I think we all agree that the market is changing, as are some of the dynamics of the hobby. Hobby shops who make adjustments to accomodate the changing market will be successful into the future; those that don't adjust, won't be successful.
There are examples of those changes throughout this thread. One that comes to mind is that even 10 years ago a one-week wait for a special order was acceptable, not so anymore (30 years ago, many ads in MR said "allow 2-3 weeks for delivery." Would we tolerate that today?). As consumers, our expectations have changed and 2 business days is about all we'll wait. A shop owner who places special orders once per week is probably not satisfying his/her customers.
I'm pretty sure that clinging to the past is a formula for business failure. Shop owners will be wise to look to the future and be making plans so they can exceed the expectatations of that market.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
The idea that the hobby shop is the way new people learn about the hobby is not accurate. I was in the hobby for over a year before I even saw a hobby shop. MR on the newstand at the PX in Germany got me started. I bought Tyco trains from the toy department of the PX and mail ordered the rest. Along the way that first year I subscribed to RMC and joined the NMRA.
Train shows and mall displays probaby reach more people than a hobby shop tucked away in the back corner of a shopping center where the rent is cheap. I don't say hobby shops aren't helpful, but they are not the only way and the hobby won't die for lack of them. That said, I do enjoy a well stocked hobby store and hate to see them disappear.
Enjoy
Paul
IRONROOSTER wrote: The idea that the hobby shop is the way new people learn about the hobby is not accurate. I was in the hobby for over a year before I even saw a hobby shop. MR on the newstand at the PX in Germany got me started. I bought Tyco trains from the toy department of the PX and mail ordered the rest.
The idea that the hobby shop is the way new people learn about the hobby is not accurate. I was in the hobby for over a year before I even saw a hobby shop. MR on the newstand at the PX in Germany got me started. I bought Tyco trains from the toy department of the PX and mail ordered the rest.
Paul, I'd have to say that by your own admission as to how you began in the hobby - being outside the country, in the service and buying your first trains at the PX - is not just unusual but little short of unique compared to the rest of us. I think if a poll were instituted here as to what influenced, guided and kept the flame alive most in newbies when they first started out, a decided majority would answer it was their LHS...as well as being the place the public had their first commercial exposure to the hobby.
Likewise, I live in the NY metropolitan area and I haven't even heard of a mall train show in years (after the mid 90's the malls here mostly demanded huge insurance coverages by the clubs and electrical codes prohibited the wiring arrangements in the displays). There may still be some going on but they are certainly few and far between these days.
CNJ831
CNJ831 wrote:I think if a poll were instituted here as to what influenced, guided and kept the flame alive most in newbies when they first started out, a decided majority would answer it was their LHS...as well as being the place the public had their first commercial exposure to the hobby.
CNJ:Commercial, maybe, but does that matter? The first exposure, period, probably matters more. Most of us got into this because we got a choochoo for Christmas. That's how I got in.What kept me going in the hobby wasn't the LHS. The LHS was the place I went maybe 4-6 times a year with $20 and big plans, and left with $0 and a small bag. The local train show and the hardware, craft, and variety stores kept me going with equipment and materials. Books like HOW TO RUN A RAILROAD and Raymond F. Yates' books, and others the library had, and MR magazine kept me going with ideas. Encouragement from my parents and other people helped too. The model shop didn't enter into it much at all.Passing into history, eh. I wouldn't mind seeing the Greek chorus of dismal internet wailings pass into history.
Hi AP....I bet the great majority of us all would have to say that the loop of track under the tree or someother Holiday display was the lynchpin of our model empires.
That being said, over the last 4 pages of notes, there is quite a discussion as to whether the local merchant as a collective group, has an ongoing value to the market. As I indicated previously, I believe there are dramatic parallels in the supply chain of a number of markets...each of which we could count up, take some polls and find that a great number of folks think that the local hardware store has no value to them.
So, acknowledging that this is not a slim minority view, what does that tell us about the market. It seems that the manufacturers are making and supplying more of everything than at any point in our hobby history. Quality is way higher, volume must be pretty good, and I would have to think the manufacturers are making some good margins, or they would cease to be in the market place.
Further, it seems that suppliers have gotten strong...look at Allied, Walthers, Horizon...etc. Additionally, there is a very large chain of hobby (not just MRR) stores where a franchise is available to anyone who can pony up the coin to get started. The good ones survive, the bad ones fall from their rolls, as has been previously documented here.
It seems to me a few years ago (well, more than a few) there was great angst and moaning amongst the local stores, and those who wrote in to MR, as to the "mail order places". I seem to remember that for a long while MR wouldn't publish their 800#s. Now its internet and EBAY. Have the Charlatans simply changed costumes? Isn't it still the same? I know that a way long back, it was those darned Toy Stores that didn't provide the service.
Is there any culpability on the part of the distribution industry? Manufacturers? Wholesalers? Or is lassez faire the best way to go and let the strong survive, and the weak be eaten by those darned little fish with legs I see on the back of so many cars...
It is my opinion that the industry owes the distribution channel some new suppor that isn't there to encourage local merchants to achieve greater plateaus. It can only be good for the activity, good for the channels top to bottom...and ultimately good for everyones customers.
Midnight Railroader wrote: Discount sales over the internet make most brick-and-mortars a tough proposition to sustain.The major selling point store owners offer is when they say, "If it stops working, how are you going to get it fixed on the internet?"Okay, but in 25+ years of model railroading, I have yet to take something to a hobby shop for service, and I'll bet there are a lot of people like me. Don't get me wrong, I love hobby shops, and I'm glad Caboose Hobbies is in my town. But they're having troubles too, and they do a good mail-order business. The average retired guy who just "wanted a little shop" isn't going to be able to survive much longer.
Discount sales over the internet make most brick-and-mortars a tough proposition to sustain.
The major selling point store owners offer is when they say, "If it stops working, how are you going to get it fixed on the internet?"Okay, but in 25+ years of model railroading, I have yet to take something to a hobby shop for service, and I'll bet there are a lot of people like me.
Don't get me wrong, I love hobby shops, and I'm glad Caboose Hobbies is in my town. But they're having troubles too, and they do a good mail-order business. The average retired guy who just "wanted a little shop" isn't going to be able to survive much longer.
We lost our best stocked LHS here after the owner retired after 33 years. I really hate to hear Caboose in Denver is having trouble because they have become my mail order hobby shop. Hopefully, they will stay in business.
All Lionel all the time.
Okiechoochoo
csmith9474 wrote: Here in Colorado Springs, there are two train shops that seem to be doing very well. The one that I shop at is always very well stocked, and if he doesn't have what you want, he will go out of his way to get it for you if need be. I asked, and was told that business is good, and there are no plans of shutting down. Caboose Hobbies up in Denver seems to be doing OK as well.
Here in Colorado Springs, there are two train shops that seem to be doing very well. The one that I shop at is always very well stocked, and if he doesn't have what you want, he will go out of his way to get it for you if need be. I asked, and was told that business is good, and there are no plans of shutting down.
Caboose Hobbies up in Denver seems to be doing OK as well.
I have done some business with a shop in Colo Springs called Sunbird Train Mart. They seem like they are well stocked and have decent prices. Are they one you visit or do you recommend others. I am mainly into HO and O 3 rail.
I never thought of it as being unique, but now that you mention it I suppose it is.
I guess today's hangout is the internet, so forums like this one are where the newbies can come for help and just chat model railroading. Time will tell if that works to bring in newcomers.