There’s not many Hobby Shops in my area.. the closest one that does O gauge is in Springfield Ma, and I stopped going there several years back, because they don’t stock any used/affordable equipment anymore, the new stuff is too expensive for my budget, and their service just didn’t feel very friendly to me. Once I learned how to repair my own trains, there was no longer any real reason for me to drop by since it’s roughly an hour away. I absolutely LOVE the environment of a “real” hobby shop- but I generally don’t like to spend big bucks, since my budget isn’t a lot. I just can’t justify $50-80 for a generic freight car, when I have all the skills to just wait for a vintage car I like more, buy a few old cars with some issues, and repair them. In addition, it seems like it’s much harder to find truly ”friendly” service in stores. What ever happened to going out of one’s way to keep a customer? A lot of us forget it, but impressions make a huge difference. I’m generally much more inclined to visit a store with friendly staff, people who seem to really want me to walk out of their store feeling happy and eager to come back again. If there was a local ”Brick and Mortar” hobby shop in my area, particularly if it offered used equipment, I’d certainly visit it regularly, and probably buy something if they had the right item for the right price. But probably not, if they had unfriendly staff.
I remember when I was little, just dying to visit a hobby shop and look at trains, so my dad sat down with the phone book, and we tried calling numbers, but every single hobby shop we found in the book had a dead number.. they had all gone out of buisness 10-20 years ago.
"Unless bought from a known and trusted dealer who can vouch otherwise, assume every train for sale requires servicing before use"
The Internet has caused many retail businesses to close. First, it was the bookstores. Many of my train books have come from stores we used to visit frequently, and are gone. There is only one bookstore chain left here in LoCal.
Most recently, it is the Home Improvement stores that are closing. Only Home Depot is left.
Most of the Train stores have closed, including the one where I bought most of my Lionel.
But, I will say it is there is still room for a great Train store, if located in the right location, which is what I see in the ones that have survived. In a somewhat upscale area, seems to still work out.
Paul
Anytime Traindaddy, glad to be of assistance!
I don't blame you for wanting to limit your drive time. We drove through Orlando on Route 4 week before last. GROAN! The traffic's gotten worse every time we've gone through on our way to Estero and the road construction's never finished! Never again! We made our way back to Route 95 cross-country, 80 to 29 to 27 to 70 into Fort Pierce and then north on 95. A whole lot easier!
Firelock76: Thanks for your reply.
I am familiar with Colonial ( It's been around awhile) and there is H&R Trains in Pinellas Park with repair service.
My question to Kevin was that he mentioned a few NEW shops.
I appreciate your list.
Traindaddy does not travel too much anymore. The Gulf Coast is, at least, an hour and a half away. Was hoping that the new ones Kevin was talking about would be closer.
Again, thanks.
There's several in Florida in your area, more or less.
Colonial Photo and Hobby, 634 N. Mills St, Orlando. 407-841-1485
www.colonialphotohobby.com Maybe you know about that one?
Moving down the Gulf Coast...
Zitnik Trains 5193 73d Ave. N. Tampa Bay-Pinellas Park 727-201-9668
www.zitniktrains.com I haven't been to this one.
Gulf Coast Model Railroad 3222 Clark Rd. Sarasota 941-923-9303
www.gcmrr.com I've been to this one, very impressive.
Metro Trains and Hobbies 12951 Metro Parkway Ft. Myers 239-332-0422
www.metrotrainsandhobbies.com I was there last week, a bit light on the O gauge this time, but maybe the infusion of Christmas stock hasn't happened yet? Great guys in there, by the way. I always stop in when I'm in the area visiting family.
Well that's a start, at least the ones I know about.
Kevin: Where? (Not in or around Orlando -- that I know about) Thanks.
We have had a few new shops specializing in trains open in Florida.
.
