Hood River Hobbies celebrates a special milestone May 10-12: Its 20th anniversary.
The Ruhlen family — Miko and Zed, and children, D.C. and Connor — took over the hobby shop from John Frick and Dave Fretz in April 2011; Frick and Fretz opened the store in 1999, rebuilding to the current footprint after a fire on Oct. 6, 2006.
What started on a shoestring budget has been slowly developed into the full-fledged hobby store it is today, carrying traditional products, said Miko Ruhlen.
“We have added a lot of variety to the store in order to compete in a more challenging internet-driven market,” she said.
The store carries a diverse array of products, the most popular of which are radio-controlled (RC) cars and games such as Magic the Gathering and Pokémon.
“Board games have become popular in recent years and are a great seller — and a great thing because it helps people connect without screens,” Ruhlen said.
There have been numerous changes since the Ruhlens took over, she said, from the addition of more female-oriented hobby products to family-friendly community events such as rocket building and launch classes.
“We feel that it is important to connect people with others that share their hobbies and interests,” she said. “We provide a space that people can try out one of our games any time when other events aren’t going on.”
Employees are part of the family as far as the Ruhlens are concerned. Longtime employee and Assistant Manager Michael Snedecor has been with them since 2012.
“Most people think he is the owner, and if they don’t know him by name, they call him ‘the guy with the beard,’” Ruhlen said. “He is our radio-control specialist, but also loves to play games with customers and gently tease the kids who come to hang out.”
Max Spears, a Hood River Valley High student, is another employee, whom they met when he started playing at the store’s Magic club in middle school; Luke Samuels, who attends high school in White Salmon, also works at the store and helps run Magic tournaments.
The couple’s sons also help: D.C. helps run the Pokémon and Magic clubs, as does Connor, although his favorite activities are to work the register and fly and drive RC vehicles.
“It’s a great experience for them,” she said. “And for me, they are the heart of the shop.”
Hood River Hobbies will celebrate its anniversary with raffle entries all weekend and special prizes at its Friday Magic events, Ruhlen said. On Saturday morning, it’s Donuts and Demos at 10 a.m., “where people can come, have a treat, check out some of our products, get raffle entries and hang out,” she said. There will also be some rocket kids and model kits to build.
At 11 a.m. on Saturday, there will be a rocket launch in association with the Gorge Rocket Club, and on Sunday at 2 p.m., board game demos and the raffle drawing take place.
The Ruhlens came to Hood River after falling in love with the area; Miko is from San Francisco and Zed from Seattle. The two worked as bird field biologists in Point Reyes, Calif., and then in the Owens Valley, also in California.
The couple began living in Hood River fulltime in 2004. She worked as a waitress at the Wildflower Cafe in Mosier and at Sushi Okalani for a time while Zed worked at Mt. Hood Meadows, and eventually found bird field work with a consulting company. But in 2011, “funding for projects we were working on was drying up, and so when Zed discovered the hobby shop was closing, he came home and said, ‘Oh no, we have to save it’ — he was a long time RC flying hobbyist,” she said. “That is basically how our journey began.”
Zed is now employed by Collins Aerospace in Hood River, but serves as the shop’s IT guy, and is the “RC repair master,” she said. He additionally teaches rocket and RC classes and acts as liaison with local RC airplane and sailing clubs.
“The shop has been a labor of love for my family,” Ruhlen said. “How have we managed to stay in business in the current retail apocalypse climate? A lot of hours of hard work, dedication by staff and volunteers, loyal customers, lots of time researching new products and getting advice from local business SBA (Small Business Association) counselors on inventory control and business management, sacrificing lots of vacations, not expecting to get paid for all the hours or get rich, oh, and more hard work.
“It looks fun. And it is really fun, but there is a lot that happens behind the scenes to make it fun for us and for the community,” she added. “We just do the best we can and hope that customers keep supporting us so the hobby shop can continue to be a part of the community for another 20 years.”
For a full list of Hood River Hobbies’ weekly activities, visit hoodriverhobbies.com.
Commented