Well I found out the unfortunate news that the last full service hobby shop, that I am aware of in Northern Virginia, is closing its door for good June 15th. Granddads Hobby Shop closing takes the last place with any reasonably good selection of N scale equipment, structures, parts, and building material, out of the area. While there are a few of the mall and strip shop hobby places around most of them I've found had little of the supplies I needed as a scratch builder, and even less of a selection of N scale. With the only large selection now within about 1.5 hours drive at woo woo woo Kliens and with them losing thier old home and maybe relocating, who knows. Plus with gas at over $3 a gallon I'm already passing up shows I would have gone to in the past. Add that to the problems I've had over the years with ordering anything, and getting everything I''ve ordered, if at all, I'm going to be experiencing a substancial downturn in my hobby activities. I've had stuff on order now for over six months, and some decals going on 2 months that I've yet to see hide nor hair of. I'm thinking that my fishing pole and garden are going to see more of me this year than my workbench.
John, This seems to be a worrying trend however did they have an online store? I firmly believe for any hobby store to survive they must also be online. It would be interesting if our advertisers could enlighten us on the percentage of online business to business from their stores.
They did have some sort of website. However I do not think it was ever agressively developed as it possibly should have been. Supposedly they may reopen in West Va. I also noticed that Kliens Gay Street site store is now closed and the new location is supposed to open on June 15. The old store location was pretty much a straight shot up the interstate for me, however haven't the foggiest of where the new site is in terms of time and milage.
here's a really good store with a heck of a selection of n scale: www.wholesaletrains.com its a hobby store near me and i go there all the time for my n scale train stuff if you ever need anything, let me know and i'll see what i can do for ya the shipping is fast (usually the same day), prices are good they also have garden railroad stuff, ho scale stuff, n scale stuff, radio controlled helicopters, planes, cars, trucks, boats, model train paint, people, decals, thomas the tank engine (if you have a little one that likes thomas anyways), scenery material, if they dont have it they can get it for ya no i don't work for them, but as much as i know about the store you could say i do
I ordered something from them in September, cancelled the order after seeing that they frequently took a long time to ship, they confirmed they had cancelled the order (charged a $5 cancellation fee), and then sent me one of the cars from the order in early May (about 8 months after I ordered) after Intermountain re-released it. They also charged me 8.95 for shipping, bring the cost of a single Intermountain covered hopper up to over $25. As I was just getting into the hobby, I assumed that when you buy something from a store, they have it in stock and will be sending it within a day or two. Having been in N scale for a few months now, I see how it works, and I think it needs to change. For new people entering the hobby, it's extremely important that online hobby shops act like any other online store. If you order something from Amazon, for example, it's in the mail the next day. It doesn't mean that the retailer's going to order it for you, wait for it to arrive, and send it to you when they get it. The hobby needs more retailers like some train store.com, who have sites that function like online retailers should. They tell you what they have in stock, how much it's going to cost for shipping, and tell you (eventually) when the item has shipped. The LHS in my area doesn't bother calling me when the stuff I order from them comes in (and despite a discount from MSRP, it's still more expensive), and several other online shops I've done business with assume that it's okay to sell merchandise they don't have in stock without saying so ahead of time. Practices like that make it a pain in the rear-end to get into the hobby.
Today was also the last day for the old store at Collectible Toys and Trains in Dallas. They will have a new store nearby, but it will focus on Tinplate and O only. While they never really had a lot of N, it is another transition, and perhaps outright loss. I did manage to scavenge some stuff on the last day sale, however!
I have used Wholesale Trains before. The prices and shipping are reasonable. They will answer queries. I thought that they did take a bit longer to ship than other e-Tailers with whom I have dealt, but I would use them again. I would be prepared to wait, though. That is not such a big deal as long as I am aware that I must wait before I order. Sorry to see that Grandad's is going. I never did go there. I liked Obie's, until he closed years past. After that, it was either shows or woo woo woo. It is going to be an even longer drive in the new location, which means more on-line ordering an saving up a big list for the trek to woo woo woo.
Was in DC last year on business and stopped by GrandDad's, it was a nice show and had a huge collection of back issues for reference. It is a shame, that LHS are are going by the wayside. soumetimes I wonder how the new, younger modelers will ever find this Hobby with out them...
Sad to hear. While the internet does have its good points, it is killing the average LHS. Long gone are the days of sealing a deal with a handshake and talking to someone one on one.:sad:
Ya, In Vancouver we are losing a hobby shop this month too. Pacific Scale Rail, who has been around for like 30 years, announced a few weeks ago that they are going out of buisness. That makes 2 vancouver are ones to go in the last few years.