They are not dead down here.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Like anjdevil said... I don't think the LHS is dead. We just had a second LHS open in town a couple years ago and both are still up and running. For train stuff I go to one (the new place has some train related items, but is more 'genera' than train focused) the LTS (Local Train Store), as I call it, is all trains of all scales. It is a great place to go and talk with like minded people about trains, the state of the industry, etc and the owner will match the pricing from the big online retailers. This cuts into their margins and has resulted in their on-hand inventory being reduced. They also no longer do consignments, you have to sell to them for a rather reduced price and then they resell it for a profit... kind of a give and take, depending on the item I either go that route, or sell it myself.
https://brentsandsusanspicutures.shutterfly.com/
Well, I for one, don't not think the Hobby Shop (or LHS) is a thing of the past.
My train stores (Trains and Things, Ewing, NJ and Holly Beach, Wildwood, NJ) service my needs very well. I have the ability to do a layaway on things that I want but cannot afford by doing a depost and paying overtime, and to Phranks comment, I have purchased a LionChief Plus Blue Comet, and more than likely the First Responders GP38 (Which I happened to have trained (pun intended) on). I have bought a LionChief CamelBack as well. Pricing? I think the pricing on the new stuff is reasonable and considering what you get in the LionChief line a bargain.
Rolling stock and accessories, I buy a mix of old and new.
The role of the LHS has changed as there is more marketing and doing mail and web stuff, being active in buying and selling of train collections. I have bought my share of special runs from Holly Beach and Larry, a former firefighter, is a great guy. Same with Tony at Trains and Things, I used to service Tony's car dealership when I worked for Enterprise.
Tony has, about 2 years ago, moved into a bigger store in the same shopping center. And when I go, I'll spent a couple of hours there.
So, just like the demise of the hobby theory, which I feel has been debunked, the LHS can and will thrive as long as the owner(s) cater to their customers wants and needs and can market their services to the community.
I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.I am the venom in your skin --- Breaking Benjamin
I think hobby shops are a thing of the past.
I blame LIONEL (since they've been the O gauge leading manufacturer for more years than anybody else) most for making it happen. Their prices have more than doubled this century, despite reusing the same molds over and over. It's smarter and more economical for the average model railroading fan to buy new old stock, than it is to buy new current items. Hobby shop owners end up selling their new old stock after years of the stuff languishing in their inventory. Why? The prices on the new old stock usually remains stagnant, while the new current items carry newer and higher MSRPs despite having the same, basic features. Customers ask themselves, "Should I buy a new coal dump car for $75, or should I buy a NOS dump car for $25?"
Hobby shop owners can't keep stock for years before selling it. They need quick turnarounds on their inventory investments. The huge price increases Lionel has implemented fostered a slow turnover for inventory in the market for trains. How can Menard's charge a lot less for comparable products? Surely they've had the same basic costs that Lionel has had. Many of Lionel's molds have been reused countless times over the years. Sure they may have to do some maintenance on them occasionally, but that doesn't compare to creating new molds entirely. How can Menards undercut Lionel? Lionel's policies for manufacturing on demand stuff is great for rich people, but crazy for the average family who doesn't have a lot of money to spare. When my kids were young, there's no way I would have wanted to order expensive items one or two years in advance for my kids for Christmas or their birthdays. Timeliness is much more important for toys than it is for a lot of other things. Cabbage Patch Kids, Teeny Babies, Tickle Me Elmo, etc., are items that had huge demands manufacturers couldn't keep up with. What's the hot item for the year? Have Lionel Trains ever had a huge demand kind of customer fervor associated with them? Not in my lifetime! It'll never happen either. As long as buying NOS is a much more economically preferable decision, owning a hobby shop to try to sell Lionel trains (or similar type of long shelf life item manufacturer) is a thing of the past.
I've always liked the Lionel name, but I can't remember the last time I bought one of their products that was featured in the current catalog.
phillyreading Toys R Us quit carrying Lionel a few years ago, didn't sell enough they claimed. May even have stopped carrying H.O. train items as well. I think Toys R Us did more to discourage the toy train hobby by offering cheap HO trains that stopped running after a few weeks.
