LHS, not worth the trip!

[Train Modeler]

Maybe we should ask our realtors to take a good LHS in consideration when searching for a home--LOL.   I wouldn't want to live where I couldn't get  to a good one and have friends meet there,etc.   

The wife would probably veto the notion of buying a house with a huge basement not far from a good LHS however-lol.

Richard

[richhotrain]

When I got into model railroading back in early 2004, I had three excellent LHS's within 15 minutes of my house.  I took it for granted that if I needed something, I could get it that same day - - - and at discounted prices.  But, within a few months of one another, all three shops closed back in 2008.  Now, I take nothing for granted.   I have found a LHS about 40 minutes from my house, but that nearly 1 1/2 hour round trip can be daunting.

Rich

[joe323]

Actually most of the LHS really are not worth the trouble with the exception of Trainworld in Brooklyn but then I have to pay the Verrazano Bridge toll to get there. So between tthe toll and the gas I can probably do all my shopping online. Its sad though the loss of the brick and mortor LHS.

[cjcrescent]

While I'm like a few others on here that has a real good LHS within a few minutes drive of here, I've a delimma. While there is still a whole lot of stuff that I want, there is actually very little that I truely need. I don't have the room for the "want" stuff.

So most of my purchases, except for an ocassional brass loco he gets, I have found that the majority of my purchases are of the really small stuff, that can't make much difference in his bottom line. I looked over all my other purchases for the year, and it's all been paint, detail parts and 2 car kits.

[Tracklayer]

Until is closed its doors a few years ago, I used to enjoy the 50 mile drive to the east side of Houston to The Roundhouse to shop for train items and chat with Wayne the owner. Now I buy almost everything off the web because the few remaining shops have such sky high prices on everything... 

[Jerrys HO]

Geared Steam,

I know Jeff is from Louisiana but are you? as I have seen your avatar with LSU.

Anyhow there is a great little train shop in Hammond La. called the Electric Train Depot. They only carry train stuff and nothing else. Mr Jeff Fowler who owns the business has done an excellent job keeping the place growing. There is even a round table where you can sit and discuss trains or whatever with fellow visitors. I live 40minutes south of there and do not mind taking a ride anytime to shop. He deals in all scales new and stuff he purchases from estate sales. Now how many shops do that!

Heres alink to his shop and a video a fellow modeler took of the whole place, enjoy.

http://www.electrictraindepot.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZZPd_FJHBc&feature=youtu.be

I do not work for him just feel if you are in the area you would not regret the visit.

Jerry

[HObbyguy]

Reading here I guess I am luckier than I thought.  Hobbytown is the only local store that carries any train stuff.  But they do have an aisle literally crammed full.  The store has been here for a long time and the format has changed very little over the years.  Its obvious that most of their business is R/C cars, with R/C airplanes coming in second.  The railroad stuff barely moves but it is kept well stocked anyway.  I think the owner just likes trains so makes a "hobby" of stocking MRR stuff in the store.

If they have what I want I can usually get a better deal at the store for major items than I can on the internet.  I just bought a big laser kit there that had a $140 price tag.  I asked the owner for a deal and he marked it down to $80 without blinking- lower than I could find it anywhere on the internet.  He may not make any profit doing that but it keeps some of the train stuff moving.  And it keeps me coming to the store to purchase building supplies and odds and ends.

All that said, over 90% of my purchases are over the internet.  There is just too much selection out there to ignore.

[Phoebe Vet]

I have a Hobbytown USA that is almost walking distance from my house.  It has a row of shelves down the center.  Everything on the right side of that divider is R/C cars, everything on the left side is trains.  It is far from the best stocked train store I have ever been in, but it is adequate.  He is happy to order anything I need that he does not have in stock.  He knows the things I buy regularly and tries to keep them in stock for me.

There is a GREAT train store called the Little Choo Choo Shop in Spencer, NC right across the street from the North Carolina Transportation Museum.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jerrys HO

Anyhow there is a great little train shop in Hammond La. called the Electric Train Depot. They only carry train stuff and nothing else. Mr Jeff Fowler who owns the business has done an excellent job keeping the place growing. There is even a round table where you can sit and discuss trains or whatever with fellow visitors. I live 40minutes south of there and do not mind taking a ride anytime to shop. He deals in all scales new and stuff he purchases from estate sales. Now how many shops do that!

Hammond? Wow! I won't be getting there anytime soon. That's way over on the other side of the state from me. I'm eighteen miles from the Texas line.

[Jerrys HO]

Jeff,

 

I thought getting that new limb you would be ready for a marathon across the country.

I have been to the one in Alex and was not impressed either.

 

Jerry

 

[csxns]

Phoebe Vet

here is a GREAT train store called the Little Choo Choo Shop in Spencer, NC right across the street from the North Carolina Transportation Museum.

