Portal and E-com Site Offers Hobbies Galore - Brief Article

Brandweek, Oct 18, 1999 by Susan Kuchinskas

To some, the Web is hobby enough. Those who prefer train sets now have eHobbies.com, an information and commerce site launching today. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based vertical portal goes live with six categories, including model trains, radio-controlled toy vehicles and rocketry. Co-founder and CEO Brad Sobel said he started with these avocations because they make up the standard offerings of a full-line hobby shop, "except, there are only 4,000 hobby shops in North America, so it's tough for the hobbyist to find the shop and the selection."

The site will include articles, tips and information from experts and third-party sources, and a community area. "The model is not, I come, I shop, I leave," Sobel said.

Community tools will come from various partners; to date, an agreement with San Francisco-based eGroups.com will provide technology to set up public and private discussion areas, chats, calendaring and messengering.

An eHobbies store will be operated directly by eHobbies, and is expected to be a major source of revenue along with advertising on the site.

The eHobbies site will be marketed directly to enthusiasts, with direct mail and e-mail to associations, and a mix of online and print publications. Siegel & Gale, Los Angeles, handled the print campaign; the online component was done independently by several creative shops. The online buy includes keywords on search engines and placement on major portals, with media handled in-house. Sobel would not disclose the budget, but said it was in the multiple millions for this quarter.

The site will continue to expand its categories. "Although we're going after the core market here," Sobel said, "there's great opportunity for what the industry calls retreads--people who have fallen out of the hobby and rediscover it. We'll also introduce [hobbies] to the new generation of younger kids. The industry doesn't know how to promote itself very well, and we'll give them a level of exposure they haven't bad in a long time."

The company founded in February, is the first to be funded by eCompanies Venture Group, the Santa Monica venture capital firm started by Sky Dayton, founder and chairman of Earthlink, and Jake Winebaum, former chairman of Buena Vista Internet Group.