riogrande5761ScaleTrains announced articulated well cars for early double stack trains and one guy commented how he was disappointed with the announcement - that he was hoping for another engine announcement
Russell
York1All right! That's it! I'm going to petition Kalmbach that all discussions of Florida weather are forbidden from November through April.
.
I understand. I will not talk about it any more.
Instead, I will just post a picture looking down my street today.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
All right! That's it!
I'm going to petition Kalmbach that all discussions of Florida weather are forbidden from November through April.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
riogrande5761Weather and Politics are off topic right?
That is correct, so I won't mention how beautiful it is outside.
riogrande5761This being a train forum, Weather and Politics are off topic right? Train shops closing down is related to trains. Just sayin....
Yup! That's why I didn't mention that it is snowy and icy outside, and that ... wait, I won't say anything more!
York1I know we've been through this all, but what else do we have to talk about? The weather? Politics?
This being a train forum, Weather and Politics are off topic right? Train shops closing down is related to trains. Just sayin....
The closing of the LHS is a regular feature here don't you know?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Games Workshop has the model that works in today's hobby environment.
They make an entire "stand alone" wargaming hobby line. Rules, figures, paints, supplies, and everything else you need can be had from Games Workshop.
The company owns the retail stores, and puts items in many full line hobby shops. It treats the retail stores as recruitment centers to get hobbiests involved and invested as quickly as possible.
Then... when they go their version of "full prototype", and want to model a specific Chaos army of Khorne from the second incursion, they can get all the custom resin parts, spikey bits, and fiddly-what-nots from the Games Workshop online store to make their "historically" accurate army.
Walthers is in a position to do something similar in model railroading.
How many one man 600 square foot shops would they need to open as recruitment centers to pump new blood into this hobby of ours?
The successful modern business model is out there.
I know we've been through this all, but what else do we have to talk about? The weather? Politics?
In the 19th Century, most little towns had a general store -- food, clothing, and hardware.
Then a grocery store came to town. The general store evolved into clothing or hardware.
Then JCPenneys, Montgomery Wards, and Sears came in. People fretted because the big guys were shutting out the mom and pop stores. If the big store didn't have it, you could get it in a short time through their catalog services.
Then suburban malls came in. The "downtown" stores closed and main streets changed to service offices.
Wallmart and Target became the new "general" stores, with pharmacies, groceries, clothing, and hardware.
Now the malls are being forced out by online ordering. We have new businesses springing up all over the net.
Everything changes.
I miss the old local hobby shop, but I really like being able to order exactly what I want, and having it delivered to my door in three days.
It's kind of strange to imagine what will be next.
ricktrains4824 Hobby shops cater to a very picky clientele. They want very specific models and items, or they leave empty handed.
Hobby shops cater to a very picky clientele. They want very specific models and items, or they leave empty handed.
The few shops in my area mostly carry low quality "trainset" level trains and accessories so anyone who's more into trains, who's passion is trains, isn't going to find much there. I suppose it's considered "safe" merchandise to carry, but no good to many hobbyists, only beginners really.
But it's also true that those who are much deeper into the hobby have usually very specific tastes, such as particular RR or trains from a certain time period.
Consider the Springfield show announcements. ScaleTrains announced articulated well cars for early double stack trains and one guy commented how he was disappointed with the announcement - that he was hoping for another engine announcement. But even if it was, it probably would be the right engine. *sigh*
Its not just hobby stores that are closing retail locations. Appliances, clothing, furniture, grocery, car dealerships, even places like Lowe’s and HDepot are struggling to keep locations profitable and open. Internet shopping is great for selection and pricing, but very bad for keeping brick retail locations profitable.
Internet shopping is great for selection and pricing, but very bad for keeping brick retail locations profitable.
^ This!
Other stores face the same issue, internet shops can have a much bigger selection to choose from, with less "overhead" expenses, along with having access to many more customers than any single "brick" location ever can.
Its not just hobby stores that are closing retail locations. Appliances, clothing, furniture, grocery, car dealerships, even places like Lowe’s and HDepot are struggling to keep locations profitable and open.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
mbinsewi None of this surprises me. What economic forecasters and statistics seem to support, doesn't have much bearing on the success of a LHS. Sure, train show vendors say things are good, because people maybe buying what's availiable at the show, or going to the vendors web site to purchase what isn't. No one LHS can possibly have everything on the shelves that buyers want. The beginning of the same old rehash, all over again. Mike.
