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Show Thursday, July 20, 2006 OREM GENEVA TIMES Page 5 WHO'S WHO AND WHAT'S HAPPENING Iff IN MilffcFTTlPT-1 J- iLL. iL XTPna a: x MIKE RIGGERTNorth County Scott Gentry is a salesman at the Hobby Stop, a destination for hobbyists in the valley for a decade, Hobby Stop specializes in scale model trains and plastic model kits. gtop MMbjf stoppnimg Odd Ben Carter NORTH COUNTY STAFF lucked away across the street from the University Mall, a local hobby business caters largely to a small group of loyal customers. The Hobby Stop has been selling model trains, cars, rockets rock-ets and other plastic models just off of State Street for 14 years. For 10 of those years it has been owned and run by Roger Mortenson and his wife Pauline. Most of the Mortensons' business comes from loyal repeat customers and word of mouth spreading among hobbyists. hob-byists. Their customer base is not limited to Utah, though. "We have regular customers in Spain, Germany, France, Brazil, Australia," Mortenson said. "We send things to Japan and Thailand." Customers from nearby parts of the United States will often call the Hobby Stop to place orders for merchandise and then come in within a few months to pick it up. Good customer service and a large inventory are the keys to maintaining a business busi-ness like the Hobby Stop. Mortenson said he has more trains, plastic models and paints than any store in Utah County. He makes special orders for customers and regularly orders products that he knows his customers want. "We're drawing customers from farther away, partly because be-cause (they) like the way we do business," Mortenson said. "People say we have more trains for example than any other train store in the state." Still, business tends to slow down at certain times of the year. Mortenson said he has seen a decline in business every ev-ery summer since he took over the shop. "It's kind of slow this time of year," he said. "People are doing outside things instead of inside things." Predictably, business tends to pick up again around the holidays. However, manufacturers manufac-turers can influence the shop's success any time of the year because they will build a new product and release it regardless regard-less of the season. Mortenson said, barring a new product, there's not a lot he can do to generate more business in the summer. "We just kind of work around it," he said. "We just try to stay in business until it picks up again. The online boom has helped the shop stay in business, as he maintains an eBay store, Mostly Trains. But it has been a double-edged sword. Sometimes Some-times online dealers sell products prod-ucts for less than the Hobby Stop's cost. Other times, customers come in to the shop to look at products they're considering buying online. Mortenson said sometimes those customers don't realize that his prices are comparable with online prices. Still, Mortenson said without Hobby Stop Location: 327 E. 1200 South, Orem Phone: 266-7947 Online: Mostly Trains, on eBay Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, Saturday Sat-urday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hobby Stop specializes in scale model trains, plastic model kits and hobby paints Mostly Trains he would most likely be out of business. "We have to work harder to maintain our customer base because things are tight, especially espe-cially in the state." ticker FireHouse Car Wash opens FireHouse Car Wash, a new, full-service car wash, opened Monday to the public in American Fork. The business busi-ness is located at 83 N. West State Road in American Fork. The car wash's features make FireHouse Car Wash unique, including the fireman fire-man theme that is prevalent throughout all aspects of the business; the FireHouse Cafe that serves fountain drinks, coffee, sandwiches and muffins muf-fins to hungry pal rons; free wireless Internet service and a computer Internet kiosk available to customers while they wait for their vehicle; and family -friendly features such as three interactive fireman fire-man stations and a toy fire truck for children to ride. Single debuts as hit Brandie I'rampton's debut single "Day By Day," has achieved Top 10 status on the New Music Weeklv AC Hot AC Top 30 Indie Chart, Top 20 on the AC Hot Main Chart, Top 40 on the Hot 100 Chart and is seeing great chart action on the Country Main Chart. Since debuting on the charts, the Lindon resident's debut single has garnered more than 6,000 spins. "In my 25 plus years of working work-ing in radio I've seen only a handful of artist achieve this kind of success and it usually leads to bigger and better things," Deston Rogers of Rogers Entertainment Promotions Pro-motions said. Fans can see a video on Frampton at www. brandief rampt on com. Alpine Lock & Safe moves to AF Alpine Lock & Safe has moved to a new location on American Fork's Main Street. The company is now at 67 W. Main St., just a few blocks east of its previous location. lo-cation. They may be reached at 756-8100. The firm offers 24-hour service, but is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. mmfM L E H I 380 East Main Street Lehi 766-5336 Come and Welcome our New Doctor M PI 1 I I ur. Maron r. namaenain l w jx- ."iiimui He is happy to be here and ready Hospitu to care for your pets! Post Office 3rd East I-I5 I-xil Main St V Central Utah Clinic is pleased to UH'fOfW Karl N. 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