If you guys could give me your ideas of what you'd like to see in a good hobby shop, I'd appreciate it!
Remember, train people aren't the only ones to be catered to.
Would you prefer to see a nice layout or a layout combing maybe three scales or three separate layouts, say and Ho scale, an S scle and an O scfaleOr would you prefer to look at train equipment in a display case or actually se it in action on a layout?What if a local club was allowed to build and operate a layout and help explain things to the buying public,in exchange for lower prices on train equipment purchases from the hobby shop?
TheK4Kid
I would like to see a layout of some scale. I would also like to see an example of a locomotive or piece of rolling stock in a display case. That way I can ask to see it and hold it to see if I would buy it. I could check to see if the trucks are okay and the quality is what I'm expecting. It would like walking around a new car to see how the car looks.
Another thing I would like to see is vast assortment of paint and scratch building supplies. That would be helpful for a bunch of people.
A vast assortment of books and magazines would be helpful too for any interested modeler.
These are just a few suggestions.
Will
A good hobby shop is well stocked including S and also has parts, couplers, track, etc.
I always like looking at displays and a small layout running trains, combining scales is fine.
A good shop is organized, I should be able to find things relatively easily.
Enjoy
Paul
ME!
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
regardless of the type of hobby supplies or scale of models, i would like to see a hobby shop that has an inventory with some depth to it. i say this because i seldom buy just one of anything. i don't need one piece of strip wood or one pair of couplers. if i like a particular freight car, i want several of them.
if i lived near a good shop, then i might buy in smaller quantities on a more frequent basis but that is not the case.
example-once when i was installing a yard lead, i needed a dozen caboose industries ground throws. after visiting 3 hobby shops, 120 miles of driving and over half a day of my time, i came home with 5 pieces. yes, i could have called ahead but i thought they would have something that common on hand. after i got home, i called MRPO in New Jersey and had what i needed in less than a week.
i don't want to hear "i can order it for you" i can order it myself and get it cheaper.
bottom line; in order to keep sufficient inventory to satisfy the retail customer's needs, a shop will probably need to have a mail order and/or internet sales business too. of course, the tail may start wagging the dog and the owner will give up on the store front business entirely.
if you ever go to a really good, well stocked, shop you will see what i mean. caboose hobbies in denver and des plaines hobbies in chicago come to mind. of course if i had the capital needed to open stores like those i would not need to work anyway and i could just play with my own trains all the time.
grizlump
What would Ilike to see in a good hobby shop? Easy to answer - just what I would like to obtain at that moment, ´cause I´d like to see and value whatever I buy.
Unfortunately, this is impossible. The vast variety of products makes it impossible to stock everything available in physical terms, let alone in terms of working capital cost! Most LHS I know have only mainstream items on stock and this means part of the Marklin, Roco, Fleischmann, Trix and Piko pudding, added with a little Faller, Vollmer, Noch and Kibri products. I have to order just about everything from mail order businesses, as US prototype stuff is usually not available at all.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Everything you guys described in the above posts PLUS 20% discount off every single item in the store.
Otherwise I'll just buy my stuff from the internet. You have to be competitive or you'll just go out of business like the last shop did in town.
Driline Everything you guys described in the above posts PLUS 20% discount off every single item in the store. Otherwise I'll just buy my stuff from the internet. You have to be competitive or you'll just go out of business like the last shop did in town.
.. if you want to have an LHS that stocks just about all there is available in the market, you will have to pay for it. You cannot expect total availibility and full service for nothin´.
... and that is why most shops go out of business, because their mainstream business is taken away by internet shops.
My own LHS is a pretty good example of a well-run shop that's a pleasure to go to.
He has an in-shop HO scale layout, about 8x8 feet. It's beautifully sceniced and detailed. It also has curves of 18, 22 and 24-inch radius, plus grades. The layout doubles as a test track, and, by the way, when a new engine with sound is running, it gets a lot of attention. The layout was featured in RMC a year or two ago.
The shop carries mostly HO, which I model, and also a reasonable amount of N. There are a few O-gauge things on display, but not much. Inventory is pretty good, and constantly changing.
