Whats the deal with Athearn?

When you go to the Athearn website and check around the internet there are tons of listings for Athearn n-scale engine, cars, etc but all out of stock. Are they still producing n-scale or only HO? I really like the "Old time" 36foot cars, frieght and passenger and would like to get some, but the stuff isn't in stock anywhere.

So what is going on with Athearn? Are they HO only or what?

I want to get some small steam engines, 36' box, flat, and passenger cars maybe there longer pass. cars too, for a smaller (narrow gauge esque?) but still standard gauge n-scale RR on a door. Would love to find these items even if they aren't quite prototype (because I know that will come up when we talk about passenger cars!)

Thanks
Brian

 

They may not have any of the items you are looking for. Check Hobby shops that they sold their products to. I often look at their web site, then order from a hobby shop online that has the item in stock.

 

Brian is correct.

Most the websites I visit are indeed out of stock. That's pretty much an indicator that Athearn products are selling and customers are happy.

There are announcements and requests for pre-orders on items.

I'm not hot on pre-orders and I personally don't recommend we build the hobby on such. I like to see the locomotives run and hear reports of performance and durability... from others before I buy. Just my two cents on the subject.

Still if you want something bad enough the pre-order seems to be the way to go. Reserve your new item in advance.

I just finished a website search and found some Athearn products. To request these you will need to use my e-mail, to be found in my signature. Seems, this website is filtering out none sponsors.

 

As Rick mentions, it's a factor of the "Pre-Order" system we live in now. We no longer have the day of Athearn or anybody for that matter (except for some Bachmann and Model Power train set stuff) would just keep cranking out insane numbers of the same cars over and over and they would always be in stock.

Each month the manufactures make announcements, the dealers and distributors place pre-orders for those products. In a couple of months (more recently it seems like 9-12 months) the product arrives. The manufacture only builds the amount ordered plus a little surplus usually. It is their way of assuring that they don't have ton's of product to inventory which costs them money to set on. They paid for it to be built but if nobody buys it, they loose that money. The longer it takes to sell, the less profitable it is because it cost money to store and maintain an inventory on stagnant product.

This method allows us the huge variety of product that is available now. 20 years ago, if you didn't model one of the big roads, you were out of luck. They would only pick from a half dozen road names and stick those on everything, even if the road never had it. There was always product available, if you happened to want one of the roads they picked.

Now there is such a wide variety of stuff produced in so many niche markets, there is no way a manufacture could keep it all in stock at one time. There just isn't production volume available to do that. Production is already backed up 6 months to a year as is. Even if the big manufactures wanted to keep constant stock on everything they have made, it would be just about impossible. There aren't enough factories to produce it.

The cars you are looking for haven't been produced in aobut 3 years. There is a new batch due within the month. I think 4 roads, C&O, CN, DRGW, and one other. They are offering matching loco's and car sets. Be ready when they arrive and grab them while you can.

It's pretty much a rule of thumb in these times, if you see something you want, get it because it probably won't be there next week. Inventory moves pretty fast. Some of the popular stuff never even makes it to the shelf, it goes straight from the manufacture to the distributor, to the shop and then consumer because he pre-ordered.

 

Interesting note regarding the way the retail part of the hobby is changing.

from Lin's Junction website:

 

Didn't Athearn buy MDC/Roundhouse? I keep hoping they'll release the 2-8-0 again but it may just be wishful thinking.

 

FAct of life is I don't have the budget to follow the "New times" of model railroading. Pre-order = out the roof retail price. For example, the Rapido offerings in passenger cars are exquisite gems, highly desirable and dead-on prototypical. But $60 or so for one? Not in my world.
While the current pre-order only days do foster some bad feelings, it doesn't really get me down too much. I get the most fun finding things at trainshows, flea markets, ebay and the like.
Possibly the silver lining in all this is that it may inspire some creative modeling to construct some of the things we can't find or are out of reach $$-wise.

 

I take a proactive approach to this. I have money budgeted each month for "emergency" purchases. If nothing exciting comes out that month, more money in the coffers for next month. It also helps that I have narrowed my scope of purchases so that there are very few things that excite me anymore, although the last two months have been exceptionally painfull for the B&O fan in me. At least there had been a huge dry spell before that to helped to build up the reserve funds.

Besides that, very few items come out the day they are announced. With 6-9 month lead time on most items, it's not hard to buget for all but the most expensive desired items. The money set aside on the slow months helps offset that big exciting announcement. The biggest purchase I will make this year is the N Hiawatha set and I have now had over a year to save up for it. A $300 set isn't that bad when you break it down to $25 saved for it each month. That's a evening with the family at McDonalds anymore.

Now budgeting for my VW Passat that may have been totaled yesterday, that is a different problem entirely.

 

Or watching the swap meets to see if someone is giving up the item you want at a steeply discounted price. Suspecting or keeping in mind... it's probably broken and will need to be fixed.

I'm like others here with a set income and an ever increasing cost of living. I can understand the hardship discussed here.

Keep your head up high and pinch those pennies. We can hope, to find a way to work through all this.

 

I understand from a corporate standpoint that if you can make the same or more money by not keeping inventory, all the better. However, I will say that most items I have bought were at hobby shops or shows, almost never online. I prefer to deal with people in person. Plus, the most "rewarding" items (most treasured, proud of, etc) I bought were things that I eyed over time, saving money, seeing it sit there on the shelf or case until I could finally buy it. Also, many items I've seen online or in catalogs look interesting, but its actually picking it up, handling it, in person that seal the deal. I think they (manufacturers) are missing some oportunities to grow the business. Current train guys will buy like this, but am I wrong that the LHS is how many people (myself included) got into and grew with the hobby?
Disappointing but I think the LHS is going away.

