Something that ALL hobby shops should have

[FJ and G]

an operating display layout; at least one. According to Mike W., who was recently interviewed by CTT, this is a good way to spread the hobby.

Something else hobby shops should do is to get an online presence and if that is not possible, they should work through the toy train companies to make it happen for free.

When a hobby shop owner grips b/c of lack of business, I would ask him those 2 questions.

[Dr. John]

Dave, I agree with you!

When I lived in Mobile, there were three train shops in town two with a layout, one without. The downtown store housed a large club layout - it was always running when I stopped by and had outstanding scenery. Even though it was not in a convenient location, it managed to do okay.

A Hobbytown USA store out in the 'burbs had an N scale layout built from a Woodlands Scenic layout kit. While I applaud their effort, I seldom saw trains running. Usually a few cars were on the layout, on their sides. Not a way to entice people into the hobby.

The third train store was owned by a friend of mine. It was well-stocked and 100% trains. Personally, I loved it - a great shop for experienced modelers but somewhat intimidating to a novice. No layout, no test track no displays. Just shelves of closed boxes and racks of detail parts. Business suffered and he packed it in. Somehow, I think if he had a few attractive displays and even a simple shelf display or two that it might have helped his business IMHO. In fairness to him, he had a small space and a layout would have been difficult to incorporate.

[3railguy]

They should be open evenings and weekends too. Plus have free coffee to drink while browsing.

[FJ and G]

Not related but went to visit my folks in upstate NY. Went up Rt 81 (or 83?) and just as you cross from Pennsylvania to New York below Binghampton is a very large rest stop run by the state of NY.

Inside is a small N-scale layout, fully scenic'ed and running.

In Manassas Va., is the largest toy train store in the area called The Train Depot, which contains several layouts in O and G that are constantly running. It's very popular with the kids.

[Roger Bielen]

Memory Station has an operating layout and I've been in there when a Mom has stopped in with a child just to see the trains run. (Dad is the hobbiest). Lewis is always glad to accommodate.

[cbq9911a]

America's Best Train & Hobby (Itasca, IL) has an operating Lionel Layout, plus two window displays of LGB and Lionel. Plus a Thomas the Tank Engine bedroom.

[brianel027]

Without trying to sound negative here folks, time for a reality check. This is not a defense of dealers who offer poor personal customer service or are rude and won't at least try to connect with the valuable customer.

What train dealer’s need first and foremost are better wholesale margins. This hobby needs to go to a factory direct method of wholesale with every dealer large or small getting the same exact wholesale price. No more favoritism. No more select blowouts. The blowouts also need to be available across the entire dealer spectrum.

Has anyone ever seen any of the dealer requirements or agreements to become an authorized dealer, especially a Lionel dealer? Lots of stipulations, requirements, financial disclosures, and other demands are made, but scant little being offered on any actual support end from the companies. In the case of Lionel, the longtime dealers that fall under the "Grandfather Clause" have more freedom to break the so-call rules that a newer dealer isn't privy to.

At least MTH has their product finder on their website, and is probably the most innovative thing any of the companies have done for their dealers. MTH to my understanding also has the most favorable wholesale levels of the major companies. The other companies’ web sites do more to promote themselves (including offering products to customers factory direct - which really irritates small dealers) than to support their dealer networks.

Dealers also need for product distributors to not also be mail order dealers who can undercut them in price any day of the week. Consumers of all types expect and demand discount prices. Small train dealers are long tired of being "visual catalogs" for folks to then order mail order. If the train companies really want to support their network of local dealers, then local dealers must be at least somewhat competitive. We've unfortunately become (I hate this phrase) a Wal-Mart society... and remember the "Low price leader" is also the low wage leader. Wal-Mart recently lost a lawsuit for all sorts of basic labor law violations.

Anyone wonder why Industrial Rail was such a big hit (other than being the best 027 product introduced in years)? It was because it was available at wholesale margins where attractive discounts could be given and the dealer could still make a profit. Although IR products were made under the blanket of a major distributor, so there was no middleman.

While I wholeheartedly agree, display layouts are a key element for introducing the hobby to newcomers, last I knew there was no support or reimbursement... display layouts and trains on them are paid for by the dealer who in many cases could wait and buy the trains for his shop layout cheaper from a mail order place than from his own distributor.

