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+--- Thread: Hobby Shops in Tough Times (/showthread.php?tid=1233)
Hobby Shops in Tough Times - Kanawha - 05-14-2009
I stopped by three of my local hobby shops today, two of which specialize in trains only. They all have extremely limited selections and very few customers, and frankly charge and arm and a leg for stuff. Its sad. :cry: I feel bad for them, but whats one to do? I know I only have a little bit each month to spend on trains these days. I hope the local hobby shops can survive. Online shopping might be the only way to get trains soon. I'm in the Phoenix area, anyone else notice this in their city?
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - tomustang - 05-14-2009
Kanawha Wrote:I stopped by three of my local hobby shops today, two of which specialize in trains only. They all have extremely limited selections and very few customers, and frankly charge and arm and a leg for stuff. Its sad. :cry: I feel bad for them, but whats one to do? I know I only have a little bit each month to spend on trains these days. I hope the local hobby shops can survive. Online shopping might be the only way to get trains soon. I'm in the Phoenix area, anyone else notice this in their city?There has been several threads on this, and even worse where shops closed do to the economy. I know my local hobby shop is still kicking tail since they also do scale car/plane/game/army models and the big reeler of customers is R/C
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - eightyeightfan1 - 05-14-2009
It does seem bad. But.....
My LHS is actually moving to another, bigger location. But he's also one of only two shops in the area. And his business is actually doing great.(That...And his wife wants the basement back). He's told me, that some of the big high dollar items, do stay longer on the shelf, but have eventually been sold. Lots come in for mostly rolling stock, supplies and scenery.
Last two time I was there(a couple of weeks ago), there were people still dropping $300.00, $400.00 USD on the counter.
Last year, there were three other hobby shops. Two were mostly trains, one was an "all hobbies" store. The two mostly trains didn't close because of the economy, it was because of customer service. My LHS guy picked up the customers, the other two stores lost when they closed. My LHS guy told me that a couple of them said, if they weren't so convenient, they would of never gone there. Now, because the owner of the LHS I frequent, treats you like a person, and not a dollar sign, they don't mind the drive.
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - nachoman - 05-14-2009
If one you stopped by was "An affair with trains" on bethany home, I hear they are moving up near deer valley airport. The new owner does not like the neighborhood they are in (can't blame him).
That shop used to be half the size, but had twice the inventory it now has. Then I moved away for a few years, and was kinda out of the hobby. When I went back to the store after about 5 years, I was surprised at how little inventory they had despite the larger building. Then I visited a few other train-only stores, both in Phoenix and elsewhere, and noticed the same thing. The reality is, they don't do much walk-in business anymore, and they have adapted by doing internet sales. And the types of items that used to make shops look "stocked" aren't that popular anymore, such as detail parts and athearn blue box kits. People are more prototype-specific with rolling stock, and due to the variety available now and limited run nature, it is unwise for them to keep much stock. People don't want an athearn gp-40 anymore to paint and detail - they will wait until the atlas RTR comes out with the specific paint and details already added. And since atlas may come out with 50 versions of the GP-40, it doesn't seem likely the shop will stock all 50, and prefer people to special-order.
I still like to have a local shop for paint, couplers, tools, and scenery materials. Since I model mostly narrow gauge now, I head over to Coronado Scale Models which is about halfway between my house and work. That is almost an exclusively narrow gauge store, and there is nowhere else in the city that carries most of that stuff. For narrow gauge stuff, they have a better inventory than I have ever seen, including online - but that does not mean the store has a lot of stuff. For scenery, paint, and general items, I have to go elsewhere.
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - Kanawha - 05-14-2009
Yeah, Affair with Trains was one of them. I remember the old days down there with Paul and a few other guys: tiny store, but tons of stuff. It is really sad to see the blue boxes go now that you mention it, RTR stuff just isn't the same as one of those simple kits, they allowed for so much creativity. Nice to hear they're moving North, they'll be a little closer to my house. Do you know when they're moving?
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - nachoman - 05-14-2009
I hear June 1st for the move. I assume their inventory is down a little bit for that reason. I remember going down down there every few months and spending an hour just browsing around the store. Lately, I have gone in there with a list of things I need, and usually walk out with only 1/4 of what I needed due to out of stock items.
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - TrainNut - 05-14-2009
I hadn't heard that about An Affair but that's good news for me as it will be that much closer to my house. On the flipside, I was in The Freight Yard today (Bell and I-17) and asked 'em how things were going. Martin told me they were so busy, they could hardly keep up. But then their bread and butter is custom painting locos and from what I understand, they've got a contract with a larger company so I guess that helps a lot. I did not notice a drop in inventory... in fact, they seemed to have more N scale structures on the shelves than usual. Were they one of the ones you visited?
