Hobby Town owners decide it’s ‘perfect timing’ to close its doors

CEDAR RAPIDS — With their store’s lease up for renewal, Cedar Rapids Hobby Town owners Musetta and Niels Christensen had to decide if closing was the best option after six years of business.

“It was just the perfect timing for us to decide that this is a good time for us to close the store and move on to something else,” Musetta said.

Rent for the storefront at 3655A First Ave. SE, in the Town and Country Shopping Center, was increased this year, along with higher expenses to buy and ship their merchandise that includes remote control vehicles, trains and airplanes, models, games and puzzles.

Niels and Musetta announced this past week that Hobby Town will close its doors for good following the sale of all merchandise and equipment.

Musetta added customers and participants in the store’s weekly parking lot remote car races were devastated. Hobby Town’s parking lot is transformed into a small racetrack each Sunday during the season for participants to compete with their hobby-grade high-speed remote cars.

“They understand why we're doing it, so I think they know how it works,” she said.

The couple bought into the Lincoln, Neb.-based Hobby Town franchise in 2016, replacing the hobby store Box-Kar Hobbies in that location.

She said shipping and manufacturing inventory is more expensive due to supply chain disruptions.

“You can't get product because it's on back order or it's in a crate or in a shipping container somewhere,” she said. “When you just sit down and stop to think about all the costs that are going to go into it in the way inflation is going right now, I don't think it's going to stop any time soon.”

At the height of the pandemic, Musetta said dedicated customers continued to purchase projects from the store, which had closed for two weeks.

“We just opened with shorter hours for a while just to give some people time so they could stop and get their supplies,” she said.

On Wednesday, the first day of the Hobby Town final sale, 85 customers lined up outside of the store. Musetta said there was a steady flow of customers throughout the day.

Ian Hessing, a longtime Hobby Town customer, said he buys some materials at the store for his business, Charlie’s Plastic Models.

“I actually have been coming to this building before it was Hobby Town,” he said. “ … I’ve been coming here since I was 16.”

There aren’t a lot of small businesses left with hobby merchandise, he added.

“It is sad to see stores like this go,” Hessing said. “A lot of people like to come in and look around and see and touch and look at what you are buying.”

Musetta said remote control car parking lot races will continue until the season is over on Oct. 8. She added that the couple also will keep helping with remote control car races on the Iowa RC Oval Racing in Palo.

“My husband told me I need to take some time off because I haven't had a vacation in like six years,” she said about plans after the store closes.

“I think owning your own business, you see the other side that most of the time you do not see as a consumer.”

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