Well, yesterday saw me, my wife, and her cousin at the St. Louis Art Muesum. Afterwards, I wanted to go to 2 local hobby stores to check out merchandise, etc.
The first place we went to was the Switch Stand. Now, my wife's 16 y.o. cousin is slightly slow..he has ADHD, among other things. He's so excited by the trains that I thought he'd get a kick out of store layouts. We went into the store...and he saw the layout. It wasn't running. He asked the guy to turn it on, and the guy (owner?) was kind of a butt about it. Seemed like he had more important things to do. And as for caring on a conversation or answering the multitude of questions I had...uh no. We were outta there within 10 minutes..which is a shame. Oh, and let's not forget the "I have cheaper stuff than Lionel" shot when I asked about Lionel. I saw MTH and Williams stuff..
We then went to the Electric Train Outlet, and let me tell you..WHAT a VAST difference! All Lionel...lot's of selection...answered lots of questions..and his store motto? Service with Abuse! Oh yeah..he's a smart butt...but funny. I'll give him business anytime. But he brought up several areas I have questions about, which I'll post in separate msgs. Man..I don't post anything for a while..then wham..here I come!
Anyone else have a St. Louis hobby store recommendation? Or have a horror store to share on their local stores?
I like Marty's Model Railroads in St. Louis (Affton). It's a tiny shop, not as much selection as either of the shops you mentioned, but the two guys there are extremely helpful. When I was starting out, I visited all of the shops (including the ones that do more than just trains). Marty's became my favorite because they went out of their way to help me.
Schaeffer's and Checkered Flag Hobby Country are good general hobby shops with helpful staff. Both carry trains but they don't specialize in them, so you don't necessarily get the same level of knowledge. But they're good people. And a lot of the other-hobby knowledge does translate well, like paint, glues, tools, and materials.
I'm not a big fan of some of the shops in St. Louis but the good ones we have are very good.
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
yallaen wrote: Anyone else... have a horror store to share on their local stores?
Anyone else... have a horror store to share on their local stores?
As an adult with purchasing power, a parent and a grandfather, I am constantly annoyed and amazed at the shabby way too many hobby stores behave towards their customers and children in particular. I'm well aware that children aren't easy to deal with unless on their best behaviour and that shops are in business to make money most of which comes from adults, many of whom don't particularly want to be hampered by kids but take the long view guys.
Our hobby would dry up and blow away if it wasnt for fresh young enthusiasts entering the apocryphal 'funnel'. To make the top of that funnel as wide as possible, you've got to entice kids and don't forget that those kids will bring in paying adults in their footsteps and become such themselves.
When I was in Germany a few years ago I noted that several main line train stations had coin operated Marklin layouts to play with whilst waiting for the train, this strikes me as an excellent way to get kids interested, looking is good but doing is better and a bulletproof sealed Lionel layout in a mall with a few buttons to operate accessories and a controller ought to do a lot to show trains to kids who otherwise won't get a chance to see them.
How hard would it be for the hobby shops to make something like this? Better yet mount it in the front window with IR operated controls so the outside onlooker can still cause something to happen. Right now, I think, the hobby/industry is enjoying a transitory window that exists solely because we boomers are having a glorious last indulgence in the toys of our youth but this wont last.
Liability issues (slander/libel) prevent me from naming names but the two hobby shops I visit most, here in New York, are both on Long Island, one in Queens the other in Nassau County and neither makes any effort to enourage children or, come to that paying adults! I am lucky if I can get a boxed item opened up, far less given a demo run and though I'd like to try out command control, neither has been willing to let me try it out though one has a permanent layout and the other has a test track.
I took our daughter to both stores and she wasn't greeted, given a lollipop - something most banks do as a matter of course - or even acknowledged, even though a dimwit could have figured out that enticing her with a Brio engine or some low dollar train item would have made grandpa have to reach for his wallet!
Last but not least these stores seem to be run as hangouts for a clique most of whom are behind the counter, busily making models or discussing their daily lives even when there are customers standing waiting for service. The upshot of all this being that though I HATE buying online or by mail I'll take my business elsewhere because I wont tolerate rudeness not even to save a buck.
DOes Hobby Station in Kirkwood have O gauge?
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