About 7-8 years ago I went to a old-school hobby shop for some specialist materials for a non-hobby home repair project. Imagine my surprise to find the shop dominated by a probably 30x60 foot 8- or 10-lane 1:24 slot car track. And wonder of wonders, two teenagers racing cars around it.
I remarked to my wife that I was about their age when last I saw a track in a store like this. I recall there were even a few dedicated storefronts that just were tracks plus they sold a few slot-car accessories. No full-service all-hobbies hobby shop involved.
[aside]
I find it interesting that the traditional hobby shops of our youth catered almost exclusively to male hobbies, whether kids or adults. Those are substantially extinct nationwide. OTOH, the craft-centric hobby shops, e.g. Hobby Lobby or Michaels, are thriving with a merchandise set and a clientele that is almost exclusively female, be they children or grown-ups. Plus of course smaller single-hobby dedicated stores such as fabric or quilting or scrapbooking or …
What has changed about society that male hobbydom has collapsed and female hobbydom has exploded between e.g. 1960 and 2020? Or is my perception mistaken?