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - Herc Driver - 05-14-2009
I get the opportunity to visit many hobby and model train stores around the country in my flying job. From what I've seen, as I'm almost always entering the store as an "outsider", that there are the "regulars" who are known by first name and know what the store stock is and pick around looking for something new. There's few people "just looking" who clearly don't know what they're looking for. I always try to bring the other guy I'm flying with and introduce him to the hobby (and maybe the LHS staff if they're interested in saying hello) and maybe spur interest. What I do find interesting is the very wide range of pricing...and what items are clearly more important to the shop owners than other items. There is generally less mark downs on items that are not seen much locally on the rails around town. I can get good deals on NS in Seattle, but the BNSF stuff is rarely marked down. Conversely, you'll pay full MSRP for NS at a LHS in the Charlotte area but get a deal on other roads. The other strange thing is that, except for a store in Columbus, OH that always greats me nicely - even though I only visit once or maybe twice a year - almost every local hobby store owner/staff person rarely tries to show a lot of hospitality when I visit. Granted, it probably looks a bit strange seeing some guy wearing a pilots uniform walk into their store, but it is a perfect opportunity to open up a conversation. Normally, they just say hello and that's it. In this day of tough economic concerns, competition with internet sales, and ebay, you'd think they'd go out of there way to warmly greet a new face (and possible sale). I've always tried to buy something at each store I visit, just to help them and along and help them remember that strange pilot-dude that visited. I like the brick-and-motar stores...I like talking trains with the local hobby store owner. You can't buy that over the internet.
(One of these days, I'm going to have the time and visit a hobby store named Fifer Hobby in Las Cruces, NM...I hear there's some Nscaler hobby store owner down there that just might talk to a pilot-dude about Nscale trains.)
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - RobertInOntario - 05-14-2009
Funny that you should ask about this. I had also recently started a thread here <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1224">viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1224</a><!-- l --> about a famous Toronto LHS (George's Trains), which is closing down its more downtown location and moving to a store just outside of the city. About two years ago, George's took over the second/newer store because its owner had suddenly died. Now, they are closing their flagship location and moving out to this suburban store. This change is mainly due to rising taxes and the fact that the suburban store is simply less expensive all round.
Another LHS, closer to me, seems to be doing well. I've purposely NOT made any eBay MRR purchases during the past 3-4 years and have bought all of my MRR items from hobby shops. Sure, I might save a few bucks on eBay, but I'd sooner spend a little more and keep my local hobby shops going. I always appreciate their advice and comradery.
I've also heard that LHS's generally do well during recessions. The logic being that people will forego expensive vacations or major purchases, but will still treat themselves by buying smaller items such as model trains. The same thing goes for things like chocolate! I also heard on the radio that chocolate companies (such as Cadbury's) are booming. Again, people forego the expensive trips and huge purchases, but treat themselves in smaller ways. Even during the Great Depression of the 1930s, chocolate companies did very well.
Rob
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - Will_Annand - 05-15-2009
I know what you mean, in my shop, I specialize in vehicles, people, structures, details and scenery.
There is a shop in the next town (30km away) who specializes in motive power and rolling stock. He gets in anything that features a Canadian road name. The last time we chatted he was saying it is unbelievable how anal people are getting about the prototype. He says he has guys ordering product, then bitching at him because the manufacturer did not make it "right". Wrong style of headlight, grab irons in the wong place, vents not positioned exactly right.
Personally, my layout is set circa 1900, on a line with very few photos available. To me as long as it gives the "feel" of the era, it will work. No sense being anal and counting rivets, I want to run trains and have fun.
The other factor hit on here too is that creativity seems to have taken a back seat to RTR. In all facets. I did a clinic on Scenery at a local train show. Told how you can dry coffee grounds, colour sawdust, make your own ground foam. I showed how for less than $3.00 I filled two 4L plastic Ice cream containers with ground foam and it took me less than an hour.
After the clinic two guys came up and asked why I was wasting time on making that stuff when Woodland Scenics was selling it for only $10.00 a jar. I tried to point out that I had made 4 jars worth for less than $3.00 but their arguement was, yeah but you wasted an hour. Sometimes I can't figure people out.
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - RobertInOntario - 05-15-2009
Will_Annand Wrote:I know what you mean, in my shop, I specialize in vehicles, people, structures, details and scenery.
There is a shop in the next town (30km away) who specializes in motive power and rolling stock. He gets in anything that features a Canadian road name. The last time we chatted he was saying it is unbelievable how anal people are getting about the prototype. He says he has guys ordering product, then bitching at him because the manufacturer did not make it "right". Wrong style of headlight, grab irons in the wong place, vents not positioned exactly right.
