The Best Industries For Starting A Business

Christine Lagorio | Inc.com staff

Fun, Games, and Hobbies

Stores that sell crafts, hobby goods, and musical instruments have been performing better than the retail industry as a whole.

 

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It's not just Guitar Hero: it's real guitars, bongos, and violas.

Past growth in hobby, toy, and game stores has been tied to general consumer spending, but these days stores that sell crafts, hobby goods, and musical instruments have been performing better than the retail industry as a whole.

AnythingResearch.com found a growth rate of 9 percent, which also took into account toy and game retailers. This might be a result of people cutting back on larger entertainment expenses and choosing instead to spend more on pastimes and skill cultivation.  

By the numbers:

Ranking of "hobby, toy, and game stores" in AnythingResearch.com's "fastest-growing industries that are hospitable to small businesses": 5

Year-over-year growth rate, according to AnythingResearch.com: 9 percent

Sales growth in "sporting goods, hobby, and musical instrument stores" for 2009, according to Sageworks: 3.22 percent

Christine Lagorio is a writer, editor, and reporter whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Village Voice, and The Believer, among other publications. She is executive editor of Inc.com. @Lagorio