Well worth the trip.

[Bobster]

Greetings,

  I'll put in a third for the Little Choo Choo up in Spencer.  I haven't been up that way in awhile but they used to offer a discount with proof of a visit to the Spencer Shops (NCTM) across the street.

  Phoebe Vet are you talking about the Hobbytown on 51 in South Charlotte near Pineville??   I have been looking for a place closer than Spencer or Greenville/Spartanburg since John's closed in Gastonia.  

Bob

[cedarwoodron]

The Hobbytowns in Tampa are franchise stores, and as such, the owner is free (presumably with corporate guidance) to focus on what makes the cash registers ring, both now at the holiday season and throughout the year. The incidental train set sold is a small profit item compared t the dozrns of RC planes that go out the door all year long each month. They also offer repair services- pretty much a requisite for RC modelers- which also brings in more dollars, as the additional/replacement parts required are not cheap. I don't see bankers and doctors buying the R/C stuff when I am in either of the two stores (owned by the same franchisee)- I see twenty-something young men spending their extra cash. None of them are over in the railroad corner- but the same story is to be told about any customer buying a plastic car or plane model kit- few and far between. Given the difficulty doing business these days to begin with, can you blame a Hobbytown or other LHS for focusing on what makes the owner a paycheck? I wish it were different, but I also wish Don Cherry was still turning out hits and that many other "used-to-be's" were still operative...

Nostalgia is all we have left, at the end of the day...

 

Cedarwoodron

[BRAKIE]

cedarwoodron

Nostalgia is all we have left, at the end of the day...

 

Indeed..I never thought I would live to see the demise of hobby shops..Time was when fully stocked hobby shops was as common as Beatle boots.

[Phoebe Vet]

Bobster

Greetings,

  I'll put in a third for the Little Choo Choo up in Spencer.  I haven't been up that way in awhile but they used to offer a discount with proof of a visit to the Spencer Shops (NCTM) across the street.

  Phoebe Vet are you talking about the Hobbytown on 51 in South Charlotte near Pineville??   I have been looking for a place closer than Spencer or Greenville/Spartanburg since John's closed in Gastonia.  

Bob

Yes, I am.  I live just a few blocks from there.  I always try there first when I need something.

There was a great store in Carolina Place Mall a few years ago, but it didn't last long.  The rent was probably crippling.  Somebody there told me he had moved to Gastonia, but I never went to find out.

[Bobster]

Phoebe Vet,

I haven't been in there in years.  It was run by a husband & wife team. I was into plastic models back then. They only had limited train stuff.  Good selection of models & RC.   2 different friends had issues.   One bought a kit and found out when he opened it a large piece was broken.  They told him it was battle damaged and supposed to be like that.  He eventually got his money back.   Another friend's wife went in to get him a present and were rude to her.

Unfortunately the folks from Carolina Place didn't come here.  John's was the last shop as far as I know in Gaston County.  He moved when the Gaston Mall ran a road right down the middle of what used to be center court to make it easy to get to the new Target store.  His new location while on a busy road was hard to get in and out of and the last downturn in the economy was too much.  I have never seen a hobby shop with such an outstanding selection of paint anywhere.  Full retail most of the time didn't help, but he always had the basics.  Hobbylobby and Michael's are all we have now.

Most of my recent hobby purchases have been at train shows.

Bob

[NP2626]

What, it's not O.K. for a hobby shop to know what side it's bread is buttered on? 

I have been in two Hobbytowns, one seemed to cater to the R/C puiblic, the other to both R/C and Model Railroading, as well as wine and beer making.  As a business dealing directly with the public, it certainly behooves a retailer to have an inventory of what he knows will sell!

The shop that the O.P. posted about likely understands his clientel and that other shops do better at what they do and that he could spend tons of money to compete with the other shops and maybe never make this money back!  Common sense!

[Phoebe Vet]

Bob:

It's not as well stocked as the Little Choo Choo Shop, but it has the stuff I buy most often.  David (the owner) is quite helpful. 

Tower Place shopping center has a Staples, a Dollar Store, Hobby Town, Dunkin Doughnuts, and is a few hundred yards from a Lowes.  What more could you need.

If you plan to visit them any time soon, send me a PM & I'll buy you a doughnut.

The first time I went to the Little Choo Choo Shop, I was at NCTM with my grandchildren attending Day Out With Thomas.  We walked across the street.  Entering the front door, I looked around and said "Oh; its all Lionel"  I almost turned around, but decided to take a lap around the room first.  In the back of the room I found the passageway  that leads to the REAL train store.  Wow.  I wish we had one of those in Charlotte.  I never make a special trip, but I always stop in when we are at NCTM.

Were you there for the NS heritage loco family portrait?

