It's been sad that so many of our LHS have been closing down. Sometimes some of us have to travel many miles to get to a decent LHS. Well I'm very glad to say that my LHS is doing extremal well. In the last couple (under new owners) of years it has gotten much better and doing excellent business. They have an isle for N, an isle for HO, some Z, other larger scales as well. The also are big into RC stuff of all kinds with several isles and models of all kinds. They are doing so well they need more space and are moving down the strip mall to a larger vacant store. Did I say there price are very competitive with on-line shops. I'll still shop at several of my on-line shops (Mike Fifer's) for one. but when you need just a couple of items you save the shipping. I hope some of your LHS are also doing well and will be there when needed. We IMO must shop at the LHS to help keep them going. And there is nothing like going in and picking up an item holding in your hands, checking it out in real time, and maybe even test running a loco before you buy it. See ya Ron
It's been going on for years. The smart ones sell online as well as having their store. MY LHS is Caboose Hobbies. They let people test run everything. They have a huge stock of items. Even with that I'm sort of a niche modeller these days. Aside from track they do not carry what interests me most. These days my real LHS is ebay where I can find the stuff I want.
I try to frequent my LHS. However, they no longer stock N scale. The owner tells me there is not enough demand, and the interest is so varied that he would not know what to keep in stock. For instance, I am in the Washington DC area but model UP and GN. He would probably never have a loco or rolling stock that I would want. (Although I did purchase my very first GN freight car from him, so maybe we don't know what we are talking about.) Anyway, he is always willing to give me a descent deal on products that he orders for me, and does not charge shipping. So, if I am not in much of a hurry and happen to be near the LHS I will order from him. His shop is on-line. Michael
Yes the LHS that both sell online and keep pricing competitive with online stores are doing well; but the LHS that doesn't do those things are going under quite quickly. Unfortunately the one and only LHS near me is one of the old style diehards that insist on high pricing which is driving them down. I've resorted to spending my Hobby funds online at a few tried and true Online stores.
My LHS is about a half-hour's drive down (I live in the burbs) into town, and it's doing well. They don't only have trains, but also other models, RC, etc. Diversification helps a lot. Almost the entire 2nd floor is dedicated to trains, where they have HO, N, G, maybe some Z - my eyesight probably is to blame here. Nice (huge) place, nice staff, and a good place to spend an hour (or two) drooling. They're also online. I'm not worried about them going out of business.
I have to say it always concerns me when I hear someone say something like "We must shop at the LHS to help keep them going ". I personally frequent my LHS when I can but I don't buy from them to keep them open. I buy from them if I get the best convenience and deal but I don't if I don't get good value for my money especially when outfits like Dallas Model Works provide great online deals (my personal experience with DMW has been phenomenal). Unfortunately too often hobby shops these days are the Walthers price, and sometimes even higher, but for me with city driving and current gas prices the cost of driving to the LHS and back is getting close to Walthers 8-9 for shipping so whats the value? If they don't have what I want/need they are often willing to order it from Walthers for me... with a small markup for the special order and then of course add two round trips to the store (first one was a bust and second to was pick up the special order). I guess in that case I don't see why we need to keep them open, I realize they have to make their money too but my modeling budget isn't a charity budget. I guess my take is if you have a LHS that provides great value and is competitive with the pricing by all means support them, but supporting a store that isn't competitive just so there is a LHS nearby seems like a waste. (By competitive pricing I don't mean it has to be the lowest available anywhere, I have no problem with the store taking their margin)
We lost our local train outlet in May. Blame rests firmly upon the owner. We'd place an order, and wait, wait, wait. Two months later, nothing. They'd not even sent in our order. Or somehow things were mysteriously deleted out of the computer. Customer numbers just dwindled and all but stopped.
My LHS is a franchise of a large national retailer. Both of my children have worked their while in high school and college (which is nice because I get their discount!), but they don't stock a lot of N scale items, mostly HO and G scale. I do spend a lot of money with my LHS with my RC addiction, so they have my support. Most of my N scale comes from one online dealer. I do go to Caboose in Denver if I feel like browsing. I have noticed though that they do not have the stock like they did in the 1990's. They use to have rows & rows of rolling stock for N scale, there are lots of empty spots now. I still like to wander back to the brass section, all those engines lined up, too bad most are HO!
The LHS I go to has been there for years. He has a wide variety of N & HO scale as well as some car and ship models. He has some (not alot) of RC stuff. Although he is my LHS, he does NOT offer a discount so to speak. I will buy from him, however if it is a big order, I will go shop some of my favorite online retailers that do have discounts. One of such online stores gives free shipping for orders over $50, he also has VERY competitive pricing. I can buy a Peco switch for $10.95 from him vs other LHSs for $20.95 or more! I agree that we need to support our LHSs but in a struggling economy like we are in now, we ALL need to watch our spending. If a retailer wants to price items at FULL retail and wonder why they go out of business, well that is tough toodles for them. If they can't figure it out, someone else will.