Toys R Us quit carrying Lionel a few years ago, didn't sell enough they claimed. May even have stopped carrying H.O. train items as well.
I think Toys R Us did more to discourage the toy train hobby by offering cheap HO trains that stopped running after a few weeks.
I suppose I am a good example of this demographic. I turned 60 this year and I got fascinated with all this and began running trains at 5 years old with a Marx Commodore Vanderbuilt set back in Chicago and Ive come full circle having gone back to Marx for a variety of reasons, one of them was what you described as a contributing factor, not the central issue with modern toy trains, but cost did come into play when I had to get off the fence about "the next step". I rediscovered DIY and am having a better time I am retired so I have the time to tinker...it's more rewarding than out of the box for me. What happens elsewhere in the hobby still interests me I think simply because I have been in it for so long, and these current trends ..well I have a lot of empathy for some of the .issues like cost, availability etc for my younger cohorts, Which is probably just an example of my comparing then and now. There were informal layaway purchases when I was younger, more personal service, catalogs that rarely cancelled an item, advice and mentoring that came from the mom and pop store.and maybe it's just nostalgia..but I can't help but wonder what people do when they don't have the internet. I guess we don't hear from them. ..
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
"Big money got a heavy hand, big money take control. Big money got a mean streak, big money got no soul." Neil Peart, The Big Money 1985.
Remember them good ole' days when Lionel salesmen had to pound the pavement everyday to even get their products in the stores at all?
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Given that the general trend is towards more expensive trains aimed at a older deeper pocket consumer base who dont want to built anything but just open the box and put it on the layout leading to more and more RTR items that are 50-100% more expensive than there kit counterpart along with more and more items pre-loaded with digital controls, digital sound and special effects, is it any wonder a locomotive can easily approach 4 figures. This is typical in all scales. the average mom and pop stores can't stock alot of these higher prices besides not alot of people in general can afford these items. Starter sets usually only appear at LHS around Xmas and what ever doesnt sell then stays dusty on the shelves until it does. One dealer told me that after Xmas he stops stocking alot of train stuff as it just doesnt sell well enough.
Part of the problem has been stated before, most of us in this hobby are not spring chicken, I'm in my late 40's and I consider myself a young whippersnapper whenever I go to shows, its good to see kids at the shows but aside from Thomas theres not alot of trains in their lives these days for these kids to connect trains into their daily lives. As more young people use light rail and commuter rail services maybe we will see that reconnection once again (but for myself I'll freely admit I find modern trains homogonistic and lacking in appeal compared to what I grew up watching and riding). I think some manufacturers of late have placed too much emphisis chasing the rich old guys and not paying as much attention to growing the hobby.
As the market gets pricier it drives out the mom and pops who often cant meet the manufacturers minimum order requirements and eventually drop trains entirely or simply shut down. It's kinda a vicious cycle.
Have fun with your trains
That is a squeeze, sort of boxing in the retailer, that boxes in the buyer, all of which seems counter intuitive if your retailer is your customer front line representative, but then again, as these shops are being dominated over by the volume of internet sales, perhaps they are looked at as "small peanuts" ..it still seems sort of well..like extortion..do this or we wont deal with you..which must mean the manufacturers themselves are not responsible for the demise of the mom and pop store but certainly are a contributing factor. I miss the social aspect myself, where a bunch of us would gab about trains at the store..
I talked to a hobby shop owner at a train show in south central Florida, and he said that Lionel wanted him to place a $5000.00 minimum order before they would ship to him directly or pay a much higher non-dealer percentage fee. Another guy he ordered from wanted only $1000.00 min. order and that was who he used more often. Sometimes Lionel would send him the $1000.00 engine to sell and not the lower priced items.
Also another hobby shop wanted me to place a $500.00 order for Gargraves track or switches, he don't get a discount unless you purchase a certain dollar amount. Needless to say I didn't need $500.00 worth of Gargraves track and switches.
