It's a shame they didn't sell it to other dedicated toy enthusiasts, or let family members take over.
That happened locally with TWO of the best hobby shops. The first one, Handicraft Supplies, was closed and all the merchandise auctioned off. It was a sham, actually, as I was at the auction and bought a fair amount, but the auctioneers somehow rigged a deal with Ross Robertson, the owner, and they shut down the auction early announcing all the remaining merchandise had been bought. Turned out it was the auctioneers themselves who took it all. I never bothered to follow up on any of it. I was too angry.
The thing to the auctioneers is that I found out after that Ross didn't think his olde stock in the basement was worth anything because it was old so he threw it all out. A full rental bin in the alley full. I was in the basement shortly before it closed and the whole basement of the store was filled with shelving FULL of old model kits from the 50s and 60s and 70s. At least they auctioneers didn't get any of it.
Anyway, he just closed his doors instead of selling it to his employees or someone else who would have operated it.
Broadway Hobbies and Crafts went the same route. Except the employees approached the owner to buy it from her and she refused to sell it to them. Repeatedly. She kept on telling them that nobody would want such a place. Even though they had everything arranged to buy it. It makes no sense.
So now the city is stuck with one place that's only okay. They cater to RC and that's about it. That was their key selling point when they were in competition but they didn't think beyond their old ways and expand out to cover the models the other places were selling so now we have a pretty poor hobby selection in the city.
As for the prices, maybe that is why Indigo and Chapters now has prices the same as Playmobil instead of being significantly cheaper on the big sets...