I'm not at all sure that some of the posters understand the actual ins and outs of owning a brick and mortar hobby store today. The overhead of such shops in my area today is such that owners would need to charge full retail just to stay in business. Yet doing so condemns them to certain failure. I had two all model railroad LHS (down from an original 4-6!) until recently. In both I could get about 20% off being a loyal customer. However, I could and can usually get 40% on-line with a little searching. Now no brick and mortar shop is going to give you 40% off. They would be selling to you essentially at wholesale! Still, when it comes to the current $200-$400 locomotives and $40+ rolling stock, together with the current economy, you'd have to be crazy to buy other than through some cheap on-line dealer. Nor can a normal-sized shop today carry anything like the selection of goods they once did. Dealers' prices are so high now that these guys need to be highly selective about what they do order to stock their shelves. Thus, fully stocked model railroading hobby shops are becoming a thing of the past except perhaps for the very few remaining huge outfits. Well, anyway, the far larger of the two remaining shops in my area closed its doors a couple of years ago, specialized and now sells strictly on-line only with no walk-in trade. My last remaining shop folded in June of this year, the owner confiding in me that even with liberal discounts there simply wasn't enough walk-in trade to keep him afloat. He was a great guy, a good businessman, exceeding helpful to customers, had a good location/hours and was even relatively young. However, he confided that much of his trade had literally died off in recent years, a situation I can attest to from my frequent visits to the shop and the steady decline in familiar faces. That, together with rapidly rising prices, doomed the store. So...even though I am in a suburb of NYC, there is not a model railroad hobby shop within a 45 minute drive! My current impression is that ALL brick and mortar shops, everywhere, will be nothing but a memory by the late 2010's unless manufacturers' prices drop. Fat chance of that! NYW&B
My local hobby shop closed 2 years ago. They tried to be an all-around shop, but the space they had to work with was very small, hardly enough room for 1 scale, let alone 3. Now my closest shop is in Roanoke, an hour & a half drive, it's a great place, but I really can't justify regular trips to it the way I could the one here in town.
I agree with BestSnowMan 110%. I didn't mean to imply that we should pay high prices just to support a LHS. To earn our business the LHS must be competitive in pricing, have good customer service, and not take forever to get an order. When you factor in the Shipping cost vs gasoline shopping O/L may be best. However mine is a 10 minute drive from my house and we most always stop by whenever we are out and about. So maybe we are one of the lucky ones to have the option of a good LHS and several great on-Line shops. See ya Ron
There are two model rail shops in Southampton, plus a few in nearby towns. One of the two - in the main City Centre shopping street - stocks UK outline OO and N, but very poor range, amid any other sort of toys. The US outline material I've seen there consists only of two or three locomotives at silly prices. The other one, a couple of miles out from City Centre, is model rail only, new and used, in UK and US outline, DCC supplier, etc, but he is considered to be "a bit" expensive. Still, he's there, when others in the area have closed. Regards, Pete Davies
I'm fortunate to live just a few miles from Maine Trains in Chelmsford, MA. This is a small shop, but there's no wasted space. It caters to the serious hobbyist and the casual train enthusiast at the same time. Most of his stock is HO, but he does have a good selection of N, from what I can tell. I've reached the point in building my layout that I don't usually find what I want on the shelves, but he will order anything for me and give me a good discount, and I don't pay for shipping. He's also very knowledgeable, and will always take the time to explain installation details for decoders, or other available options.
Sadly, my LHS is echoping concerns. The problem is 1)profitablity, and 2) an owner who is semi-retired, but not offically so, creating a reality where he's not there to hear customers asking for the stuff they don't want to carry. Hello, if you have four people asking for RC helis in the sumemr, they want to be outside with themm not indoors with a model car. So order a heli or two, generic thing, it'll sell!
Reminds me of the time (I was about 6) when I went with my mother to the local hardware shop. I don't remember what the item was that she wanted, but I do recall what the owner said. "You're the third person to ask me for one of those today. There's no demand." Oh? Regards, Pete Davies
One reason I haven't heard thus far is that with states and local govenments fanatic for revenue, it's no wonder that a LHS paying more in such governments taxes and fees than are taken to profit, may well decide the game is not worth the candle. Having known small businessmen both now and in the "dark ages" (1950-60's) current start up costs to me are mind boggling. One who started his business in 1958, borrowed $500.00 from his mother and told me between his legs giving out and tax/license/service fee increases in the 1990's decided to quit. Said business has had two subsequent owners and is now defunct. Another, starting his business two years ago, has even with a good chunk of his own cash, had to deal with banks - not a good idea. He pays himself the astounding salary of $20,000.00 - somewhat less than my retirement. He has prepaid a large amount of the debt he borrowed, but he is still worried and is not sure if he can crest that hill. The total taxes, licenses and fees he currently pays are damned close to what he pays himself. So the next time that kindly councilman or legislator announces his great boon to this or that noble cause or group - you might want to remember the Law of Unintended Consequences.
Everybody cries about taxes till their wars need fought, or their house catches fire.........remember that as well.
In New England, where the states are small and close together, New Hampshire stands out by having no sales tax and no income tax. (They get most of their revenue from property tax, and "hidden" taxes on alcohol, much of which is paid by out-of-state shoppers looking for a bargain.) I was discussing the recent Massachusetts sales tax increase with my LHS guy, who has a good grasp of economics and knows just how close his shop is to the tax-free border to the north. Although there are no train shops on the other side competing with him, he was well aware of the problems of his fellow merchants in town, who lose serious business to New Hampshire just because of the taxes and fees. On the other hand, that border zone is prime real estate. My "secondary" LHS is a multi-interest shop called Hobby Emporium. It sits on the Massachusetts side of the line, perhaps a half-mile from the mall which was built with its stores in New Hampshire and its parking lot in Massachusetts. I asked the guy behind the counter why they located in Massachusetts rather than just across the border. He told me he couldn't afford the rent. Not everything is cheaper to the north, I guess. New Hampshire, by the way, has one of the lowest per-student expenditures for education. But, they have among the highest SAT scores in the nation. It's not how much you spend, but rather how well you spend it. Hey, a lot of people here can build a better model with a handful of sticks than I can with a kit, right?