[CSX-SEC RR]

Be happy you have something close-by. I live in a small town and we have nothing for miles in any direction.  I'm talking 1 1/2hr  east 2 hr west. The  best I got is a Hobby Lobby and that is 45 min  to 1 hr  away. So I have to shop on line for anything I want. But that is the price I pay for living in a small town.

[Phoebe Vet]

CSX-SEC RR

Be happy you have something close-by. I live in a small town and we have nothing for miles in any direction.  I'm talking 1 1/2hr  east 2 hr west. The  best I got is a Hobby Lobby and that is 45 min  to 1 hr  away. So I have to shop on line for anything I want. But that is the price I pay for living in a small town.

Been there, done that.  I have lived in the Catskills in an area where the nearest neighbors are not in sight and the nearest ANYTHING of a nationally advertised brand is an hour away.  I liked it a lot.  I loved playing in the snow.  But now I live in a city neighborhood where anything I could possibly need is within 5 minutes.  I like that a lot, too...and I don't miss the snow a bit.  I must be getting old.

[csxns]

Phoebe Vet

Gastonia

Nothing here and Johns forget it he never had too many trains.

[Bobster]

Phoebe Vet,

I did not make the photo op at Spencer.  I forgot why now.  

Not planning on being over your way in the next couple weeks but I'll let you know.  I will need supplies probably early next year.   Cork roadbed will be the next thing from a hobby shop.  I have a small 30 x48 N scale that I have had as a test layout.  I'm going to a 36x80 hollow core door so I can get some switching and some continuous running.  I've got the legs on the door and wood cut for the backdrop and folding sides and front.  Next planned purchase will be the hinges and "2 inch pink desert".  Left over foam will go for a river bluff on the back edge. Planned setting is the midwest in a river valley.  I'd say more but I don't want to deviate from the original theme.

CSXNS,  Gastonia...well what can I say.  Not the center of the model railroad world except for those that live there.  At least there is the one to one scale stuff running through the county, NS and CSX.  Hopefully the New Piedmont and Northern will get going.

Rant warning in defense of hobby shops (but not making excuses for the bad ones):

Often a hobby shop staff have certain areas of expertise.  Some are RC oriented some are into trains, some into cars, and others armor.   Up until a few years ago I was into armor modeling, before that 1/700 ships.  A few years back I was in the the Chicago area.  I visited Des Plaines Hobby for trains.  Well stocked in their area of expertise.  A little later I visited M&Models for armor.  There is, hopefully still, a hobby shop in Rock Hill, SC that specializes in RC.  They built their own dirt track and concrete Tri-oval.  EAch store concentrating on what they do best.  I think most general hobby shops would have a hard time satisfying the most dedicated modelers in any particular field. Inventory costs, the economy, lack of qualified help, overhead, internet competition, I'm amazed that so many have made it this far.  

Then there is theft.  I have seen "customers" walk into John's, when he was still in business,  take paint off the shelf walk up to the cash register and try to return it for cash!  Others might pop open a spray can and spray the shelf to see if it was the color they wanted.   Most train detail stuff had to be kept in a case or on a back wall behind the counter.  John's mostly carried entry level & Lionel for trains but he had plastic model cars (especially) and plastic airplane models like crazy.  Particularly at the end he had the best paint supply of any hobby shop I'd ever seen. He did eventually get into RC as that is what did best at helping keep the doors open.  

Then there were the folks who would come in and ask all the about a particular item, ask to open the box, examine it closely, maybe have it test run on the track then turn around and say well I can get it on the internet for less.  Never mind the salary that has to be paid to an employee who just helped them or the time they just took from a paying customer.  Makes me glad I was only in retail part time for only a couple years.

In conclusion:

Well thank you for letting me vent.  We can't expect every hobby shop to be everything we want.  I'm grateful there are still some out there like Little Choo Choo, and Des Plaines.  I'm glad I also have options like train shows and the net when I have to go that route.  I feel for you folks who have nothing near you.  I can drive about an hour to an hour and a half either way and find something pretty good.  Now what can be said for Northeast Atlanta?  I get there a few times a year.

Happy modeling,

Bob

[rdgk1se3019]

Lancaster County PA has a shop that just opened up back in late April/Early May called Choo Choo Nuts

444 E Roseville Rd. Lancaster PA 17601

The place is small but packed to the gills with HO and N scale........No I`m not financialy involved.....I just spend a lot of money there...........there is a page on Facebook for the place and right now he is running specials for the "12 Days of X-mas".........

www.choochoonuts.com

The owners name is Rob and he is a good guy to deal with.........and he is a fellow model builder too.

[richhotrain]

rdgk1se3019

The place is small but packed to the gills with HO and N scale........No I`m not financialy involved.....I just spend a lot of money there.

 

Well, then, if you spend a lot of money there, you are financially involved.  LOL

Rich