After 50 years of serving Central New York’s aeromodeling and hobby communities, Walt’s HobbyTown closed this fall. It could have been a sad time, but store operator Bruce Throne worked to keep things upbeat as a celebration of 50 successful years. While it’s sad to see a hobby shop close, Walt Throne, his wife, Jan, his family, and the store staff have provided us with many memories.
With experience in retail, Walt decided to follow his dream and opened his hobby shop in a rented space in a local shopping plaza. Not that many years later, Walt built his own building that was the envy of any hobby shop, with plenty of room for retail sales and a large back room for an RC car track and other activities. Walt’s hosted numerous activities to benefit the community. Many will remember Walt’s Secret Santa Sales celebration, where he gave away thousands in hobby prizes and welcomed local clubs to promote themselves. Numerous tables were filled with displays by clubs at these events!
After Superstorm Sandy hit the Northeast in 2012, Walt raised hundreds of dollars in donations for affected AMA clubs. When AMA conducted the Leader Board Challenge membership drive, Walt’s was the number one hobby store in the US to raise membership. He was also instrumental in the formation of the National Retail Hobby Store Association. Walt truly believed in being involved and giving back to the community. Sadly, we lost him in 2023.
Generations of people came to Walt’s to buy or build models. Walt knew that supporting clubs and new modelers was a successful business model that we see less of today. Sending a new customer to a club for help and instruction would result in a successful modeler who would return to the store to buy their next aircraft as they progressed in the hobby. Of course, providing store space for club promotion and other club activities resulted in a mutually beneficial relationship that we don’t see very often anymore.
The story of Walt’s is that of an entrepreneur who put his hard work and faith into something he believed in. The internet, social media, and other factors have changed how people buy things and how they interact with companies and even their involvement in local AMA clubs! Given these factors, it would be difficult today to duplicate what Walt created. All of this does not mean the demise of our hobby, but that we, as modelers and clubs, must be creative and change our approach and methods to illuminate our hobby to new people and how we buy our model aircraft. It can be done!
Remember, it’s not about what you fly, it’s about the friends you make.