A big one bite's the dust Who said the LHS can't compete

[railroadyoshi]

O boy!!!

Arthill, are you in NB?

I support my LHS. I don't care if I pay more, I keep them in business, and they give me the help I need.

[Anonymous]

I have a Question. If I where to go to a Hobby store and see a Model that is $104.99,on the shelf,ok? Now. There are "other" LHS out there will have the same Model much cheaper than the one that I just went to. So can I bargen for Him or Her to lower the Price on this same Model that I saw much cheaper at this other Hobby store? HELP!

[AntonioFP45]

Wow.

I guess we're very, very fortunate here in Tampa, Florida. We've got Happy Hobo Trains and the service is 2nd to none. Some of the customers live in other counties. I realize that on some items I can get a slightly better deal on ebay, but overall store prices are decent and the owner wants his customers to be happy.

[NevinW]

I would love a good hobby shop that knew what they were doing. The problem is that many hobby shops are so weak and the people there so clueless that it is a shock that they remain open at all. I went in to shop a few weeks ago that sells a lot of 3 rail O scale. I tried to talk to the guy about ordering me a 2-rail Atlas engine and the gudy denied that it even existed. The shops with smart people and good service are thriving, there is just too few of them. - Nevin

[jnichols]

No one wants the LHS folks to succeed more than I do, but the level of incompetence and short sided thinking on most their parts leads me to believe they don't want to stay in business. An example of this thinking is the Hobby Shop Now program from Horizon hobbies, a huge model railroad distributor. Using this program, a small LHS can have on online presence with very little effort and cost. This "online system" includes a complete website with pictures of all the products and an integrated shopping cart. The LHS can set their own pricing on this site, and discounting isn't an issue because the LHS never stocks the products, they are shipped directly from Horizon and a monthly check is simply sent to the retailer for profit on their sales.

So you look at this program offered to retailers by a major distributor in an effort to make the little guy more competetive in an online environment, and you would think everyone would be doing it. Well you would be wrong. Out of the dozen or so hobby shops in my surrounding area, only one of them is taking advantage of this program. When I've asked the other LHS owners why they haven't joined in, they always answer with something like "the internet is killing the small hobby shops and they want no part of it". Again, this is short sided thinking and hoping that the internet and online retailing would go away is wishful thinking at best. You know the old adage, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen... [;)]

Jeff

[howmus]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mrgstrain

trainfreek92 Look's like you and I are the only one's who want the LHS to survive. No wonder they are all closeing there door's. You and I will go broke keeping them open. I quess we will have to get on the other side of the fence, not by choice. I hate to see the big guy win all the time.

Larry

Don't think so! I believe that most people like to have the LHS around. Competition in all retail businesses is tough today. I am lucky to have some LHSs within a reasonable driving distance that are often cheaper than most on-line discount stores when you factor in shipping and handling (and more fun to do business with). I just ordered a Digitrax Super Chief Radio starter set as an expansion and upgrade for my layout. Bought it at a store in Webster, NY. My research showed the following:

Internet Trains $543.99 + shipping and handling
Tony's 499.95 + shipping and handling
Loy's Toys 512.00 + shipping and handling

LHS (Empire Northern Models) $479.99 plus tax $518.39

Very competitive I would say. Plus I am supporting a local store and support will be great because he knows me and wants my business again (I have already had a case where I had some problems with an item and it was instantly taken care of!). He also sells on line BTW.

[loathar]

ARTHILL-I'd love to live across from one.Did you get into trains before or after you moved there?
mrgstrain-Got love a surprise sale! I always go back and get more stuff when I hear that.
I had a big Hobby Town near me when I lived in Oh. Mostly RC stuff and REALLY high prices.(place was always crowded though [%-)])

[ARTHILL]

I live across the street from a great HO shop. I don't know if that is a blessing or a curse, but it is fun to stop in a couple times a week and just look around. I have gotten to know a couple people who hang around there. His prices are competative, but I support him because it is so much more fun than Ebay.

[BRAKIE]

There are 3 discount hobby shops that lies within a 60 mile radius..Still not worth the trip for a 10-15% discount when I can get the same engine and cars cheaper on line and have them delivered.I still shop locally(30 miles radius) for paints,decals,track switches etc but not the high dollar items.