None of this surprises me. What economic forecasters and statistics seem to support, doesn't have much bearing on the success of a LHS.
Sure, train show vendors say things are good, because people maybe buying what's availiable at the show, or going to the vendors web site to purchase what isn't.
No one LHS can possibly have everything on the shelves that buyers want.
The beginning of the same old rehash, all over again.
Mike.
Yes. Heck, northern Virginia has a lot of wealth and expensive house, BMW's and Mercedes every where you look. Hobby shops? Not much and what little there is rarely has anything on the shelves for me.
Times are a changin, and so is the way we do commerce. It isn't just hobby shops but other brick and mortar stores that are losing business to online shopping. Adapt or disappear.
With model railroading, the LHS is having trouble adapting to changes in the hobby. The trend toward prototype specificity is at the root of much of this.
People come in wanting, not just a boxcar for a particular road, but a model of a particular car, on a carbody that matches the prototype with all the relevant details, AND with a specific paint scheme that matches those years in service. It's a far cry from Irv Athearn painting that product from the same boxcar mold in a couple of dozen different variants, few if any that actually match the pics you find.
In other words, it takes many more SKUs to satisfy your customers. Which makes a larger inventory of pricier models. It's hard for the LHS to keep up, although some who pay particular attention to stocking the items its customers want do well. There are fewer and fewer shops that fall in that niche to fill the gap between those shops and the mail-order/internet giants, who can afford to stock everything available.
I am not criticizing this trend. It's improved the hobby in many ways. People do want more specialized gear for good reasons. I'm even more extreme, being a narrowgauger, so I need stuff in a different gauge and for very specific prototypes. But it does explain a lot about why model railroading brick-and-mortar retail is facing a crisis.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
My You Tube
I feel your pain and can only point out that this has been the subject of much discussion and lamenting on these Forums. I feel fortunate that we still have full train stores and hobby shops with train departments to choose from here in Milwaukee, and not just because Walthers is here and has a retail showroom (which I go to). But things could change fast, and we've lost some great train shops.
I play a musical instrument. When I was in high school there were probably five big stores in the Milwaukee area that were in the sole business of selling sheet music. All are gone now. Yet people still play instruments and not every piece of music is a free download. It's all mail order now, except for a small amount of music sold at stores that sell band and orchestra instruments and guitars (and those numbers are way down too). Record stores are largely a thing of the past. A local book store sells some CDs but book stores are nearly a thing of the past. Go down the list. Shoe stores, art supply stores .... formerly so plentiful. Yet people still wear shoes, still make art. So the demise of a brick and mortar hobby shop does not = the end of demand for the products it sold. It is just a new world of retail.
I have little need or reason to go to a Hobby Lobby or Hobbytown USA for supplies, but I will say that now and then you find yourself short of paint or strip wood or Xacto knives or Dremel cutting discs and it can be handy to have a "generic" hobby or craft shop nearby. But no such shop could survive off of my kind of patronage.
Dave Nelson
In my part of the world (Charleston SC. area) our Hobbytown USA shut down recently. I noticed it in the last year it was close to dying off. The model railroad section was first to go except for Lionel stuff, which I think was overstock, then the paints and styrene stuff dwindled away and finally the big sale. There is however a small LHS out in the country that deals with RC planes and railroading items. The store is opened 3 days a week and I don't think alot of people know about it. The store is a house that was gutted and turned into the store. The checkout counter is where the kitchen was, the store is located in a secluded area and I had a hard time finding it the first time.
Our local economy is booming. Our local news reported that aboit 24 people a day are moving into our area and alot coming from the North. There are many LHS's in the north and I was told years ago PA. had the most Model Railroad Hobby stores. With that said, I would think our area would have numerous LHS's all over the place but that is not the case. We have 2 Hobby Lobbys and the other craft stores in the area.
According to "IBIS World" the hobby industry had a growth rate of 1.2% from 2014 - 2019 making it a $20.2 billion industry. These stats included Hobby Lobby and crafts stores.
And one more thing that does not make sense. Our annual Train Show is doing well according to the vendors I talked to and we have a Model Railroad club that is open to the public 4 days a week and they are doing ok and yet, no hobby shops. To me that would be like no surf board shops in Honolulu.