It is not the hobby shop owner who wants to have their hands tied financially, but it is the vendor or company that sells to them that ties their hands up financially. It may boil down to the old principle that it is more paper work and time or shipping work for a smaller order verses a large order, and that is why it is cheaper to buy from internet giants, than from directly from the company.
Lee F.
When Hobby Lobby discontinued their O Gauge electric trains I asked the store manager what was the reason. He stated that the sales did not meet minumum requirements for the amount of shelf space the electric trains required. He stated there was other hobby / craft items that had better profit margins for the space required.
Bill T.
I'm in the in between group here I like a hobby shop and all but a lot of times because of there overhead I can't afford it. I myself am on a tight budget when it come to what I spend my money on. But I do have periods I can buy trains but most of the time I'm like no funds for trains so when I can I look for the best bargains and sometime the bargain ain't what it looked to be and I end up spending more fixing it but I don't get upset as I enjoy fixing my trains when I can do it. It a kind of therapy for me. I love the idea of local hobby shop but I can see there demise is coming if they can't grow and be a big internet part of the picture. I hate to put it that way but thats the actual bottom line as I see it.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Internet train sales are to the hobby shop, what Wal-Mart is to the small town business.
That being said, there's nothing like a trip out to Catoctin Mountain Trains to get my "fix". It's an hour's drive, and I gladly make the trek several times a year to give them my patronage.
I can remember in the 90's visiting a train shop in Parma Ohio. There is a nice shop in Amherst Ohio at Ben Franklyns. They carry all scales. It is a lot of inventory for such a small place. However the knowledge and help you recieve cannot be had online.
There is also a very very large train shop with anything you can dream in O guage in Oberlin Ohio. The people here also are very helpful, and yet can service anything.
I know that I am in the minority, however I prefer brick and motar. I like seeing a face over a computer monitor. I also am very thankful for their knowledge. And while I say this I do worry about their longevity. As someone else pointed out, the store that makes it will have to have something very special to draw the customers in.
Sadly, DMU, I think you are right. I have Northeast Trains (Peabody MA) and Charles Ro (Malden MA) both within 12 miles of me. The former has been my mainstay, and I have been willing to pay more because of their friendly and expert service and the convenience. The latter may make it longer term because of their large internet presence.
Northeast will continue to be my choice. What is the price tag one puts on being able to see, touch, and operate a potential new or pre-owned piece? Sometimes more expensive is cheaper.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Brick & Mortar Store in the age of the Internet?
It goes like this: The answer is no.
" Hi, I'm looking for some trains for my kids, I see you have Lionel and MTH Catalogs on your counter." "Nice looking trains, could you show me this one ?"
"No, I won't have that in stock for one to two years, the Catalogs are for advance orders".
"This PS3 system looks good, do you have any train sets with it?"
"No, I only have 2009 and 2010 sets with PS2."
"Do I get a discount if I buy old stock?"
"No, It's not "old", I only received it a few months ago."
"I see that HO gauge is about half the price of O gauge, I can understand that, but why is the much larger G gauge the same or lower price of O gauge?"
"No reason, some are made in the same factory in China."
"Can I buy a train for less online?"
"YES, THEY DON'T HAVE THE OVERHEAD OF MAINTAINING A STORE AND CAN WORK WITH A SMALLER STAFF!"
Do you have an "online store"?
Don U. TCA 73-5735
I buy pretty much all my new stuff from my lhs.Yeah I pay a little more but service and treatment I get from him more than makes up for it.I have a small budget for trains but am treated the same as customers with deep pockets.Only shop the bay for parts and deals on postwar.He has added a little R/C but suffered a smashed front window for his effort.No trains stolen though.
