Uncle Don's Hobby Shop Thrives

Uncle Don’s Hobby shop in Palm Desert is more than just a store that sells mechanical airplanes, trains and cars. It’s become the focal point of a community of racers.

Glen Dederick and his 10-year-old daughter Breanna, who come to the store weekly from their Desert Hot Springs home, race model cars together in Palm Desert, Beaumont and San Jacinto.

“We were heading out to another track and she said, ‘I want my own truck,’” he said.

The hobby is an extension of his racing at the Perris Speedway.

“Since she’s got into it, we’ve been doing it a lot more, at least a couple nights a week,” the 36-year-old said.

Dederick, whose father was a racecar driver, said he’s easily spent $6,000 at the store in the past few months. Her dad said he has wanted her to race “since she was born.”

Breanna said she’s learned the mechanics of the cars and she enjoys the challenge of racing.

Kevin Koch, who has owned the store for the past seven years, recently expanded and renovated the store because of its popularity at Fred Waring Drive and Town Center Way.

Koch said he was the store’s biggest customer before he decided to take it over from the previous owner.

Customers mostly buy mechanical planes and cars, he said. The new space includes a repair area and more space for the planes and trains.

The train area will include a model train that runs around the ceiling.

Don DuBose, “Uncle Don,” started the store in 1955 in Palm Springs.

Koch said his favorite part of the job is helping local kids find a toy they enjoy.

“The kids will come in and say ‘Yeah, I want that!,’” Koch said.

Mechanical boats can go up to 50 mph and the AR Drone can be flown with an iPhone or Droid, he said.

His store sponsors the off-road track behind the Desert Crossings shopping center in Palm Desert, and the Coachella Valley Radio Control Club in Thermal.