to realize the problem wasn't that the internet guys were selling the same stuff cheaper, it was that the LHS wasn't selling something they could compete with. The mantra was preached that "well you're not getting the customer service on the internet that you'd get at the shop". That may have been true to a point. If you found a shop that wasn't staffing a teen who was only interested in rc cars, and you actually got the owner to talk to you about your problem you might be ok. But only if you were asking about a balsa plane, using a nitro engine and a 72 mHz radio. If you dared ask about lipo batteries, electric motors and 2.4 transmitter systems, you'd be dismissed with "you don't need any of that toy crap, you need a good dependable plane to learn on."
I don't know how many times I've witnessed, (or participated in) the steering of a newbie away from the hobby shop after seeing the soul crushing that the LHS salesman bestowed upon the poor guy who walked into the shop wanting to know how to get into the hobby. Finding out that the "only" way to start out was with $500-$1000 worth of investment into a box of sticks, glues, covering, covering irons, t-pins, nitro motor, starter, battery for the starter, glow plugs, glow heaters, hours of difficult build time, and the nearly ensured failure that would result in the destruction of your hard work and large investment.
Then add to that soul crushing the continued ego decimating effect that the wrong club has on the guy who gets directed to them by the hobby shop, to "find someone to teach them" and the new guy runs into the wall of "old flying buddies" that aren't interested in any newbs coming in and bothering their talking with annoying flying questions.
What I think is needed is a completely new way for the LHS to go about developing customer loyalty. Don't put your new hobby shop in a strip mall or worse, a shopping mall. Sure there's more "traffic" there, but men don't mall. A couple guys mentioned that their LHS sponsor a field. I say take it a step further, the LHS should own their own field. Instead of the customer that comes in, checks out what's on the shelf, goes home to look for the reviews on the internet. Then decides that because it's ten bucks cheaper online (even though it's got a $30 shipping fee) that they'll order it rather than getting it from the LHS. Instead of all of that, you have a customer that you can put on the flight sim, take them out to buddy box with a plane that you stock, and then sell them the plane that they now feel comfortable flying.
Sure, time invested might be more than what the profit margin was worth on that kit. But you've just created a loyal customer. Not only that, as the people who arrive with the interested of using the flying field increases, you'll likely find many of them interested in mentoring the new pilots. Instead of a customer base that's turning away new customers, you get a group who has an active interest in keeping the shop viable. Fields are getting harder to find. And while sure you can go fly many of the new planes at just about any open space, and the multirotors can be flown anywhere larger than the aircraft itself, we like community. We like flying with each other, and we like gathering for events. (Did you notice the success of Flite Fest 2014? Huge turn out for their first try at such an event.)
I also think that build nights would be a great idea. Hobby shops that team up with Flite Test, sell their kits and organize gathering like what went in in the build tent at FF14. Even if you let the customers bring their own HobbyKing electronics, they're still going to forget things, and want to buy them from the shop so they can complete their builds. And if the hobby shops had a more "if you can't beat them, join them" mentality and carried some of the budget electronics instead of just writing off anything that didn't come from Tower Hobbies or Horizon Hobby as "junk" maybe they'd be able to get the new guys with a limited budget in the door. As they grow in their flying confidence, and need for more quality gear, then they'll buy the more expensive stuff from the shop.
Did I mention that I have a rant button?
But you do have a point 
