How long-term relationships, international distributors and a shared passion for the hobby helped carry Guillow’s far beyond Massachusetts.
For 100 years, Guillow’s has called Wakefield, Massachusetts home.
But the airplanes made there have traveled much farther.
Across generations, Guillow’s model airplane kits and flying toys have found their way to hobby shops, distributors and customers around the world. That international reach did not happen all at once. It grew through products people trusted, relationships built over decades and partners who understood that selling model airplanes internationally required much more than putting boxes on a ship.
One of the most important of those relationships has been with International Hobbycraft.
A Partnership with Roots in Balsa
Guillow’s and International Hobbycraft formally began working together in November 2004, but the connection between the companies reaches further back through the history of the American balsa glider business.
Joel Davis of International Hobbycraft traces that history through his father, Bernard Davis, who represented North Pacific, a well-known manufacturer of inexpensive balsa airplanes. North Pacific later became associated with Comet, and after that business closed, Guillow’s acquired many of the glider assets.
For Joel, the eventual relationship with Guillow’s was a natural evolution of a business his family already knew well.
The International Hobbycraft relationship was originally negotiated with then-Guillow’s President Al Smith. From there, the two companies began building a partnership focused on taking Guillow’s products into established and emerging hobby markets overseas.
Current Guillow’s CEO, Thomas Barker, sees that international reach as one of the enduring strengths of the company’s story.
“It is rewarding to think that products made here in Wakefield have been enjoyed by generations of builders around the world. Our international partners have played an important role in making that possible.”
Building an International Market
By 2005, Guillow’s already had meaningful international demand.
The Hobby Company in the United Kingdom was its largest overseas distributor at the time. In 2017, the Guillow’s line transitioned to J. Perkins Distribution, which remains an important overseas distributor. Australia also became a major market through Dawn Trading and later Hobbies Australia.
Initially, Guillow’s scale model kits were the strongest part of the international product mix, with balsa gliders following closely behind.
Over time, several markets became particularly important. Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia have traditionally been among the strongest international markets for American hobby manufacturers.
But reaching those markets involved much more than finding a customer and taking an order.
More Than Exporting Boxes
International Hobbycraft built its business around export sales, particularly within the hobby industry.
For decades, its strength has been developing personal relationships with distributors around the world while handling the complicated details that come with international trade.
That includes coordinating overseas shipments, attending international trade shows, managing export logistics and taking responsibility for overseas receivables.
As Joel Davis explains:“Traveling the world for decades, developing personal relationships with international distributors has always been our number one strength.”
Those relationships helped Guillow’s move from individual export opportunities toward a more organized international distribution strategy.
And in the hobby business, relationships matter because the product itself is personal.
A distributor is not simply selling a box. They are introducing someone to model building, aviation history, a first flight or perhaps a hobby that will last a lifetime.
Around the World, Face to Face
For decades, international trade shows played a major role in making those relationships possible.
Years ago, the hobby industry supported a circuit of important European shows in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Eventually, many became more locally focused while the Nuremberg International Toy Fair emerged as the major international gathering for the industry. International Hobbycraft maintained a presence there for more than 50 years.
It was where manufacturers, distributors and retailers could meet face to face, introduce products and strengthen business relationships that might span continents.
But the international hobby market has changed dramatically.
By 2026, with fewer hobby distributors attending Nuremberg and the cost of participating continuing to rise, International Hobbycraft decided that the resources required for a major exhibit could be better invested in direct travel and personal meetings with distributors in their own markets and at local shows.
In some ways, the strategy changed.
The importance of personal contact did not.
What Makes a Partnership Last?
Business relationships frequently come and go.
Guillow’s and International Hobbycraft have worked together for more than two decades, surviving changes in leadership, technology, retailing and the hobby marketplace itself.
Joel summarizes the reason simply:
“Hard work and high standards of a true partnership.”
Trust, reliability, product quality, personal service and long-term relationships remain as important today as they were when the companies first began working together. Perhaps even more so.
The worldwide hobby industry is smaller than it once was, with fewer traditional distributors and independent dealers. That makes strong relationships with remaining international partners increasingly valuable.
From Brick and Mortar to the Digital World
How customers discover and buy hobby products has also changed.
For much of Guillow’s history, international distribution meant getting products into hobby stores where builders could discover them on a shelf, talk with knowledgeable store owners and become part of a local hobby community.
Today, more of that discovery happens online.
Joel sees that shift not as a reason to abandon the traditional distributor model, but as a reason to help international partners adapt.
“We need to embrace the way consumers shop today and continue to support international distributors as they fight to develop new strategies in each of their markets.”
That may mean new kinds of retailers, new online selling strategies, renewed educational opportunities and new ways to introduce hands-on model building to people who may never have walked into a traditional hobby shop.
Still Growing from Wakefield
A Guillow’s airplane may begin with balsa wood, plans, packaging and craftsmanship in Wakefield.
Its next stop could be almost anywhere.
For decades, Guillow’s products have traveled across borders because distributors and partners believed there was still something special about building an airplane with your own hands and then watching it fly.
The methods of international business continue to change. Markets evolve. Retailers come and go. Trade shows change. Customers increasingly shop online.
But some things endure.
A good product.
A trusted partner.
A shared commitment to the customer.
And the simple excitement of flight.
As Barker looks toward Guillow’s second century, he sees that same appeal continuing to create opportunities beyond the United States:
“As Guillow’s begins its second century, we still see opportunity to introduce model building and flying to new audiences around the world. The way people shop may change, but the enjoyment of building something with your own hands and watching it fly is timeless.”
One hundred years after Guillow’s began in Wakefield, that combination of craftsmanship, partnership and the enduring fascination with flight is still helping carry the company around the world.