Still, nothing at the shop is more important than Gerry himself. He knows all his regulars by name, and knows what they're interested in modelling. He freely gives advice on how to install decoders, etc., and also provides the same services. In his younger days, he was a 1:1 railroad man, so there's a wealth of knowledge there that's kind of infectious.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Speaking from the perspective of someone who has rejoined the hobby after a 3+ decade hiatus, my first request would be for knowledgeable and friendly staff. There have been a lot of changes and it's nice to have someone who can answer questions.
Secondly, I'd like to see a well-stocked store. I'm willing to pay slightly more to get items I want now rather than having to wait for mail-order, pay shipping fees, etc. In addition, if the store staff is knowledgeable and friendly, then I'm also willing to pay slightly more than what you can sometimes get from mail order.
I'd also like to see working examples of various pieces of equipment, be it locomotives, cars, DCC systems, switches, motors, etc.
Of course, a fantastic selection would also be good. If there are items that need to be (special) ordered, then the store needs to provide excellent feedback as to the status of my order.
Keep stuff in stock! When I come to your store for something, I want to buy it and take it home now.
We are long past the days when "Your dealer can get it from Walthers" was a good slogan--if "it" needs to be ordered, I can do that myself, and can likely find a better price, too.
Left Coast Rail #1 on the list is a knowledgable, helpful, courteous staff that can answer or know where to get answers to my questions. #2 would be a place that is organized in a manner that makes sense. #3 would have a good stock of replacement parts and a skilled repair facility. #4 would have a test track with short and log curves. #5 would be a place with a website that keeps an updated inventory online so you'll know that there is a reasonable chance that an item will be in stock before I make the effort to drive there. #6 would have reasonable prices keeping in mind that a brick and mortar operation with real live, knowledgable staff is going to cost a little more than an internet operation. #7 would give a discount to local clubs. #6 would be a place that takes items on consignment. #8 would sponsor hands-on clinics for subjects like air brushing, weathering, scenery, etc. #9 would be a place that handles special orders.
All very good points, especially #6. Toom any times people on this forum have complained about their LHS charging more for something than some internet store. They forget that LHS needs to cover rent, and pay those knowledgable employees. I'm not saying I want to pay MSRP, but I'm willing to pay a little more considering that what I mail order will have postage and handling added in. Plus I have it right away, especially important if I'm in the middle of a project.
Thanks guys!
I have the opportunity to purchase a LHS but it is in definite need of reorganization,and needsa good "house cleaning" as what applies to a lot of the inventory of which much of it is very old,and some of it has been on the shelves 20 years or more.
The internet website that goes with this store also needs much improvement.The inside of the store needs a total revamp, or in my own personal opinion, itneeds to be relocated into a newer and larger faciilitiy, which would reduce a lot ofthe maintenance upkeep this old building takes.It does have a repair facility, but it is in total disarray.There is no functional layout that can serve also as a "test track."
It does carry some of the latest in engines and cars, etc, but the prices are way outof line with other shops, and especially internet pricing.There are a number of very knowledgeable employees, but the owner strangles their abilities to make changes I feel would help the shop.He is dead set on the fact that if h can't get a 40% markup on everything, then it will stay on the shelves.Thus there is a lot of very old stock in this shop.My idea would to be to immediately hold a "parking lot" sale and get rid of a lot of the old stuff , and get what I could, and put these funds back into newer items and clearing off the shelves to make wayfor new stock.This store has so far survived the recession, but it simply needs a total makeover which the present owner refuses to do.It not only sells trains, but RC cars and airplanes, and plastic model kits, etc.
I have known the owner for a long time, and there is stock on the shelves that was there when this store opened over 20 years ago.It simply NEEDS TO GO!!!I'd also advertise this old stock probably at costs if I had to, just TO MOVE IT!
My idea is this.There are several local train clubs.If I can find a larger building, I'd ask them if they would be interested in building a club layout,partly sponsored by the store, and by allowing them to hold weekly or monthly sessions on the layout in store which would allow the general public to see trains in action, and what can be done with them, I'd cut the club members" a nice discount on their purchases of items carried by the store in return for their efforts, which should boost my sales.Hopefully it becomes a two way street and a "win-win" situation for both sides!The idea of having "how to" seminars" is a great idea!This would give the club members a place to run their trains, and at the same time showcase model trains in action to the buying public.Or have several club members as "employees" who could run and sell trains at the same time, and provide their knowledge to the buying public.I feel my idea would work because I've never seen a shop like this before, and it is what I myself would like to see.Times are tough everywhere in this country, so I feel you have to use some "ingenuity" and "innovate" to survive.
