Coming clean...would this be welcome here?

[METRO]

Alright, so you like trains, and you're a model railroader. Sounds good enough for me.

I'd bet good money that a lot of the people here aren't nearly as honest about their real lives as you have been, cheers to that. You know if I worked in the hobby business, I'd at least read the fourm closely as it would be great product feedback and market research info for free. (I don't work in the hobby industry however, I'm a college student and an artist in the world outside of my train room)

However, I'd have to agree that it would help to have feedback from people like LHS owners and others in the model railroad industry because the advice availble would also be helpful to us the consumer as well.

Cheers Mate, and Welcome!
~METRO

[Anonymous]

Hello Grandson of Sam, and welcome. I do not own a hobby shop but I am starting a web business. The forum here has been a fountain of information on what modelers want as far as products and service. I emailed Bergie and got straight answers on what is/is not appropriate!
He is a great guy and very helpfull. (he even set it up so that an advertising rep from Model Railroader contacted me.)
David

[Eriediamond]

Grandson of Sam. My 2 cents worth is this. Your a LHS owner and I'm a truck driver. Does that make me better than you? No! What we have in common is model railroading. Thats what this forum is about. It's not about what we do for a living. So in other words my short answer is quit worrying about it and feel at home here. I'm sure you are welcome here, as the replies have indicated. Welcome. Ken

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CurtMc

Why are you making a joke out of the son of sam story with your forum name?

CurtMc
He indicated in another thread how he came about using the handle he has. You may have missed it so here it is.

RE: bud lite commercial -- real men of genius -- mr. train modeler
Model Railroader Forums » General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Posted by Grandson Of Sam Posted: 26 Jun 2006, 15:10:52

Thanks for the welcome SilverSpike. Just tried to come up with something interesting and creative for a name. My Grandpa (RIP) was named Sam. So when my wife and I saw that movie about the Son Of Sam a few years back it dawned on me that indeed I am the Grandson Of Sam. No relation to the real Son Of Sam of course and don't mean to make light of the seriousness of his offenses in any way. But I'm a lot like my Grandpa so it just seemed to fit. And I was born in Nutsville, attended school in Nutsville, go to church in Nutsville, live in Nutsville and will probably be buried in Nutsville. But it's a cool place - everyone here has a great sense of humor.
I think it is a nice way to remember an important person in his life.

Pike

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. Plasticville.. Do you by any chance own the 5 and 10 store? [:p]

[Anonymous]

Why are you making a joke out of the son of sam story with your forum name?

[canazar]

G.O.S,

I happen to have a unique veiw on your problem. I am in the same boat you are in, except, not with trains. For my day job, I own a custom fabrication shop for 4x4's. Before I opened my business, I was, and still am, a avid offroader. After awhile, it became hard to seperate the two if I was out 4wheeling. Got even harder if I wanted to join a club, as a guy, not as a promotional thing. Even just walkin in the door, I would sometimes get swapmed with questions, or some folks even resented me being there becuase thought I was just there for the business. Quite the oppiste. Most of the time, I didnt want to "talk" work. Thats why I left my shop in the first place!

About 6 years ago, I came across a internt based offroad club that I joined. About 90% of the folks on the board (it is very much like this fourm) are local. Well, I joined but kept my business on the down low. Basically, I took the angle as I am John, the avid offroader, and yeah, I happen to own a fab shop for a day job. Granted, it was much harder to hide my indemty since everyone is more or less local. But here, everyone is everywhere, much easier for you. On my offroad forum I avoid the bickeirng of prices and such, and stay out of the politics of which shop is better. I never promote myself, offer discounts, etc on the board. Never.

I do step in and make sugestions to folks who ask the board or help if they need a pro's advice. I offer it. But always stay clear of me offering them a service. For me, I dont want to "pimp" myself out on the board, I only help as another guy who happens to know. If folks want to contact me directly, such as a personal E-mail, fine Cant stop someone who "wants to spened money with you".

