The Story of Jix Hobbies

Jix Hobbies first opened its doors in August 1950 in Pretoria Central. Jix Hobbies was founded by Dr. Welgemoed, Mr. Sturdy and an unknown third party.

The name ‘Jix’ bares no acronym nor meaning, although many believed it to have contained one. The name was chosen purely for its uniqueness and simplicity and has since gathered a strong reputation in the local scale model industry.

Jix Hobbies originally started with the purpose to trade in radio-controlled aircraft and other goods, including records. Over the years, the field and ranges of products in the store have changed.

In 1952 Monty Malherbe, ex-SAAF, joined the Jix team creating an influential position for himself in the radio-controlled flying community. Monty’s flying skills played a role in promoting and developing radio flying in South Africa. He was also rewarded for his hard work by the Federation of Aeronautics International (FAI).

Nord Gerneke joined the Jix team in 1973 and was shortly followed by Terry Brown. Nord and Terry were avid radio flyers and frequently competed in international and local competitions. Upon Monty’s untimely death in 1978, Jix was taken over by Nord and Terry. Throughout their time at Jix they expanded the range of products available. The stores ranges grew further including R/C cars, Plastic Kits, Slot Cars, Model Railways and the tools and paints necessary for these hobbies. This led to Jix carrying brands such as Tamiya, Airfix, Italeri, Humbrol, Scalextric, Hornby, Revell and Hasegawa.

Jix Hobbies is currently located in Menlyn Retail Park in Pretoria East, which has been it’s home since the late 90’s.

Julian Bishop, the new owner of Jix Hobbies, has a strong vision and plan for the store’s future. Since Julian has taken up the mantle, the range of products have further increased and will continue to grow.

Jix Hobbies is not only a store for men and their ‘toys’ but for the whole family as well. Jix now caters a whole new family orientated board game section featuring games such as Catan, Dixit and Ticket to Ride. There is also an extensive section of puzzles which includes brands like Educa, Castorland, Clementoni, Heye, Wasgij and more. The radio-controlled section now includes Scale Crawlers such as Traxxas TRX-4, Element RC and SSD, on top of that, Jix caters for all the scale accessories that are available for the crawlers like Yeah-Racing, SSD, Proline etc.

Jix Hobbies currently imports and sells brands such as Ammo by Mig Jimenez, Takom, G.W.H, Kinetic, Warlord Games: Bolt Action and Redgrass Games.

Ammo by Mig Jimenez has become a “one stop” scale model brand; bringing experience and imagination together to create fan favourite products. Ammo is one of the top 1000 growing companies in Europe and the ‘ammunition’ of modelling as of late. Ammo brings smooth flowing and easy-going paints and washes to the modelling industry.

Warlord Games is a designer, manufacturer and distributor in detailed miniatures in plastic and metal resin, specialising in tabletop games. Jix sells the Bolt Action range of Tabletop games. Bolt Action allows you to command famous battles of the Second World War including battles from Blitzkrieg, North Africa, the D-Day Landings and many more. Bolt action allows one to paint and weather figures and armoured vehicles as well as play an enthralling strategy game with them.

This is only the beginning; Julian has many plans for Jix. 2018 was the start, with a complete store revamp, 2019 saw a new offering of ranges and brands. 2020 also has many surprises in store.

Jix is an ever-evolving store but we have not lost or forgotten our roots. We pride our self on our great customer service, range of quality products and creating a fun experience for all members of the family.