hobby shops succumbing to mail order

When my sister moved to Georgia about 8 years ago, she asked me if I thought her husband would have a hard time because he's Jewish. I told her certainly not.

Of course as soon as they found out that he was not only a New Yorker, but a Mets fan as well..... ;-)

(I think I've told you, Froggy, that they live in L'ville, too.)

Peter King in NY

Jerry, I don't think the hobby shop inspired most of us to get into the hobby. In my case it was a Christmas catalog back in 1956. I saw and wanted a train set. Next it was the magazines and layout features that sparked me up. I know there are some great hobby shops around, but I have not been in one. My limited experience of maybe visiting 20 or so would do more to discourage than inspire. Many do not have layouts in store and the ones I have seen are way below my standards. The old double loop of Atlas snap track with slap together plastic structures and ground foam sprinkled over paper mache MAY do more to discourage an adult modeller than inspire. And looking at a bunch of boxes full of kits never did much for me. I would rather browse the Walthers catalog than stare at shelves full of boxes. Nope, I can do just fine without hobby shops. I am sorry to see their demise. I do wish there were more around, BUT model railroading will continue with or without them. Just look at the sheer numbers of products available today. It would seem the manufacturing and distribution sectors of the business are being well financed despite the demise of the local hobby shops! Something must be working. Don't get me wrong, I do prefer the old ways, but the world is changing. I'm just adapting. Doug

I know a former hobby shop owner who closed just last May. He was in business for several years. He finally got tired of losing business to mail order houses. Potential customers would come in and look at new products then run home and mail order it or buy it on Ebay for about the same amount he paid for it. His profit slowly slipped to nothing. He finally packed it in. He was one of the most pleasant hobby shop owners I have met. We have an excellent 3 rail shop here in KC but in order to stay in business he has to deep discount on his trains. They also sell other collectors item, dolls, bears, etc. I have often wondered if he would be able to make it if he was a train only shop. Jerry

I got re-acquainted with the hobby by coming to RMR!

:D

Kennedy

And this just serves to make my point. The shop owner IS doing what he has to do to survive by discounting. It is called competition and it is good in the long run.

Don't get me wrong, I would much prefer to go to a B&M shop with all things being reasonably equal. The vast majority of my collection was ORDERED through a shop that gave a great discount. Unfortunately I moved away and have yet to find one half as good. Also, I would pay more to shop at places like Des Plaines Hobbies (I lived within reasonable driving distance at one time and did shop there).

But, to be EXPECTED to support a poorly stocked hobby shop that has employees who are only interested in R/C cars or planes is unreasonable. The shop owner MUST meet my needs if he expect my business. Lets get off of the kick that we, the customers, are here to insure the survival of the shop owner who does not serve us.

The shops adapt or disappear and I for one am okay with either because I am not within 3 driving hours of a decent shop but am within a few minutes of an on-line order.

Allen Cain

I think it was buying a Model RR on impulse. ONce I got a bit interested, I went online, figuring there has to be a model RR group. Sure enough, RMR here I came!

There are two hobby shops where I've been to regularly; I go there to buy wargaming stuff when I was into that a long time ago. Or, various plastic models for the same. So, it's not that I've never been into one of those.

I suspect I did wander through the model RR stuff, in fact I know at one store, I bought a Walthers catalog. But, not for RR stuff, I was looking for buildings and terrain to run various games at gaming conventions. Wandering through the RR section didn't get me going on becoming a model railroader.

Kennedy

This is exactly what should be happening, a shop cannot live on the 100% markup they were used to in the 1980s and early 1990s. The new competition means you have to live on 20%. Before, you could order a couple of everything new and sell half of it and make your money back and then whatever else sold was your profit, even it you marked it down during your "Spring Cleaning Sale" or "After Christmas Blowout".

Now, the guys have to compress their train stuff so they only carry what their customers want. Put in a descent "Customer Order" policy, minimal (or no) money down and fast (2-3 day) delivery. Communicate with your customers. If you tell him you can order it, as soon as you have the thing ordered , confirm with thte customer that it is ordered, when it will be in and how much. Then as soon as it gets there, let the customer know. This confirms that the customer still wants it and gives the retailer a timeline for pick up.

Also branch out and carry related items, videos/DVDs, car and airplane models, possibly a small section for craft items, become an all rounded "Hobby" store and not just a train store.

Adapt and expand to survive.

I don't know of one of my friends who got into mode; railroading because they went to a train store and said "Gee, I should buy a train set."

Most got into it after seeing someone else's layout. My Dad got into it when I was younger (10-11), why? Because a friend of his Uncle's had a layout in the basement. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario and had modelled the Hamilton harbour and Steel Mill route at one end of his basement and the Toronto Union Station and train yard at the other, with a couple of small stations and farms in between.

Then we went to a train show to get some other ideas, then to the Toronto Model Railroad Club on Hanna Avenue. My Dad was never one to join clubs, but he went once just to get ideas. Then he looked in the paper (no internet in

1965) to see if anyone had train stuff for sale. Ended up buying 2-3 boxes of stuff from a woman who's husband had passed away and she was selling his layout.

It was only AFTER he had his benchwork done and started laying track they he went to the local retailer to get more stuff.

Most people I have talked to got in the same way. Saw a working layout, went to a Club or Train show, then to the retailer.

My cat resembles that remark!

Dave

Which works well for me as we a definetly growing and I moved the shop into the middle of it all.

Dave

I've seen stores down here finally fold because of this. Turning your shop into a museum of outdated merchadise is a quick way out of business. I track old items (in fact it's part of a code on the labels we use. We see items sitting around then it's time to make folks an offer they can't refuse and use the proceeds to buy new.

Dave

refuse and use the proceeds to buy new.

Who do you see as the few national "super" dealers that dominate the model railroad business?

When I was looking for a DDC system, went into one of the shops and looked at a Digitrax system that was one of the older models, but suited by purposes perfectly. He blew the dust off the box and told me he still wanted full price for it. A year later, I went to the same store and he still had the same box sitting there. Made no sense at all.

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