I'd hold "annannounced" "in-store specials" and mark certain items down to special prices on a weekly basis, so when you come in, you might find something you were looking for has all of a sudden hit a "rock bottomprice!"
Maybe if I knew you were interested in a purchasing several kits or items, but perhaps you were just a bit short of funds, I'd give you a "special price" for buying more than just one of that item.
I'd make a sale, and move some inventory, and you'd be happy also,
BUT at the same time, the general public and other store customers could see what a real layoutlooks like and how much fun a person can have in this hobby.I'd probably also put a slot car track in also, and if room allowed, and outdoor RC car track.But I'd also incorporate a lot of the ideas you guys have said that you'd like to see.
This would be a major purchase for me, but I intend to make it successful if I do it.This shop also has way too many "small items" hanging on hangars along the shelveswhich can just be "lifted " and "stolen" much too easily,, and this owner probably has no idea how much inventory gets stolen constantly, as I don't think he keeps a decent inventory.He is much too often "out of stock" o many items.The place is just in total disarray, and there is just too much what I refer to as "toy junk" in the store.So first project is a total "house cleaning!"
Then a new website that SERIOUSLY COMPETES with other hobby websites!
Your opinions are welcome!
Thanks and to all, have a great day!
Then again, maybe I should go get my head examined for even thinking about making such a businessventure! LOL!Perhaps go to Walmart and buy out all of their Bayer aspirin to take for all the headaches I may encounter!
Unless things have changed since I last worked in retail sales--and admittedly that was some time back--the standard dealer discount is 23%; you are asking him, the dealer, to give you 87% of that. My local doesn't run around in a Lexus nor does he maintain a residence in a neighborhood of multi-million dollar homes and have a vacation home on the North Shore of Mauii. Ten years ago my local gave me a 10% discount--that's 43.5 % off his discount--on a case of Micro Engineering Code 55 flex; I paid inadvance and agreed that when he placed the order I would take the whole case lock-stock-and barrel UNOPENED!!!!!; when it came in all he had to do was log it off the invoice and give me a phone call.
My local puts all his meat and potatos on the table from the proceeds of his business; unlike etailers he doesn't go off to the loading dock at Bustyerbutt Industries every morning and then twice a week go out to that little corner of his garage to see how much of his inventory he can match against his orders. I want my local to stay in business . . . . . . . . . . and not just as a display case; I'm less interested in saving money than I am in having him available.
You want to have something new for sale as often as possible. I stop by the local hobby shop many Saturdays just for something to do, and many evenings on the way home from work when I need some little bit or piece to finish up a project. While there, if there is something I don't have, (something new), I'll buy it. I'm willing to pay a bit more to buy something I can see and touch before I buy, and buy from a store to which I can return the item should it break after I get it home. Plus I still enjoy the instant gratification of taking home an in stock item. A bit more is kinda flexible. I'll pay something more than "street price" but I probably won't pay full MSRP.
Roadname is important. Local roads like the B&M, the New Haven, BAR, and Maine Central sell better around here than far off roads like SP. We customers love locomotives more than anything else, which is good for hobby shops since locomotives are big ticket items.
You have to carry the ordinary bits and pieces, couplers, rail joiners, Floquil and Polly S, super glue and plastic weld, flex track and turnouts. This is the stuff that makes us stop in on the way home from work. We'd love it if you also carried all the Cal Scale and Details West superdetail parts, a full fine of Nertheastern strip wood, brass strip and tubing, plastic strips, and the rest of the scratch building stuff but the inventory costs will be high. I won't buy ordinary hardware store stuff like Dremel tools from you if I can get it for less at Home Depot.
Companionship is a draw. Part of the fun of visiting the hobby shop is to meet other model railroaders and talk shop. A coffee pot, some chairs, a place to just hang around, will draw customers. Maybe even donuts. An arrangement with a club could pay off.