Some talk about longer hours, operating sessions and such. Hey, in any business if you don't try, you'll probably fail. But I do personally know of a couple dealers who tried longer hours, operating sessions and yes, free coffee. And someone spilled coffee on an engine, didn't want to pay for the repair and didn't buy anything either. Nor do most established train guys because they know they can buy the trains cheaper mail order.

And as much as every single sale should be important, most small dealers will tell you they can not survive on sales of screws, wire and scenery items. If they are TRAIN shops with trains in stock, then they need to sell trains. Which means (under the current wholesale rules) that we train guys need to willingly buy trains at FULL price or nearly full list price, because there is no other way for small dealers to do it without attempting to become large mail order houses. And even the owner of Train Express says business is tough, that the hobby is too expensive for most people and that even his sales are down.

That should be ringing alarm bells with the train companies.

So when a long time Lionel dealer gripes to me about business, I usually want to suggest he try smiling and taking a bath once in while. Otherwise, when other dealers gripe about business I say I understand (because I really do) and wonder how much longer the books will justify him keeping his business open.

I fully expect the trend to accelerate of smaller dealers closing shop and not having a display layout is the least of the reasons for this. By the way, I'm smiling as I write this and not in a bad mood of any sort. I've just simply spoken the truth, whether it is well received or not.

[Anonymous]

The store owners who are serious about thriving in this market will have an operating layout. They will have flexible hours so people can come in after work, and in the evenings, and yes, even on Sundays (at least in the fall months leading up to Christmas). We always hear about the low margin that Lionel allows for its dealers. Wall-Mart has built an empire out of low margin items sold at lower prices than the competitors can sell for. They make up in volume sales what they lose in profit margin. Of course I am not saying that my local train store will ever be a mega-store with the kind of volume thatr Wal-Mart sells. But, they could have an operating layout to make the store interesting and to re-inforce why the customer came in the door in the first place, and they could be open a few hours in the evenings, at least a few nights a week. And, they could have the layout sceniced and they might even do some classes on layout building ans scenery so that I see just how neat it is to use that $16 roll of plaster cloth that he sells, etc. I like my local train shop. He's got great customer service. He knows his customers, knows what they have on pre-order/backorder and reminds them that it is still on order (which is nice, because it reassures the customer that he did not forget about that item I wanted). He is open on Sunday afternoons. A few nights of the week he is open until 6, which does not help me, but it is better than closing at 5. I'd like him to do what some other shops do and be open until 9 a few nights of the week. (Nicholas Smith Trains (Broomall, PA) is open until 10 PM on M-W-F all 12 months of the year). But my local train shop has a layout that is never running. And, there is no scenery other than what looks like astro-turf for grass. And, no scenery-building classes. I am in the phase of my layout where I am going to soon start the scenery and I'd sure like someone to show me, first hand, how to do some of this stuff. He could do classes over 8 weeks, or 8 months or whatever, and at the end, he would have a nicely sceniced store display. Whatever.

One other thing: I am in a business that provides a service to children. We have people scheduled to come in at 20 or 30 minute intervals all day. The place is generally poorly run and the flow through the office is dismally slow at times, with lots of people grumbling and upset. The product that we deliver is first rate, but the process is pretty bad. We desperately need for some of the customers to point out to us ways that can make it flow faster, more smoothly, etc. We need the kind of input with ideas for how to make it better that is exactly what we are doing for train shops with this thread. We don't need anyone to offer excuses for why it is like it is, because we alll already know that how it is now is unacceptable.

[jonadel]

1. A coffee pot.
2. A rack to hang ceramic/plastic cups for the regulars.
3. Those that participate could certainly throw in a few $$ during the year.
4. If the price is within 10% of mail order I will always buy locally.

It needs to be a homey place, the steady money is the repeat buyer. Sure, November & December are the big money months in the train business but wouldn't it be nice to put your new purchase on the track and see it run in August before taking it home. I would go to the hobby shop lots more if it weren't so sterile. There are two such "homey" shops but one is an hour away and the about two hours away. There's a shop just north of MPLS called III Rail, I sure wish I lived a lot closer to that one.

Jon