LHS Wake Up Call

[lesterperry]

I miss my LHS which has been gone for around 2 months now. I can find decoders, cars , Locos ect on the internet but where do I get scres taht fit an atlas switch machine?

[NevinW]

If all hobby shops were like Caboose Hobbies in Denver, I think they would be much healthier. I do lots of traveling and try to visit at least one train hobby shop along the way. Way too many have poor inventories and are staffed by individuals who really don't know the hobby or even what they are carrying in the store. Rudeness and cluelessness are pretty common. I recently had a hobby shore owner tell me that there was no such thing as 2 rail O scale. There is no question that the Internet and mail order is hurting the hobby shop but it is apparent that the smart stores are adapting and even doing pretty well. - Nevin

[Anonymous]

I usually try to shop at my LHS (Northern suburbs of Chicago) first. I know there is a level of service I pay for, and it is a very friendly place. I feel that service benefits me in that I have questions (many questions) on the layout I am buildling and getting a 2nd opinion there really helps. I usually attempt to purchase from my LHS first and goto the interent for all the old items I have missed (like P2k GP9's or PFE reefers as of late).

Currently, I have on order with them a F9 A/B set of the NdeM with sound. I know I could probably get this a bit cheaper online. But, like I said, I get a discount there and the level of service I get is unbeatable.

[maandg]

QUOTE:

Highiron...If that's what you want to do, go for it!

Be forewarned...it's a lot of work! I go almost 24-7 all the time just trying to keep my store going! My store is closed one day a week, ( Monday is my weekend ) and I spend my "day off" placing orders, cleaning the store, cleaning the bathrooms, ( yeck!!!) paying the bills, etc....

My advice...is friendly! Greet everyone that comes through the door! Be glad to see them! The walk-ins bring money! (Some don't, but treat all walk ins like they are millionaires!)

If you don't have it, get it! Be glad to order what ya don't have! Most folks understand you can't stock everything. There is no real reason you can't get something within a week’s time, unless your distributors don't have it in stock! There are many instances where the manufacturer falls behind. This will be blamed on the dealer, even if that's not the case!

Above all, treat the customer as though they are royalty! Remember, they are the folks who are really paying the bills!

Rotor

Wow Rotor - I wish you had a LHS in MY area.....you have crystallized EXACTLY the level of service that would keep me in your store. Unfortunately, the ones I have been in do not share your management style. I had started a thread a few weeks ago entitled "My Kingdom for a Decent Hobby Shop". Many of you responded, very eloquently, to my dilemma. If you guys will indulge me, I would like to quote some of my comments from that thread for the benefit of those who have not seen them. They really apply to this discussion. In closing, I will share an experience I had this morning while placing a phone order which epitomizes the key for making ANY LHS a HUGE success!!! But my earlier observations first........

Although I have been teaching for the past 7 years, I previously spent many, many years in retail management. Based on my experience both as a customer in countless hobby shops (in Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, Louisiana and Alabama) and working for several large national retail "mall stores", I am amazed at how little most hobby shop owners know about managing a successful retail business. The overwhelming majority of hobby shops I've patronized suffer from the same problems which can each be traced back to poor management. They include............

1. Location of the store. Unfortunately, all too many hobby shops seem to be located on the "wrong side of the tracks" (no pun intended). If I have to worry that my car will be gone when I come out of the store, how often do you think I'll be taking that risk? A good example is the now defunct Bobbye Hall's in Dallas. It was a great train store. But if the business has to resort to installing razor wire on the roof top, I think I'll make my purchases online from the safety of my home. True, the rent may be much less in these crime-infested neighborhoods, but at what cost to business?

2. Attractiveness of the store. Almost every hobby shop I have ever shopped in was dirty, poorly lit, messy, cluttered and disorganized. Are there no owners who have the slightest clue about visual merchandising???? The popular approach seems to be "pile the newer stuff on top of the older stuff". Is the store "shopper friendly"? If you have to ask "Do you have any....." more than once, the store has not been thoughtfully laid out. Most store owners are content to just shove something new anywhere, rather than re-display an overgrown area of the store attractively. One store outside of Dallas, Discount Model Trains, was the most well executed train store I have ever seen. All rolling stock was arranged by road name and then car type. If you wanted an SP 50' flat and T&NO 40' boxcar, they were displayed in the SP section. The wall of super detail parts was particularly well organized. Needless to say, I dropped a good chunk of change in their store.

3. Store Environment. Is the store's thermostat set for the customer's comfort or the owner's wallet? Does it reek of cigarette smoke? When I lived in Northern Virginia, I used to shop at the Rip Track (also now closed). Dear God, it was like sitting in an a***ray. I believe I shaved two years off of my life every time I went in the place. Any item I purchased had to stay out in the garage to be "decontaminated" because it smelled so bad. Also, the owner had the mouth of a drunken sailor! His wife worked in the store with him, and he would constantly cuss her like a rented mule. Yeah, that's the kind of place I want to take my four-year old to shop. Sadly, vulgarity has been used in my presence in MANY hobby shops.