 

This makes me wonder..

Athearn products do seem to sell out quickly, which may be good for them. But why then is the time between releases seeming to grow longer and longer?

Kato products seem to stay on the shelves longer (giving everyone a chance to buy), and more over, Kato seems to be coming out with more and more in shorter time frames, where as the other guys seem to be coming out with less and less over longer time frames. What gives?

In my opinion, the pre-order system is cop-out for doing smart business. Yes, relying on pre-orders is 'safe' when it comes to avoiding debt, but it also limits your profit over time. It also may be expensive to keep a large inventory, but having that inventory is still beneficial as it's an asset to continued growth. I think that having too little or too large of an inventory is the bad thing. But if you have a properly evaluated business model, I think that should include making enough products to keep a properly proportionate inventory because, as pointed out by Ken, few people have the funds to jump on every new product the day of it's release.
If those few people are the only people you cater to, plus only a few extras, then I think you're missing out on a huge share of the market.

Take a risk and make enough products to stay on the shelves for a few years. As long as you dont make too much, worst case scenario is it just takes a little longer to make even more money!


*Note* I dont have any formal education in business marketing, so I realize I may be way off base. But still, it all makes sense, right?

 

It's pretty simple business....

An item setting on a warehouse shelf is not making you money. It is costing you money. If you make $5 profit on a given $10 item, and it sets on the shelf for a year before it sells, you probably made $3 after you take into account storage and inventory control. That is assuming you didn't have to discount it to sell it.

If you have in that same year 4 different items, all at $5 profit each, that turnover within a month of their release, then you have now made $20 profit in the same time period, and made more consumers happy at the same time.

It's all about turning the inventory over. Stagnant inventory is a burden on a company. You as a consumer may find it nice to walk into a "museum" shop that has ton's of left over stock from years gone by, heck I do too, but that stock is probably to the point that they have lost money on it, even if you buy it now. The shops that do business like that are the ones for the most part that are struggling. Unless they have enough turnover of new product to pay for the luxury of keeping the classics around, they digging a deep hole. Manufactures are the same way. Not every release is a hit and the ones that don't fly off the shelf are dragging down the profitability of the rest of the company. They paid to have the products made, not to recover that money, they need to sell. If they don't sell, the company is in the hole. They are building trains to sell, not to set in a warehouse.

At our shop, I try to keep a constant inventory level. That will varry depending on new releases, how well certain things sell, etc but I keep the shelves stocked nicely. Soon as a new product comes in that needs space, I start looking at date codes and anything over a year goes to the discount bin to make space for the new stuff. Certain rare pieces won't go to the discount bin but for the most part, out with the old, in with the new.

 

In my opinion, three of the places I buy from online the most seem to have lots of the Athearn items that I would buy if I had the money to do so.
It may have more to do with what era and road name you model then Athearn not producing items.
The same for most of the other brands I buy such as Atlas, MTL, Bachmann etc.
Again this is what I have found listed on the sites.

 

Tony is correct.

How fast you turn your inventory is critical. As a retailer this is what is generating your revenue stream.

Remember, the items sitting on the shelf were already bought and paid for by the store owner. If they don't sell he has to keep them on the shelves until they do. This reduces the amount of shelf space for other merchandise that he could be selling.

And when the seller discounts the item then he's losing his profit. If he paid $5 for an item and the sell price was $10 but didn't sell he's still out the $5 he paid for it. Now when he discounts it to $5 if he does sell it there's no profit. Yet he still incurred costs to get it in the first place (he had to pay himself or someone else an hourly wage to order, receive, unpack, tag, put it on the shelf, etc.) Plus he still had to pay rent, mortgage, utilities for the shop where it sits on the shelf. He didn't even break even.

Now if it still doesn't sell at $5 and he discounts it lower then the seller is really taking a bath. Business that operate this way will shortly be out of business. That's just the way it works.

I like going into a fully stocked hobby shop just as much as anyone else here but if that shop isn't turning inventory he won't be able to stay fully stocked for long. That's why hobby stores typically only stock items they know will sell in a reasonable amount of time. For them to buy inventory that they are not sure will sell is a huge risk. Sometimes that risk may be worth it but more often than not it ends up being a losing proposition.

-G-

 

With regard to Athearn, give them a chance. They've always come through in the past.

From my experience working in a LHS.

The business of a LHS it all about the inventory, overhead, new orders for new items, cash flow, cash reserve, and choice of stock.

The key here is: It all boils down to knowing the buying habits of your customers. Knowing what they want, need and desire will make all the difference in the world and will assist the LHS owner with determining what products sit on the shelf versus those that will move/sell. I guarantee, knowing your customers makes all the difference in the world.

Looking at the shelves of a LHS, those dust collectors is cash flow at a dead stop. Compared to products that move is cash flow paying the bills, employee salaries and providing funds for future orders.

Timing is another factor to be considered. It is important to have items that are currently being advertised in the model railroad wig wags (magazines). Miss that opportunity and you may not get a second chance.

Going into debt with a vendor is certain death to any hobby shop. Good deals that the LHS owner can pass on to the customers, can translate as case lots of product collecting dust.

Over simplified perhaps but I'm speaking more from practical experience then edumacation.

It's always a gamble but the odds can be changed to the LHS owners favor.

Just my two cents.