Won't This Athearn Thing Be Good For The Hobby??

Agreed, Kennedy, and this from a fellow who in one thread is complaining about Mail Order houses and how they rip him off. In another thread he does not want to shop his LHS because they are not good and have nothing in stock he wants. Not sure where he is going to get his new toys.

So far I haven't found that one. Maybe a clue as to what state or country would help. I did go and look at several states and didn't see as yet one listed that did not list a storefront. I looked at:

I suppose it's possible for an operation to slide under the radar. Again without knowing who I couldn't say.

Dave

1. I am adapting. I am not buying Athearn anymore.
2. Just surrender? That is the spirit that made the USA great........NOT.

For someone who killfiled me, you sure read alot of my posts and comment on them...............

You don't see a difference between a free market decision by a privately held company and the actions of a people wanting change in how they are governed? I would have been there dumping tea in the bay all the while hoping one day there would be a government in the Colonies that among other things would protect the rights of privately held companies to be able to purchase other privately held companies and operate them as they saw fit so long as they operated ethically and lawfully.

Athearn is now Horizons to do with as they wish.

Jim

Actually there are actually quite a few distributors and they all have many other lines besides Athearn. Stevens International (whom I use for certain plastics and detail items) for one.

Dave

Actual minimums for reatilers are generally about $100 dealer cost of shippable product. Not much of an order for the vast majority of hoby shops. Can't make a $100 order then I'd be surprised to find them in business for long.

Dave

You mean you don't sell $500.00 worth of product in a month? Do you have a B&M? How can you pay for your expenses and get enough to live on?

There are about 30 distributors of model railroad products.

Jim

I am running my own business up here, Huntsville has 18,000 while Bracebridge (35KM south) has 9,000.

My company is computer related. I sell, service and train also do DVD production. Not a big business, but it gives me the freedom and money to do what I want.

It is in Bracebridge that "The Right Track" is located, he gets business from all over. The nearest big city, Barrie, is another hour south on Hwy

2. "The Right Track" in Bracebridge carries model RR as well as car and airplane models and RC.

1/2 his store is trains, the local club has 18 active members and runs 2 train shows a year. The guy seems to be doing good with his store, everytime I am there he has a couple of customers and they always seem to be buying something. The owner goes out of his way to listen to his customers and then brings in the product that he thinks they would like.

I see a lot of "Free Market" decisions such as moving jobs overseas to Mexico and India. I see a lot of "Big Business" decisions that are made in the name of profits and their shareholders.

I also see a lot of pissing and moaning about how jobs are going overseas and the working class getting shafted, and how all big businesses aren't for the little guy.

Given your comment, we should just roll over and accept those changes because they're happening and all the pissing and moaning isn't going to change a thing. But, if it has to do with the Government, it's all different?

The main thing is that we can roll over and accept Horizon doing what they will with Athearn, but we can't roll over and accept what a company does by cutting jobs and moving them overseas, or doing a pseudo-Enron. Because as long as it isn't illegal, we should just accept it.

Businesses can do what the will. But, we don't have to just sit there and take it.

Kennedy

Thanks. Those are the guys that might have more to worry about, if the Horizon thing causes them to lose business.

Kennedy

Paul,

Let's take the worst case scenario that no show sellers can get new Athearn from distributors. Just imagine what that will do to the secondary market. Guys will be pulling all those blue boxes off the shelves and selling them at shows, your show. Assuming there is still demand for those blue boxes that is. If that is the case it would only serve to increase the number of individual sellers who attend your shows to sell their Athearn. A lot of us go to shows for the old and out of production stuff anyway, not new items.

And those guys who used to sell new Athearn at your shows will switch to Accurail, Atlas, MDC, or product they can get from distributors other than Horizon.

I've seen it happen at shows again and again. The out of production stuff ends up on dealer tables at shows, or more recently on eBay.

If you've been around train show hasn't that been your experience too?

I'm optimistic this will have no adverse effect on the hobby. It could have the potential to be a positive step toward strengthening the competition against Walthers.

Jim

No, the worst case scenario is that all other companies do the same thing as Horizon is doing, and go exclusively to a single distributer that will not sell to anybody who isn't a brick and morter shop. Not jsut Athearn. If you note in my above text, that's what I said.

That will not last long. Maybe a show or two, but after that, the only ones that have non-Horizon Athearn cars are those that never put a sale price on anything.

Again, it won't last long. If people are blowing away old pre-Horizon blue boxes, they will sell out and have no stock left. This means they won't be back.

Again, please note what I said about other companies going exclusive. If other compaies follow Athearn's lead, then these dealers won't be able to get Accurail, Atlas, MDC or anything else, except used material (read: junk).

Big deal. There's no way to restock.

Sure, I go to a half dozen shows a year. And I always look for the OOP stuff. But you can't live off it as a dealer. There's just not enough stuff out there.

That's your opinion. IMHO, as long as Horizon does not sell to mail-orders and show dealers, this wll not be good for the hobby.

Paul A. Cutler III

************* Weather Or No Go New Haven *************

Well you missed where I told you I unfiltered you. Besides, I asked you a direct question about why this bothered you so much and you side stepped the answer. Normal for you I guess. Jerry

Finally! Someone who shares my opinion!

I, too, believe it will not be good for the hobby in the long run.

For a moment, put aside any convictions you may have that the "basement bombers" are poisonous to local hobbyshops' existence (when those that fail, do so to other factors, too). Also, for the sake of discussion, let's assume other manufacturers are NOT acquired by distributors.

Horizon's policy of selling to B&M stores exclusively, while cutting out non-B&M businesses and the "basement bombers," will have ultimate effect of REDUCING competition in the marketplace. This reduction comes in two areas: at the distributor level, and at the dealer level ("Dealer" is meant to include the itinerant show dealers and mail-order/internet firms, in addition to the brick-and-mortar storefront shops.)

Suppose a dealer has accounts with several distributors, whose product lines overlap to a degree. He benefits by being able to choose a given product from among his distributors at the lowest price for him, and, it is hoped, he passes the savings to his customer.

Now, by cutting out other distributors, all dealers are effectively FORCED to buy from one supplier to restock their Athearn merchandise, regardless of whether they're preexisting Horizon customers, or not. Horizon has the coveted position of being able to effectively "call the shots" (in a manner of speaking) where price is concerned. All else being equal, the customer ultimately pays more in the final analysis.

That the competition has been reduced may be great for the supplier of goods or services, but how does it help the consumer? Competition is the lifeblood of our economic system, and I've yet to find a single instance where reduced competition helps the consumer.

In a similar vein, I recently came across an article about cable television. One of the reasons why it tended to be so high in certain areas, according to our own federal government, was that only a single provider was in those areas. Where there were two or more cable operators -- you guessed it -- rates were lower than in surrounding areas with only the one operator. (Certain other factors came into play, but I'm concentrating on the competition aspect.) There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Dieter Zakas Competition, NJ