Don't be in too big a hurry to dump antique stock. Lots of antiques are fun to build. Dust 'em off and they might move. Or try Ebay. You can sell anything on Ebay. Used rolling stock would be a sales draw if the price was right. There is a lot of good old stuff they don't make any more, Bowser and Mantua steamers, Ambroid kits, Central Valley trucks, Trains Miniature reefers.
A store web site doesn't really speak to me, I like to see and touch the real thing. Neither does an in store layout. Nothing wrong with them, but they won't get me to visit any more often. I do expect a test track.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
As far as old stock and slow movers,take a lesson from Home Depot and dump it even at a loss. People are always looking for the new ,new thing. Sell Walthers new offers to customers who pay in advance,those are the guys who have to be the first kid on the block. Small dicounts for purchass over a hundred bucks or something like that. Half off prices after Christmas. Half off certain items on black friday. Ridiculously loew price on some select goods for fathers day.
My perfect hobbyshop would be a michaels with trains. BILL
Thanks for the replies!
Keep them comig.Here's another problem I am looking at.The present owner has told me that he sold well over ONE MILLION dollars ofinventory last year, and after all expenses were met, he barely made fifteen hundreddollars to himself.
I say there is something seriously wrong here with this picture!
I would recommend you get an independent audit of his books before you even think of buying the business. It sounds to me like either his accountant is very creative or he is in trouble with the IRS.
Folks:
I want to see stripwood, styrene, and brass, in displays that are restocked more frequently than Halley's Comet flies by. The stores around here are good with the basics, but I really really really really wish they carried Stuff to Build With. Sometimes people claim lack of interest, but how is anybody going to get interested if they can't get materials, hmm?
I actually get my stripwood from a local hardware store, which has a Midwest display that gets restocked...rarely. Le sigh.
Autobus PrimeFolks: I want to see stripwood, styrene, and brass, in displays that are restocked more frequently than Halley's Comet flies by. The stores around here are good with the basics, but I really really really really wish they carried Stuff to Build With. Sometimes people claim lack of interest, but how is anybody going to get interested if they can't get materials, hmm? I actually get my stripwood from a local hardware store, which has a Midwest display that gets restocked...rarely. Le sigh.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
Left Coast RailI would recommend you get an independent audit of his books before you even think of buying the business. It sounds to me like either his accountant is very creative or he is in trouble with the IRS.
I will demand a complete inventory of everything. he has.If he balks at this, I'll simply walk away.The audit you recommend is exactly what I intended to do anyway.He's a nice guy, but to be quite honest, he's basically the "absent minded professor" type.The store is in a high traffic area, but simply a disorganized mess.
In the past, I've dealt with his wife, who knew I wanted to purchase an item which costabout $500 and he wouldn't budge on the price.She( wife) called me and offered it to me at $ 20 over cost.I purchased it from her when he wasn't present in the store.They had several of of these kits and they had been setting on the shelffor over three years and it was highly sought after item, but his pricesimply was way out of line.She usually gets so upset with him, she simply won't help run the store anymore.In fact, I intend to set up an Ebay store if I do buy him out.he won't sell on Ebay, says it's too much hassle.I have a friend in the eastern part of the country who has a brick and mortar store hobby shop and also sells on Ebay. he is highly successful on both endeavors.
It simply takes some work!TheK4Kid
I agree with you. I also build and fly RC airplanes, mostly large scale sailplanes and power ships.laser cut parts are in high demand!The decal service would be nice also.An investment in a good printer woul;d soon pay off!
I'd like to see a GOOD HOBBY SHOP, I hope a lot of you people out there realize that there are thousands of us that have no access to a hobby shop at all, if so, we drive for hours to find one, so feel lucky if you are even near one.
Knowledgable technicians who can repair the stuff I bought on eBay.
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
K4 Kid --
I have no experience in running a hobby shop, but I have lots of retail experience. By all means, have an audit done if you don't have the skills or knowledge to do it yourself. That's basic "due diligence". For some more general retail advice:
1) It sounds like the guy uses FISH inventory management (First In, Still Here). That's the number one no-no of retail. You're depreciating the value of your inventory (or you should be). If it's been there for a while, you can sell it cheaply and still make money. Dead stock doesn't make you money.
