Sounds grim, my experience is different. I live in the Kansas City area, on the Kansas side. A short trip over the interestate takes me to the "bottoms" in Kansas City MO where Doc's Hobby Shop is located in a former wharehouse style building. He is stock is always good, not just trains, but the paint, supplies, etc. I usually go once a week, since I can also buy gasoline in Missouri cheaper than Kansas.
Then there is J & L in a town east of Kansas City MO. He used to be in the metro, but moved, and is far enough out now that I have to pack a lunch to visit, plus a lot of driving, traffic and gas consumption. So, I use his website, order from him and receive what I want through the mail. Added plus, I don't have to pay Missouri sales tax. If I want something he doesn't have, he gets it, and with diesels, I just have him install decoders before shipping. Again, good pricing, good service.
Then I use First Hobbies for mail order, lower prices, available product, and never have to spend any money on transportation.
So it all works for me, and I am a happy camper.
Bob
The one that just seems to stick in my head is about 70 miles from where I live, It is a small LHS in a strip mall that we manage to stop by at when we go on vacation every year. The owner gives you a dirty look when you walk in, no "hellow" or can I halp you. There is never anyone in there when I stop by either, same stock he has had for the past 10 years, maybe a few new items. You don't dare ask him for help either! He has a small store with little room to look around, because he has so much stuff in it stacked to the ceiling, but its clean. I have bought a few things from this shop over the years, and always stop by to have a look once a year. Well last summer he had a sale going on with some first generation Proto 2000 engines, $40 each, so I picked up 4 of them that I was inrested in and headed to the counter cash in hand. WOW! how nasty can one get? He gave me this big speech about I only stopping by once a year and not buying but $100 worth of items from him. My wife was with me and explained that we were on vacation, and always tried to stop by and look around and maybe buy something. The owner explained how people like me were going to put him out of business! I could not help it, but I blew my lid, he was ringing up the 4 P2k's and I told him to forget it, I will take my money someplace else.
Now my favorite one is about 250 miles down the road, its a small LHS that has tons of train items in it, allot of it old items from the 70's and 80's, old stock brand new. He had allot of out of production buildings brand new at discount prices, $4 Athearn, MDC, and Branchline freight cars. Nice old fellow to, offers soda or a cup of coffe when you walk in, I can spend hours just looking around, might find something I don't need.
Hi,
I won't mention names, but I am well aware of a "Sloppy Hobby" that goes well beyond that label. It is a very large trains only store, with literally sloppy piles of stuff - new and old production. Some of the many shelves are very neat, but there has always been a HUGE pile at the entrance of typically newly delivered merchandise.
The same store has a second trait that tends to keep me away. That is a super slow check out process. You have to be there to believe it.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
The appointment-only hobby store closed about 2 months ago, and it was a sad occasion....it was worth making an appointment with the gentleman anytime. The not much stock hobby store that remains in town isn't changing it's ways. R/C's and statics overrun the store and somebody could miss seeing the trains if they weren't paying attention
Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R. My patio layout....SEE IT HERE
There's no place like ~/ ;)
The Always-the-Same-Stock Hobby Shop. This place is a real godsend if you missed a limited run, because the owner bought merchandise that just won't sell in his area and refuses to knock the price down. So the P2K GP-9s from 1997 are still there, gathering dust at full MSRP. So are the old Athearn BB kits that no one wanted. And all those "collectible" paint scheme cars. Plus the old structure kits that, nowdays, are just obsolete. Oh, sure, he'll sometimes add a new item, but there's just not that much room because of all the unsold stuff that fills his shelves.He's positive that merchandise will sell someday, if the right buyer comes in. This rarely, if ever, happens, however.
I would add:
The RTR shop. No kits or parts. All the rolling stock, buildings, etc is RTR. Most of the stock is Lionel, but also has some HO and N.
The Low End Shop. Lots of Athearn, MDC, Atlas buildings, IHC, etc., but nothing that costs more. Trains seem to be sideline to the RC business.
The Craft Store. The main business is scrap books, flower arrangements, art supplies, etc. Trains are an after thought here. The mixture is odd. Lots of wood shapes, scribed siding, etc. but no plastic or metal parts. Some building and car kits but no locomotives. A couple of low end MRC packs and some Bachmann track, but no turnouts.
Enjoy
Paul
You forgot the Chain Store hobby shop where all the locations have the same three models of Bach locos and 300 peices of rolling stock in 3 different road names and 2 styles of cars. Not to mention the almost completely empty rack of Polly S (not Polly Scale) paint. And completed depleted shelves of WS scenry left over from their grand opening.
In the last 30 years I have visited more hobby shops than I care to count. Some of these establishments had great stock, selection and service; others were memorable for other reasons. Below is a list of the different types of Hobby Shops I have had the pleasure (or not) of visiting, how many have you been too?:
It must be noted that some individual hobby shops may qualify in multiple categorys. If there are other types of Shops that I missed, please let me know!
Scott