Personally, my layout is set circa 1900, on a line with very few photos available. To me as long as it gives the "feel" of the era, it will work. No sense being anal and counting rivets, I want to run trains and have fun.
The other factor hit on here too is that creativity seems to have taken a back seat to RTR. In all facets. I did a clinic on Scenery at a local train show. Told how you can dry coffee grounds, colour sawdust, make your own ground foam. I showed how for less than $3.00 I filled two 4L plastic Ice cream containers with ground foam and it took me less than an hour.
After the clinic two guys came up and asked why I was wasting time on making that stuff when Woodland Scenics was selling it for only $10.00 a jar. I tried to point out that I had made 4 jars worth for less than $3.00 but their arguement was, yeah but you wasted an hour. Sometimes I can't figure people out.
Excellent points, Will. I agree about not being overly fussy about the prototype. I mainly model British trains, and I think the situation is even more extreme in Britain. The thing is that MRR companies are making RTR stock to such high standards now -- this is partly being encouraged or fueled by modellers being increasingly particular or demanding in terms of accuracy. I think one fuels the other. Bachmann Europe, for example, recently released a model of a 4-6-0 4MT loco that looks excellent to me -- yet there were pages of complaints on one UK forum about all the inaccuracies it had! Personally, I'm willing to tolerate some discrepancies and am happy to simply to get a good overall feel or look.
I also agree (to a point) about re-using household items (such as dried coffee etc.) on your layout. On the other "Z" forum, there was a lively thread there once where folks submitted their various ideas of re-using household items on the layout. Maybe we could start one here again. There was advice for re-using all sorts of things -- wire, bits of plastic... You'd think this would be a popular trend during a recession.
Having said all that, I've tried to re-use some household things or make MRR buildings and items from scratch, but they never look as good compared to what you can buy at your LHS! For example, I once tried to build a tunnel from re-using a bit of packaging styrofoam. I thought I was being clever and saving lots of money. However, I ended up using a fair bit of paint & spent lots of time on it. In the end, it didn't look great and not that realistic. My wife kept rolling her eyes saying how strange it looked. In the end, I threw it out!
The commercially-made MRR products look so good. I guess you have to weigh your time against the money that it costs to buy something new. I could spend hours making a fair-looking product, yet spend a few dollars more and buy something new that looks great. I still want to improve my scratch-building and "re-using" skills though!
Rob
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - RobertInOntario - 05-15-2009
I also heard good news about a MRR hobby shop near Hamilton, Ont. Its owner said, on a radio phone-in show, that he had increased the size of his store (doubled it in size, IIRC) and hired new staff. The store is called "Just Train Crazy".
Rob
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - RobertInOntario - 05-15-2009
Will_Annand Wrote:There is a shop in the next town (30km away) who specializes in motive power and rolling stock. He gets in anything that features a Canadian road name. The last time we chatted he was saying it is unbelievable how anal people are getting about the prototype. He says he has guys ordering product, then bitching at him because the manufacturer did not make it "right". Wrong style of headlight, grab irons in the wong place, vents not positioned exactly right.
Personally, my layout is set circa 1900, on a line with very few photos available. To me as long as it gives the "feel" of the era, it will work. No sense being anal and counting rivets, I want to run trains and have fun.
Will,
I had a ATSF Rivarossi Pacific. About a year ago, I kit-bashed it into a CNR J-class, more or less. I can still improve and tweak this, as and when time allows.
For a CNR J-class loco, it has all sorts discrepancies -- the domes are in the wrong places & wrong shape, etc., some of the plumbing and wiring is incorrect and the cab should be converted "winterized". However, when it sits on the track and hauls a rake of green CNR coaches around the layout, it sure looks like a CNR Pacific! As you say, I think I've captured the look and feel of a CNR train. (I posted pics of this on the "Z" forum.)
Rob
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - Brakie - 05-15-2009
Time has come for the hobby shop owners to get tough as their competition...The days of paying full MSRP is over thanks to the computer...Savvy hobby shop owners knows and understands this and has adjusted by offering a modest discount and having a web page for internet sales..Those that cling to the old ways are going by the way of the dodo bird...
Re: Hobby Shops in Tough Times - foulrift - 05-15-2009
I feel lucky in that about a year ago one of the hobby shops I used to frequent closed but there was still another a few miles away and I do most of my shopping there.The shop also deals in flying models and RC cars(3 outside tracks).Each area has their own staff.The railroad area is pretty well stocked and the carry a lot of the different scales.They also carry a good selection of detail parts,couplers,wheels,paint etc.I do but online once in a while but the shipping charges are high so I try not to.I have LHS order it for me.
Bob