Silverdale’s one-stop hobby shop

HobbyTown USA celebrates grand opening this weekend.

Planes, trains and automobiles are just a few things that can be found at Silverdale’s one and only hobby shop.

HobbyTown USA is celebrating the grand opening of the Silverdale shop today and tomorrow at the store located across from Kitsap Mall and near FedEx Kinko’s on Myhre Place.

The national franchise has nearly 200 stores nationwide, but Jonathan Rosen, of North Bend, and Dave Mansius, of Vancouver, Wash., decided to add one more HobbyTown USA store in Washington.

Rosen’s father lives on Bainbridge Island and he frequently visits Silverdale with him on shopping excursions. He knew he and Mansius should open a hobby shop in the area.

“We’ve been looking out here for years,” Rosen said. “From day one we thought this would be a good place.”

Rosen and Mansius opened HobbyTown USA in Silverdale Sept. 27 and Rosen said people are slowly trickling in to see what the store has to offer.

“They’re pretty excited there’s actually a hobby shop out here,” Rosen said.

HobbyTown USA has everything one needs to make a model airplane, train or automobile, including paints, glue and all kinds of tools. The Silverdale store even has an extensive selection of naval aircraft carriers, including the soon-to-be decommissioned USS Kitty Hawk, and various submarines.

HobbyTown USA also sells games and radio control cars, planes, helicopters and boats.

Rosen and Mansius own and operate HobbyTown USA stores in South Center, Kennewick and Vancouver, Wash. as well as in Happy Valley, Ore.

Between the two of them, Rosen and Mansius have owned HobbyTown USA store for nearly 30 years.

This weekend’s grand opening festivities include sale pricing on items and store employees will hand out HobbyTown USA coupons to customers.

“We’ll have giveaways and sale pricing on everything, all that good stuff,” Rosen said.

Rosen said he and Mansius plan to open several new HobbyTown USA stores throughout the region and they can now check Silverdale off their list of potential locations.

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