Remember last December when I posted about Dengeki Hobby's Super Modelers closing down in February? The reason for the shop to close down was not (and still not at the moment) explained, but it clearly related (negatively) to the worsening recession we are suffering right now.
But to that I said, "I believe it's better not to be too pessimistic about the news before further information is out ^^ "
And thank goodness I believe in that still. ^^
SuperModelers didn't diminish completely. It's now transformed into Dengeki Hobby Workshop (電撃ホビー工房), with its shop located shifted (I guessed that right ^^) and has started business since February 14th. The new location is indicated in this paragraph of Japanese text from the original news:
アキバの街からは一時姿を消していたが、2月14日に秋葉原駅から程近いアソビットゲームシティの2階に再び姿を現した。
It's in Akihabara alright, but I don't want to depend on Google Translate to give you its new address. Might send you all the way to Hokkaido instead XD
Anyway, a lot of goodies in this new store as you can expect. Apart from selling everything related to modeling, the demonstration booth is inherited from SuperModelers for invited modelers to showcase their skills.
With LCD monitor for clearer view too ^^
Yamazaki Gunsou (ヤマザキ軍曹, does many non-Gundam models) displayed his skills on the first day (February 14th), and Master Sekita (マイスター関田氏) came on the next day. Both of them are prominent modelers with with many featured work in Dengeki Hobby.
It certainly isn't easy running a hobby store nowadays, given that people are cutting the expenditure on hobby products for more basic necessities or to save up for the future. This is especially true for Japan, which took a hard hit in the face of the current crisis. So I really salute the folks at Dengeki Hobby Workshop for choosing to continue in this business. For those as customers like you and me, I believe that as long as it doesn't hurt you, hobby like Gunpla-ing doesn't have to be given up, and one can still spend on buying model kits.
All of us have to work harder to continue our dreams ^^
News and images from ASCII Dot JP, also mentioned on Katsumi Kawaguchi's Blog.
