Getting People Involved

[3railguy]

I think too many train shops put too much burden on the shoulders of manufacturers and clubs like the TCA to grow the hobby. If they really want to see the hobby grow then they should plant their own seeds. One thing they can do is put on clinics. You don't see many shops do this. Putting out a display layout doesn't cut it. You've got to involve people in building the elements. This is something a scale model train store near me does twice a week. I've attended a couple of these clinics and it was a good learning experience, I met some new train heads, and spent a little money on stuff to try out what I learned. Plus it was a good turn out. The attached link is a schedule of clinics just to give you an idea of what I mean:
http://www.enginehouseservices.com/resources_calendar.htm

[brianel027]

Certainly this idea of clinics has popped up before. And it is a good idea - should a local shop wi***o generate some buzz on trains - and provided there is interest in the clinics. One must remember though that small localized dealers (who would be most likely to do this sort of thing) are also the dealers who get the poorest wholesale margins (around 25-30% off list plus freight). If the small dealer can sell some additional trains by doing this sort of thing, it would be worth his while. But I wouldn't expect small dealers to do this without some sort of financial benefit. And I don't know if folks would be willing to pay to attend something like this? Maybe they would.

I also agree with you John on your TCA comment. Ultimately though, it IS the job of the various manufacturers to promote their own products. They're the ones who have the most to gain. They need to support the dealers, give everyone good wholesale margins and equal dibs at the blowouts. They need to back up the small dealers with promotional materials and advertising.

And as this has been discussed many times before, I don't see any major changes coming on the part of the train companies in this direction. MTH does have to my understanding the best wholesale set up for dealers with a 3-tier system. And Liionel is certainly making an effort with some attractive starter sets and they've greatly expanded the $27 stater car line up. K-Line has their Husky line but I've never seen them for sale anywhere - even at dealers that carry K-Line. But I'm not buying trains these days, so I don't go into shops the way I used to.

But recall Industrial Rail products? They were popular in part because they were well made, traditionally sized (in a sea of other trains that weren't), with changing car numbers, appealing wide road name selection, a reasonable list price and most importantly - a very attractive wholesale price for dealers large and small. Meaning that even the local neighborhood shop could sell Industrial Rail cars at a discount (if they wanted to) and still make a good profit. I know my old dealer did. He really liked Industrial Rail products... he made money and customers still got a good deal.

If a dealer can make money on something, they are going to have a much greater interest in trying to stock and sell that particular item.

But I also see your point John... dealers need to generate some interest in keeping folks walking through their door. A workshop is a clever idea that can help the customer... and maybe the customer once he's in the shop will return the favor and make a purchase.

[3railguy]

Brian, yes, the idea has come up before and one shop I remember from 25 years ago put on clinics at the community college because the turnout was so large. This was in Tacoma WA which is a fairly large community. There was no fee nor is there a fee at the clinic at the shop near me.

The kinds of sales these clinics promote is more layout oriented stuff. Scenic, structure, and trackwork items. The kinds of things people do not care to go to volume dealers for because the savings aren't large enough to justify the shipping and waiting. The sales may be small but they are frequent
when it comes to layout items. A guy can easily spend $1000 a year spending $15, $20 a visit.

I agree that manufacturers need to do some of the promoting but too many dealers expect business to fall in their lap. It takes a lot more than the knowledge of money exchange and a smile to sell your service. You have to know your product and know it very well. In many cases, train buyers know more about this stuff than the sellers. That does not fare well with buyers unless they are getting a big discount.

The blowout sales you mention have a lot to do with manufacturers and dealers not knowing well enough what makes a product appealing. People like Irv Athearn, Josh Cowen, AC Gilbert, etc had this sixth sense. Same goes for the likes of Peter Bianco and Charlie Ro. In the 70's they were street corner operations and look what they grew to be.

Train people often seek fellowship with train people and clinics have a way of bonding train people. The fellowship is half the fun of clinics and has a way of keeping people involved in the hobby. Kind of like a bible study group. Do you look forward to the next bible study just to read the bible? Well, maybe but you can do that at home. I wager you most look forward to the fellowship.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Recently a periodical was sent to me containing an article about business hours. In the article it said that if a retail business was open from 9am to 5pm, it was trying to sell to the unemployed. A statistic that was quoted indicated that it had been found that if a business changed their hours to 11am to 7pm, many of them saw a doubling of sales.

One of our best train shops in this area closes his doors at 5:00pm and then complains about slow business. Needless to say, clinics which are a wonderful way to promote the hobby, may be a secondary item, with just good old customer service the first in line.

[philo426]

I agree with Buckeye bankers hours for a train store just doesn't cut it!Service too is an issue,as I have been in many train stores who ignore you or treat a question as an annyoance.But this ground has been covered before!

[brianel027]

"Where two or more are gathered in my name..."

Ah yes John, you would be right on the idea of fellowship. When I first got back into the hobby I knew some guys who worked at my then local electronics shop. They were members of the TCA. So I would ask questions about YORK (having at the time never having attended) and they told me one of the big reasons they went was to run into old friends/train buddies they hadn't seen in a while.

And while the blowouts could in part be a result of as you said, products not being appealing, there are also just simply more products. We have more variety (which is great) from more companies who sometimes appear to be doing more to take business away from eachother in the existing market rather than expanding the customer base.

Retailing is changing as is the hobby. The reason I have always been one to defend smaller dealers is that I see them as the first base to reaching new customers. I'm not defending laziness or poor dealer service. Today's big dealers who started off as small operations no doubt worked to attain the current level they are at. But it's a simple concept of retailing that the more venues you can have your product in, the better chances for increased sales. Therefore in my mind, it makes sense to at least have the sorts of products that would appeal to newcomers available to dealers large and small at the wholesale levels that they all can proper on.

It might not be fair to compare the train hobby to the fast food industry, but McDonalds (and others) sell lots of burgers because they have stores everywhere. Would folks really drive several hours just to order a burger and fries?

Granted it's a tough job these days to be a small dealer... so many products, so many features, incompatible track systems: it's tough to know what to stock since you probably cannot stock everything. And the blowouts may be necessary from a manufacturer/distributor level to reduce inventory and bring in needed revenue. But I also think they do a great deal of harm in the respect of souring more smaller dealers to take the chance on preordering more product. No one wants to order inventory and then take a bath on it while it sits gathering dust while a few big dealers can blowout it out at prices near better than wholesale for a small dealer.

Just my thoughts on this. You are right John that small dealers can potentially do more to bring in sales. And I think most already realize the value of the $20-per-week-customer. But having talked with many small dealers, I know they also need to be able to make more on more items than just small pieces, parts, light bulbs and scenery items.

These general issues concern localized retailers of all walks. But unlike many other retail fields, the train hobby is one where I do believe that folks need to see what they are buying - at least at the start. Most of us older guys remember the thrill of going into the local train shop, seeing all those trains we had dreamed about, and then actually picking something out that we were going to buy.

Of course, ultimately these are issues for the train companies to figure out. I do like the fellowship of running into train guys at a local shop. But I also have a full understanding of what the various numbers mean in a large mailorder ad... I'm not confused or intimidated by it. I don't have the kinds of questions a novice or newcomer might have. So I don't need to pay extra for service I don't need, nor do a lot of us seasoned train guys. This is not the case with the beginner.