WOW Pacific Scale Rail is very well known....I have heard of them here in Minnesota. I purchase a fair share of items at my LHS. But bigger items like Locomotives, DCC, and large track purchases I do online due to the fact that I will save hundreds of dollars by doing so. Still, I would hate to loose my LHS which is why I do spend some money there often. I often but a few items (small) once a month or so when I go there to pick up N Scale Railroading or other publications.
I have had very good transactions with woo woo woo woo woo woo's website. good deals and fast shipping on five transactions so far.
On a positive note, we just had a model train store open in our little town --Singer's Hobbies. He's knocking himself out to satisfy customers and also does a lot of internet sales, including internationally. His prices are good and he's a retailer for Micro Trains and Intermountain and Walthers, among others. I'm purposing to purchase through him for all my "new" stuff. NOS like my RF16's and FA1's and ERIE Mikado's I still get through eBAY.
Brian K, I see you are located in Japan. How are the LHS there? Do you get better prices on the Kato & tomix items? Also how is space for you to set up a layout? I remember when part of a town growing up was there was a LHS in each one, it was part of the community. Kleins is great because it has a vast inventory which a LHS can't do, either because of space or cash flow. It's like the little shop owner trying to compete against Walmart.
A few FLHS owners that I know who cashed out blamed on-line sales for their demise; they stated that they could not compete with the e-Tailers in price, especially those guys who kept their stock in their garage. A few that I know did go back into the business, but are strictly on-line and at shows; they keep their stock in their garage, or maybe even a storage locker, but they can write off the rent. What really used to annoy the brick and mortar boys were the Lookie-Lookie Louies. They would come in, check out the product thoroughly, then leave it in the store. The FHLS owner would see Ol' L-L.L. with the product at a subsequent N-TRAK set-up and learn that L-L L. had bought it from an e-Tailer. I always preferred to buy from a brick and mortar guy that I knew because if there were ever a problem (and there were problems from time-to-time) the Brick and Mortar guy would replace it, no questions asked. There are some things that you simply can not buy on line, as well, you must actually see them. As I am not a L-L L., I will buy it from the guy who shows it to me, if I like it.
Having an internet presence as well as a local shop, I think, is the first wave of transitional shops. Logically, the next phase is to have one of the internet firms open a chain of small store fronts across the country. Large volume internet sales, with the coordination and pricing power to snag the walk-in crowd that internet shops miss. One of the fundamental flaws of the "hobby shop" is the east-west stock mismatch. When a new engine comes out, a local shop with walk ins will sell out of railroad names that match local prototypes very fast. Experienced modelers know that if you want a particular road name, you have to check at shops on the opposite end of the country. I've always wondered if a chain of shops could exist that rotated their stock so that unsold merchandise from the other shops could be rotated to increase walk-in "hits" for sales. woo woo woo woo woo woo is the closest so far to sensing this new business model, but they haven't fully grasped it yet. The most important phrase in many decades was on their web site: Local customers are encouraged to order items on our website for "In Store Pick-up" Items on this site may not be in our showroom. The above statement is revolutionary, but they probably didn't realize how important it really is for the future. Nurture it, and what you have is a distributed model of the "distributor". Yep, a distributed virtual stock model, Walthers for the Internet era!
For new people entering the hobby, it's extremely important that online hobby shops act like any other online store. If you order something from Amazon, for example, it's in the mail the next day. Ah, "usually", you might add. Just before our recent trip north I ordered a book from Amazon to be sent to my daughter's house in Texas where we would pick it up. A week and a half later, while already at her house, I received an email from Amazon that the book was now back ordered and expected delivery in June. Thanks. Admittedly, no cancellation charge. But no on-line ordering system, no matter how high powered, seems to be infallable. Just saying. Ed
I haven't found a LHS here on Okinawa that has train items. I have found an RC shop that sells everything under the sun for radio control though. When I make it up to Tokyo sometime this year, I'm going to check out the hobby shops that I found online and see if they are any cheaper. My guess is they may be more expensive as everything is here in Japan. I live in Air Force housing on Kadena AB (even though I'm Army ) and don't have space for a layout. I plan to start a small diorama that I can store in a closet in order to take pictures of my engines as I finish detailing them. The "big layout" is planned after I retire in 7 years and can finally settle down in one location. Thanks, Brian
Some business models as good as they look eventually just don't make it. After reading this post this weekend I noticed something, we often wonder where the future of our hobby will come from with so many kids on computer games and playstations. Well anyone remember Egghead Software Stores? And just this weekend I went to stop by my local CompUSA,,,,CLOSED for good! Turns out CompUSA has recently closed over 50% of their megastore locations nationwide. I'll also note that I grew up in the Atari/Nintendo age (dont forget Intelivision, Collecovison, Commodore 64s,) and I as well as many others my age and younger are still finding the Hobby.