Now,I do have a shop that gives me great 2 fer or 4 fer deals AND he will ship the items to my door if I request him to.Guess who gets most of my not so local high dollar trade?

A new Hobbyland open in Columbus,Ohio last year and the LHS marches on.

[rrgrassi]

I have a small Hobby Town, and some rather large Hobby Towns. The small one is in Plano, Tx, the larger ones are in Dallas and Arlington. The one in Plano seems to carry more R/C and Dungeons and Dragons type stuff. Plano even has a good sized are for the Dungeons games players to play. The one in Dallas has a much better selection of model RR stuff, and the one in Arlington has tons of model RR stuff.

I will stop and check out HobbyTown, but my LHS in Addison still has way better pricing than Hobby Town. I would think that Hobby Town would have better pricing since they have more buying power, but since the Franchisee's must pay royalty fees to Hobby Town Corporate, I guess the prices have to be higher. Example: Kadee #5 standard 2 pair with draft boxes in the manilla envelope is $1 higher than the individual owned LHS in Addison.

[mrgstrain]

MAbruce How unfortunate for you that you do not have a decent hobby shop in your area. I think you would really appreciate the personal service and maybe give you a differant outlook on thing's. Your loss. I to do not have anything against any one trying to make a living, it just seem's that big guy is in it for one thing only. $$$$$

simmon1966 The guy that ran the hobbytown has another store also, his smaller store was there before the LHS opened. He has the resorce's to compete but still could not because people are willing to support the LITTLE guy rather than theBIG guy.

Larry

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear HobbyTown couldn't compete and went down the toilet. I want to make one thing clear here though yall. I AM an advocate of the LHS. We just don't have one. I don't count SlobbyTown, do yall? That's all we have here. If we had an independant, I'd be all over it, even if it cost more than online purchasing.

[simon1966]

Hobby Town may be a nationwide brand, but I bet that the shop that shut down was the end of a small business owners dream, no different from a regular LHS, except that this guy went the franchise route.

[MAbruce]

I don’t have any axe to grind with the LHS. I simply do business with those who will give me the best value for my very limited supply of hobby money. If it’s the LHS, then they will get my sale. However, most of the time it’s been ebay and/or on-line stores. Hey, it is what it is.

I always get a chuckle out of the Hollywood notion that the “big guy” is somehow always bad in some way. They worked hard to get where they are and there is usually a commendable reason why they got big. If you don’t like the ‘big guys”, fine, but it would be more credible if it was for a plausible reason (like bad service) and not just because they are “big”.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mrgstrain

trainfreek92 Look's like you and I are the only one's who want the LHS to survive. No wonder they are all closeing there door's. You and I will go broke keeping them open. I quess we will have to get on the other side of the fence, not by choice. I hate to see the big guy win all the time.

Larry

We have a great LHS in the Cincinnati area - Davis Trains. They have very good prices and the store seems to always be full of hobbyists spending their money.

[mrgstrain]

trainfreek92 Look's like you and I are the only one's who want the LHS to survive. No wonder they are all closeing there door's. You and I will go broke keeping them open. I quess we will have to get on the other side of the fence, not by choice. I hate to see the big guy win all the time.

Larry

[trainfreek92]

good to no there are other LHS out there that have fair/competitive prices. Tim

[mrgstrain]

After reading all the bad stories about LHS's i had to pass this on. I just supported 2 of my LHS's. The first one just deal's in train's all scale's. I bought an ho scale IHC 2-6-0 for $69.00 ( IHC ad in MR $59.98 + $7.50 s&h). The second one deal's with it all RC plane's, car's, train's, model's the work's. I just stopped in because i was in the neigborhood. I was looking at some DPM structure kit's which i have never built but heard they were good, so i decided to buy Carol's Corner Cafe to give them a try. When i went to check out the clerk rang it up at 30% off, they were not marked as such, she said they had taken the sign down but that's what they were selling them for. So what did i do? I went back and got Kelly's Saloon and Goodfellows Hall at 30% off. They made $$ and i saved $$.

By the way they are located just down the street from a small Hobby Town who just closed there door's. Way to go LHS congradulation's

Larry