I think if you take the same appaorach, and it sounds like you are, I think it would be great to have someone in the industry to give us inside views on the behind the scenes action. Great example: "No, Mr. Modeler, those units really are on back order from Such-Such Train Company. Your LHS isnt yanking your chain"

I am sure, over time, folsk will figure out who you are, but will understand the dynamics of the scenario here, and hopefully, be respectful enough to keep it all secret...

Welcome out of the shadows my freind.

[:D]

[fsm1000]

If you want an idea for your shop, may I suggest free clinics. I for one would love them. Sometimes it is hard to try new things after years of 'old' ways simple because we don't want to risk.
I know that if someone showed me I would probably use many more of the techniques out there.

Just a thought.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Always good to have an LHS owner/operator around. A lot of questions can be answered and misunderstandings concerning LHS's can be cleared up. Welcome!

[ModelTrainman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Safety Valve

Welcome!

yeah, welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Well these are the comments I was hoping to see. Thanks for all the welcomes.

I had been apprehensive up to now to mention anything as there does seem to be a fair amount of animosity shown to shops on here at times.....understandly sometimes deservedly so. No shop is perfect, certainly mine isn't. Yet.

Didn't know if we were allowed to contact Bergie directly, figured he's busy. So no I have not e-mailed him directly. But like others mentioned, if I got out of line I'm sure someone will call me on it.

Like some of you mentioned, this is a two-way street on here. While the views of a LHS owner may be interesting to hear at times, I have already gained a wealth of valuable information off of this forum on how to better run my shop, and for that I want to thank the members of this forum. Sometimes, it's hard to hear the truth about shops, but we owners need to hear it.

Although some of you, especially those on the forum who know me, will be able to figure out which store this is, I'd still prefer to remain as anonymous as possible so no one can accuse me of promoting my shop. As some of you noted, that clearly is not my intention.

I won't pretend to have all the answers, but sometimes I think the record needs to be set straight. I don't have a computer at home, so I can only answer here at work, but I will be happy to answer any questions that I can. Gotta go, customers just walked in!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by twhite

I think your point of view would be quite welcome, especially since you've very clearly stated that you don't intend to promote your shop on the forum. So, for my part at least, glad to have you aboard!
Tom [#welcome]

[#ditto]

[twhite]

I think your point of view would be quite welcome, especially since you've very clearly stated that you don't intend to promote your shop on the forum. So, for my part at least, glad to have you aboard!
Tom [#welcome]

[fsm1000]

Grandson Of Sam just a suggestion. But if you start a small non profit website where you give out for free advice etc to show others how to do things, I think that would go a long way to showing others your intentions.
I fix computers from time to time but I give away free info even though it costs me. Why? Because i care more about peoples safety then I do about raking in the money.
I also give my book away for free.
All of the stuff on my website is free simply because I "put my money [or lack of] where my mouth is".
I like helping people, simple as that.
I don't help by saying 'pay me first', I help by simply giving it away. Simple really.
Seems the more I give away the more I get in return. :)
So start a small website with some good info for beginners and old timers alike. I think your actions will show more than your words where you are at.

But that's just me.
Google has a free website offer called googlepages that gives you 100MB for free [as a suggestion only].

I hope this helps you out.

[grayfox1119]

I am fully in agreement to have LHS folks being part of the forum for a number of reason:
1. Can give us the real facts about running the shop and margins. Some people on the forum
have the opinion that all LHS owners gouge the customers.

2. Can give product reviews based upon their customers feedback that we might never see on
this forum n greater numbers. ( More inputs, better chance of accuracy )

3. Can provide feedback to the manufacturers based upon forum comments and reactions. They
provide, or can provide, a vital conduit between the customer and the manufacturer.

4. They in turn can get a feel for what "we" the customer wants to see stocked to be a "happy
camper". This in turn can make his/her business more profitable.
forum in greater numbers.

