Business Focus - Hobbytown USA
Hobbytown USA appeared in Wilsonville last year just in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Of the experience, co-owner Jesse Herro recalls it was "very much trial by fire." He says the learning curve happened very quickly.
And they’re still going strong.
By "they" I mean Jesse and his wife Iveta, the other co-owner of Hobbytown. After college, with a degree from Wisconson State University in Economics and Russian, Jesse liked the Northwest, and settled here to work in IT - for ten years. He later ventured down under to New Zealand, where he met Iveta, spent four years, and then returned to the states.
Upon their trip back to the states, Jesse and Iveta stopped to visit family in Wisconson. A lifelong fan of games starting with Dungeons & Dragons at the age of 10, Jesse has continued to be a fan of games. So, when he went to visit the game/hobby store he had grown up shopping at, Napoleons, he was appalled to find it gone.
Hobbytown USA was nearby, so he went there instead. Once inside, says Jesse, "I knew that this was what I wanted to do."
Returning with his wife to the Northwest, they set about opening up a Hobbytown USA franchise in Wilsonville.
Although people see Hobbytown as primarily an RC planes, tranes and automobiles shop, Jesse has tried to make sure it is way more than that.
The shop boasts activities for the whole family. From Thomas the Tank Engine components to puzzles to a set of jacks, the options are immense.
It is Jesse’s hope to develop a sense of community. He does this by offering game times for all ages to come and try out a variety of collectible card games. The store does, also, offer to demo other games and items in the store.
Jesse feels "Games are a good, healthy and clean option for fun. Some of the benefits of playing games such as these are mind building, and social contact." Most of the games are intended for at least two or more.
"I feel like its (playing games) been a positive influence for me, anyway."
Jesse and Iveta really do want people to come try out the games, and meet others who play. So, as I mentined, they offer game times. (See Local Events for current offerings.)
"You don’t have to own a deck of the collectible cards to come and play," Jesse points out. Hobbytown will provide them if an interested person wants to learn to play.
Hobbytown USA is located in the complex on the north end of Wilsonville where Costco and Target are located, next door to Pizza Schmizza and Payless Shoes.
"It’s more stimulating to play games with other people than to sit in front of a television," points out Jesse, "I sense there is an audience for family game nights."
He may be right.