One of the problems hurting the "O" gauge hobby shops, especially in the smaller markets, is the pricing structures. The shop I deal with is a craft shop as well as various hobbies, since it is not in a "major market area" he has to buy his inventory thru distributors as opposed to buying directly from the importers. First thought is well what's wrong with that, the distributors are also in the retail side. Guess what kind of a margin that leaves the "mom & pop shops" to work with in competition with the internet sellers and E-Bay. Add to that he doesn't "own" the property so there is a landlord to contend with. At one time he had two stores but a few years back the other store died on the vine when the anchor, major grocery chain, in that shopping center had a rather rankerous labor dispute, no foot traffic due to protesters = closure.
Granted that there are a great many in our hobby that don't have a lot of choice in where they buy their toys as a result of where they live. But there are also others that are close to a "local hobby shop" but prefer to get their toys on-line because they are cheaper. Again there is nothing wrong with that as long as they don't turn around and start lamenting the ever increasing number of local hobby shops closing.
Remember the Veterans. Past, present and future.
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Proud New Member Of The NRA
Heres on long island theres suprisingly alot of great hobby stores that have extensive O scale stock very close to where I live.
Theres Trainland/Trainworld (you probably now the adds in CTT)
Nassau hobbies (another big one, also has adds in CTT. also get some custom run LIRR stuff from MTH from time to time)
Willis hobbies, which has cars planes boats and everything else but has a floor for trains and is extensive in every scale.
Gold coast hobbies, which has a decent amount of stock mostly from the early 2000s but has a few gems. more of an mail order store in terms of trains. alot of people order through him and not but the stock.
There are many more such as extreme hobbies in dear park, bay shroe hobbies, and another great place in New Hyde Park.
basically... theres no shortage of O gauge train on Long Island :) I'm sorry ot hear all these stories of hobby stores closing down leaving nothing. I know the city of Boston has not one Hobby store even close to it...
"No childhood should be without a train!"
The hobby shops in the 1950s, when I was growing up, were primarily model/toy trains, plastic kits of cars, ships, and planes, and some gas powered planes. In the 1960, race car sets and rockets were added to the mix. Today the trains are on the "back burner", and radio-control stuff seems to be keeping the hobby shops in business. But at least they can adjust somewhat for the times.
What is REALLY a thing of the past is the corner camera/photo shop. No more film to develope, and people would go into the shop to decide on a camera...then they would buy it at a discount store or on-line. There was little the Mom&Pop camera shop could do to stay in business.
About 15 minutes from my house is one of the largest train stores in the U.S., Nicholas Smith Trains. They are still going strong after 84 years.
When I first came to Tucson in the mid 1980's, we had at least four different hobby shops that stocked model trains, two of them exclusively. One was even the Lionel dealer for the state I believe. 25 years later they are all gone. One of the few hobby stores left in town specializes mainly in R/C cars and aircraft. While they have a number of supplies, their train inventory is pretty minimal. At one point I thought there was no place left in town where I could buy Lionel tubular track.
Then I discovered that the hobby portion of the largest Ace Hardware in town. Almost half their inventory is trains, and yes they sell tubular track. Anything I buy that is new I now try to get from them, even if I have to special order it. Anytime I can support the LHS I will.
Bob
Tucson, AZ (aka the Ol' Pueblo)
Home of the Mt. Graham & Arizona Eastern Boiler Shops
Hi becky,
My wife and I love Cleveland...I lived in Mentor 25 tears ago and my son finished Jazz study stint at Tri-C 3 years ago, which afforded us many opportunities to explore Cleveland and the trains stores. You should check out Wings Hobby Shop in Lakewood. They still have a great selection of items for model railroading. They're bigger on books and HO, but I still found enough scratch building supplies to make this a must stop shop as I make my way to Mentor each year on the way to Boston. BTW...theres a terrific model railroad museum expanding in Mentor, OH!
Check out the Western Reserve Model Railroad Museum...My wife and I went there an hour before closing, and were the only non-members there. The curator called out to everyone that they had guests and we were treated to an hour or so of great conversation and viewing some really great modeling efforts. Cheers!
The Western Reserve Model Railroad Museum 7230 Justin Way Mentor, Ohio 44060 Attn: Rick Montgomery
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