[AT WORK]
TOM WELLER >> I started in the store when I was 15, back in 1980. I was interested in hobbies, and my dad was interested in retailing, so we combined the two and opened a hobby shop in Kailua, Weller's Hobbycraft. I own the shop now; I bought Dad out several years ago so he could retire. Store owner
Young hobbyist Tom Weller has
taken over the store he started
with his dad 21 years ago
By Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.comBusiness has been pretty steady -- a lot of people have hobbies, whether its macrame or jewelry-making or painting or modelbuilding or whatever. You have to be flexible to serve customers' needs. But since the New York attack there have been fewer people, and fewer still are spending now. I'm trying not to worry about it.
I like being my own boss, being an independent retailer. If I were in a mall, the mall managers would tell me when to open and close my own store. In Hawaii, you're also dealing with the high cost of retailing and shipping.
But I get to spend the days indoors and in air-conditioning, which is nice. I'm in Kailua, where I live, so the commute is short. And I get to talk to all the interesting people who stop by, and that's as true in my 21st year here as it was in the first.
AT WORK is a weekly Star-Bulletin feature that shows and tells what people do for a living in their own words. Send comments and submissions to business@starbulletin.com.