[Anonymous]

Your should be as welcome as any one else. This forums has rules that you would be expected to followed as the rest of us do.

[Anonymous]

grandson of sam,

stop being so shy and take a look around! between this and the other magazine forum, we have everybody: owners, producers, retailers, consumers, authors, world class modelmakers, and grumpy old men.

the first three are easy to spot; they always talk of "growing the hobby" and "paying more for the service is worth it". the rest either confess or tip their cards when we rile them.

concerning your opinion: we need to hear it. if you don't tell us who you are or where your shop is, we'll never know.

specific services, or hot items for sale tend to get mentioned when part of a discussion, and manufacturers let us know when to start sending our money in. many members have links to their specific forte.

moderators help us remember where the boundarys lie.

if you have something to contribute, well, let's hear it.

-rrick

[Anonymous]

WELCOME!!!!!!!

QUOTE: by selector but if it were up to me, and you had forthrightly admitted your position and agreed not to promote your business, I would say what took you so long? You might lend credibility to those who claim to have owned and operated businesses, particularly LHS's, and put to rest some myths of a different sort that seem to crop up every so often.

I agree.
Neal

[selector]

Bergie's opinion is the one that counts, but if it were up to me, and you had forthrightly admitted your position and agreed not to promote your business, I would say what took you so long? You might lend credibility to those who claim to have owned and operated businesses, particularly LHS's, and put to rest some myths of a different sort that seem to crop up every so often.

[Anonymous]

Welcome!

[egmurphy]

I'd be glad to have input from an LHS owner in some of these discussions.


Regards

Ed

[Anonymous]

I really don't think Bergie will mind, as long as you don't blatently advertise items of yours. It sounds as if you have no plans of doing so, so everything should be A-Okay.

[Anonymous]

As long as you make it open knowledge that you own LHS, I am sure people would only be glad to talk with you. More so, I'd really enjoy to hear the opinion of LHS store owner in all those discussions like "LHS's are dying".

It's the people who come in register and start posting hidden adverts like "I am just an old dude, and I bought my Tower 55 at <store> and I love it, what about you!" that are not welcome on these forums.

[tcwright973]

I think anyone with an interest in model railroading should be welcome to this forum. Everyone has something to offer and advice from an owner of a LHS could prove to be very helpful to some of us.
Tom

[modelalaska]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SilverSpike
I prefer to send my business to the LHS, keeps the $$ local in the economy and I get the one-on-one interaction that you cannot get with an Internet buy!

I think this is a good example of why LHS owners should participate in these forums... they can get a better understanding of the needs of the modelers through these discussions. I don't believe the LHSs in my area have a clue because their stock is erratic and knowledge obscure.
So I order about 80% of my stuff online.
I think it would be great if "Grandson of Sam" would let us know his thoughts and ideas from a LHS point of view so we all could help keep our LHSs healthy.
Just my [2c]
Peter
p.s. there are some members on here that push businesses so much you would think they were part owners or something...

[SilverSpike]

The secret is exposed, aha! [:O]

So you moved very quickly from Nutsville to Plasticville huh!

Where exactly is your LHS located in the real world or should I say non-virtual world?

I prefer to send my business to the LHS, keeps the $$ local in the economy and I get the one-on-one interaction that you cannot get with an Internet buy!

[MAbruce]

I wouldn’t think there would be a problem, unless you’re clearly attempting to use the forum as a promotion base for your store. There are other members who are LHS owners, and I suspect that MRR manufactures monitor this forum all the time for ideas/feedback.

To be on the safe side, I suggest you don’t tell us the name of your store or where it is. That should put any doubts to rest.

[Vampire]

Yes, there are other members here who own or have owned hobby shops. They will probably chime in sooner or later too. I'm sure your input will be welcomed by many.

All aboard!

[CSX_road_slug]

As for myself, I appreciate your transparancy. But have you e-mailed Bergie directly about this? In the end, I think that the decision really is his...