2) You can't make sales if you can't get customers in the store. Yes, it's a high traffic area, but if it's all High School or College kids on their way to and from classes, chances are model trains won't get 'em in the door. You need an attractive, well-organized store, rotating sales (people come for the sale items and leave with an impulse buy. BTW, this is why I hate going to my LHS -- I always leave with a half dozen more items than I went in for.
3) Get a computerized inventory system. One of my LHS's uses paper tags scotch taped on to his items, which he pulls off and uses to reorder. That's ok, but it doesn't let him track what sells and what sits. You need to have certain "never out" items -- again, these should get people in your store, in hte hopes that they will walk out with impulse buys.
4) SERVICE is what separates a brick and mortar establishment from the Internet. You can't compete with an e-tailer on price, so don't try. Don't bother with the "I can order it for you" line, either. Most of them can order it for themselves; you should be selling instant gratification (although you SHOULD offer to order an item you don't have if you get someone who's Internet-challenged). Repair, custom part making, painting, clinics, and above all knowledgable, friendly sales staff are all ways to set yourself apart.
Well, it's easy to say, but hard to do. Owning / running a retail establishment is HARD WORK, and lots of it. When most of the world is enjoying a sleepy, day after Christmas cup of morning coffee, you're in the store setting out your post-Christmas sale items. That, after having been there late on Christmas Eve trying to get some last minute sales. And every weekend day, and many holidays. You get the picture. That's why I'm not in retail anymore.
I wish you luck!
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
I think all of you are way too picky. What I'd like to see is a sign that says "Wikious can take anything he wants for free."
Honestly, though, I think my LHS is a good one for the following reasons:- Right next to a busy railroad bridge-Nice assortment of odds and ends you can't get anywhere else. i.e., gears for Athearn locos at 10c a pop. -The shelf of used stuff that's crazy on sale!
CTValleyRRK4 Kid -- I have no experience in running a hobby shop, but I have lots of retail experience. By all means, have an audit done if you don't have the skills or knowledge to do it yourself. That's basic "due diligence". For some more general retail advice: 1) It sounds like the guy uses FISH inventory management (First In, Still Here). That's the number one no-no of retail. You're depreciating the value of your inventory (or you should be). If it's been there for a while, you can sell it cheaply and still make money. Dead stock doesn't make you money. 2) You can't make sales if you can't get customers in the store. Yes, it's a high traffic area, but if it's all High School or College kids on their way to and from classes, chances are model trains won't get 'em in the door. You need an attractive, well-organized store, rotating sales (people come for the sale items and leave with an impulse buy. BTW, this is why I hate going to my LHS -- I always leave with a half dozen more items than I went in for. 3) Get a computerized inventory system. One of my LHS's uses paper tags scotch taped on to his items, which he pulls off and uses to reorder. That's ok, but it doesn't let him track what sells and what sits. You need to have certain "never out" items -- again, these should get people in your store, in hte hopes that they will walk out with impulse buys. 4) SERVICE is what separates a brick and mortar establishment from the Internet. You can't compete with an e-tailer on price, so don't try. Don't bother with the "I can order it for you" line, either. Most of them can order it for themselves; you should be selling instant gratification (although you SHOULD offer to order an item you don't have if you get someone who's Internet-challenged). Repair, custom part making, painting, clinics, and above all knowledgable, friendly sales staff are all ways to set yourself apart. Well, it's easy to say, but hard to do. Owning / running a retail establishment is HARD WORK, and lots of it. When most of the world is enjoying a sleepy, day after Christmas cup of morning coffee, you're in the store setting out your post-Christmas sale items. That, after having been there late on Christmas Eve trying to get some last minute sales. And every weekend day, and many holidays. You get the picture. That's why I'm not in retail anymore. I wish you luck!
Thankyou for your knowledgeable reply!
Yes he does use FISH inventory system, except he calls it FILO ( first in,last out) and there are other problems, but I am negotiating an agreement with him to let myself and one good and close friend of minewho has owned and run businesses in the past and who works for him at the present time, run things OUR WAY for awhile, being contingent to purchasing the establishment.This includes a parking lot sale to unload 10 year old or older inventory
I won't attempt to compete with etailers because I will have my own Ebay store to accompany my hobby shop and I have a friend who knows this end of the business like the back of his hand and this will be his only job.
I've been doing my homework!