4. Inventory Levels. Is the Plastruct display in the store STILL out of clapboard siding after a year? For six months have you been looking for Woodland Scenics conifer green course turf? Is the Floquil Reefer White so old it has petrified in the bottom of the bottle? You should not drive all the way across town (or further!) to hear "I'm out of Kadee #5's" or "I just sold my last can of Dull Coat this morning". The "bread and butter" items of the hobby should be ordered in appropriate "rainy day" quantities.

5. What's New? This is my single biggest gripe and one that has lost my local hobby shops literally thousands of dollars from me alone. I can't tell you how many times I have entered a train store with $50 burning a hole in my pocket only to leave with the same 50 bucks. If something has not sold in a year GET RID OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mark it down, put it on a clearance table, and get it out of the store. Hobby shop owners are so afraid of not getting the full profit margin out of an item, they will literally hang on to it until it has mummified. How many times have I left a hobby shop empty-handed mumbling under my breath, "Same Old #%*!" ??? Once your clientele realizes there is never anything new to see, you might as well lock up and call it quits. One of our former hobby shops in Jackson, MS was so stagnant that I would move things around myself just to see if they were still in that spot a year later. When the owner closed the store, he claimed there was no market for trains. However, when he marked everything down 50%, the shelves were bare in three weeks. Obviously, the market was there - he was just clueless about how to run the business. How many other hobby shops have become fallen flags for the same reason?

Bottom line - I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to hobby shops. Discounts are nice, but I'm more interested in selection, inventory turnover, and store atmosphere. If I think you're having a mark-down or a big shipment of new merchandise, or a free how-to clinic, I'll be in your store every weekend - and spending MONEY!!! And I'm sure there are many others who will be too!!

So what turns you off about your LHS? Maybe it was unfriendliness, selection, atmosphere, etc. What keeps you from purchasing, or better yet, returning? If you shop at one a few times a year, what keeps you from going more often (aside from the cost of fuel)? Personally, I have no problem paying full MSRP if it is for something that I really want. Last week I purchased three new Atlas 11,000 gallon tank cars lettered for the Mississippi Chemical Co. for $24 each at Hobbytown USA (the only hobby shop within a 90 mile radius). I could have gotten them as a Buy It Now on eBay for $16 each, but I wanted them as soon as I saw them. You know, the whole instant gratification thing. I would have spent more money there, but everything else has been sitting in the same spot for the last six months.

One bit of popular terminology in the retail vernacular is "driving sales". What could your LHS do - or have done - to drive their business. These days one can no longer be content to wake up, unlock the store, sit on their a** behind the counter for 8 hours, then go home. A business requires an investment of not only money, but also time and creativity. During my many years of retail management, not one district manager would have accepted the excuse, "well, no ones in the mall today" for below quota figures. No interest in the hobby in your area? Then CREATE interest in the hobby in your area.

As for my experience this morning, I found a dealer on eBay who would sell me 100 pieces of Atlas Code 83 flex track for $220, plus Atlas Code 83 #6 switches for $8.33 each. I’m purchasing 100 total - 50 right and 50 left. I inquired about, and was given FREE SHIPPING! When I called to pay with my Visa, I found out it was Nagengast Hardware and Hobby in Ridgewood, NY - - - a Local Hobby Shop!!!!. This LHS used to advertise in Model Railroader, and has been in business since 1947!!!! Hans, who I spoke with, was the nicest, friendliest and most courteous person I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Not only did I get Free Shipping, but he told me he would give me an additional discount for ordering so many switches!!! He ALREADY had my business, so what did he gain by furthering my discount? How about a customer for LIFE!!! It is NO WONDER that this LHS has been going strong for nearly 60 years!!!!!!!! So long TrainWorld (rudest women on Earth!!!), Standard Hobby and Toy Train Heaven! A LHS has outshined you ALL!!

Nagengast Hardware and Hobby has perfected the blueprint for a successful LHS in these changing times….a friendly, competitive local presence with a strong, equally friendly and competitive internet presence. For the cost of a slightly smaller profit margin, they not only closed a $1200 + sale, but gained a big-spending customer for the long haul. Even though I live in Mississippi, my LHS is in New York!!!

[skiloff]

Cliff, you said it all perfectly. As I've stated several times now, I don't want to go into my LHS and have to ORDER basic couplers or wheelsets. They should be there. And if you did happen to run out, waiting two months for them is unacceptable, especially when I hear that you've got an order in from your supplier after a month and my couplers still aren't in that order! But still, my LHS is mostly geared to the R/C crowd (the owner is an R/C plane guy) so trains aren't his main interest anyway (only about 15% of the store roughly).

Rotor, like Cliff said, I wish you were in my neighbourhood. Do you do mail order to Canada?

[Rotorranch]

QUOTE: Originally posted by skiloff

Rotor, like Cliff said, I wish you were in my neighbourhood. Do you do mail order to Canada?

Sure...I'll ship anywhere!

Rotor

[AntonioFP45]

Cliff Powers,

Man, outstanding and very well thought out post!

[skiloff]

I'll drop you a line next time I'm ready to order, rotor, hopefully before Christmas. The wife is now looking for work, so my "discretionary" funds have dried up for now.