For those of you that live in the Detroit area. Riders Hobby in Madison Hieghts is closing it’s doors. I believe the last day is 02/21. They were open for about 13 years in this location.
The people that worked behind the counter of this store were always willing to answer your questions and spend time with you. It is a loss for the community to see another great shop close down.
I’m really sorry to hear that. I’m sure they were an important part of the MR community there.
That is sad news indeed…However they are part of a chain store…I believe they have 5 or 6 stores including one in Sylvania,Oh. Nice shop but,full price.
It is sad to hear, but a sign of our times and the Internet purchasing. I don’t want to say the Internet is causing all of the LHS problems, but LHS should realize that discounts and Internet buying is ow part of life in the USA now and they need to advertise and sell on the Internet also in addition to the store front.
I was gona say the same thing.
Riders Hobby use to have a store in Ft.Wayne Indiana, Well untill the repo man came and chained the door closed on the Store manager because he didnt pay his bills!!!
Wonder if it was the same manager??? Kevin
They should chain the doors on my LHS for charging $419 for a case of HO Atlas code 83 flex, $1.89/strip for cork roadbed and almost $300 for an original MRC Prodigy system.($149 for a second hand set) Hopefully some shops will learn and stay in business.
I stopped in there a few days before Christmas. They had 5 guys working and that outnumbered the customers. By contrast a day later over at P&D the place was hopping and they had 3 guys, one more than normal. Per usual, the owner was there, working his tail off. They also have at least 2-3 times the square footage.
Customer service is great but a business needs to face reality. I have to wonder if Riders could have survived with one guy at the back counter, one up front and perhaps a third part timer for peak hours?
It was a tiny store, but convenient for getting my MR and Trains. I bought a couple of Kato SD’s there once and my son used to buy RC stuff all the time.
How many have we lost now [xx(] ?
I am sure I missed a few, in the downriver or west side areas?
Here in Detroit, I think we need to stop the “online madness” before we no longer have a place to shop. Stop and think before you send money to NY or wherever. We need money and jobs in OUR community[;)].
Jim
[V] Bad news about Rider in MH. My trips to MI usually incude a stop there. P&D has been (and will continue to be) my favorite when in the Detroit area.
Long term trends I believe are working against hobby shops. I suspect that smaller %'s of people include model railroading as their pasttime, especially young people. Fewer people can watch real trains do to decreasing route miles in USA. Government policies over the years virtually put intercity passnger trains out of business. Those still in the hobby buy larger percents of their stuff via the internet. With fewer hobby shops, it is less likely young people will take an interest in the hobby. For example, now I live in an area where the closest hobby shop is over 100 miles away. Costs of doing business are rising too. Taxes make it more than a challenge to operate just about any business in this country anymore.
Trends like that will be hard to reverse.
P&D is a good store and hopefully most people that go to Riders will move thier business there.
Riders was nice because it was on my way home from work. I started getting in the habit of dropping in every Friday evening.
P&D will require a special trip to a part of town I am not usually in. And it will take quite a bit longer to get there.
Great Lake is still around, but the service there is sparce and it is way up in Shelby.
Sadly that is what leads to the closure of local hobby shops along with poor stock or having stock that is several years old and dust covered.
Guys,Let’s face the facts we need our local shops BUT,the owners must realize many of their customers can no longer afford full MSRP…Now instead of cussing the internet they should embrace it by selling on line even if that means getting a small loan to get started and hiring some help.
I still love visiting my local shops talking to the owners and friends that happens in and I will buy some small items but,please don’t expect to drop mega bucks at full price,its not going to happen.You want your share of my hobby dollars then lower your prices.
Unbelieveable news!
I shop there all the time!
Bummer
Joey
Sad is one thing I just can’t associate with the closing of any business. It is an inevitable part of the business cycle. When a business closes, it is usually because it has outlived its usefullness to its customer base. Their customer’s needs are being better served elsewhere. That is probably easy for me to say because my own LHS is outstanding and seems to be thriving but who knows what tomorrow will bring. If it does close, it will be an inconvenience because I will either have to find another LHS or do all my buying on line. I hope that doesn’t happen but if it does, I’ll adjust.
Sadly (LOL) this is true. People are no longer willing to pay for personal service, and will reap the benefits (?) of that.
But this isn’t the only reason model railroading is dying, IMO. It’s become a rich man’s hobby, nothing less.
May I disagree.
I think I see a surge in the MRRing. Hopefully it’s not just a fad.
Nor do I believe it necessarily has to be a rich man’s hobby. I believe I read somewhere that there is an excellent series of articles coming out in some online MRR newletter about Model Railroading on a Budget.
Joey
Rich man’s hobby? I really don’t thing so. I’m not a rich man. I’m retired and am able to live comfortably but not extravagantly. I have to budget what I spend on model railroading. I am able to buy the higher end locos but that means living on the cheap for other stuff. I have to make choices about what is important to me. I am always on the lookout for bargains to get the most for my dollar. I would guess this puts me in the same category as 99% of model railroaders. Few of us can spend whatever we want on our layouts so we get what we can afford. You can still get good quality in the mid price range and I would argue that the mid-price range merchandise is of much higher quality than it was a generation ago. If you adjust for inflation, I believe the model railroader of today gets more value for his money than ever before.
Sad to hear about that shop closing. My LHS is the Rider’s in Flint, Michigan and they are going great guns! Always seem busy. They have a WELL stocked train department in all guages, plastic models, gaming and R/C planes and cars. I have bought a couple of locos there and got them at less than full price so I’m not complaining. Let’s hope it holds out for all who are left. We need the hobby shops! That’s why I buy my MRR there instead of subscribing. - Jim
I have two comments to the above replies:
First: This hobby is NOT dying. I just went to the Train Show at the Big E in West Springfield, Ma, and the place was absolutely mobbed for both days, ther had to be over 10,000 there on Saturday alone. People of ALL ages, and they were buying, not just looking. It appeared to me to be more populated than last year. I have going there for the past 6 years since getting back into the hobby after retirement.
Second: LHS go out of business for a variety of reasons. Some due to retirement of the owner, some due to bad location ( depressed area economically ), some because the owners do not know how to run a business. If an owner charges full MSRP, he/she is NOT going to be in business for long. My LHS is always 10 to 15% below MSRP, and has sales below that. He also passes on any discounts from the Mfgrs. He also gives 5% off for paying cash ( it cost him money to have credit cards, they are NOT free to owners contrary to what many modelers think ). Also keep in mind, some of the expenses that the owner must pay to stay in business:
So I went into Rider’s today…
Half the inventory was already gone. The walls were bare and the planes were all down. My friends who work there seemed angry and glum. Even though I need another loco like I need a hole in the head, I could not resist buying a Bachmann job.
I know they are closer to toys than my fleet of Atlas and BLI. But it was a deal I could not refuse. 55 bucks, marked down to 37 and 40% of that! I got a sturdy loco WITH a decoder for 20 bucks!
Any ideas on how I can dress it up now? It’s a Conrail GEEP and it more or less fits in with my time and place.
I do support my LHS K-10 in Maryville IL. But I as well fall into the internet trap. He sells well below MRSP. Many times lower than what I can find on the internet. But he does not follow the close out iteams. His cheapest BLI steamer is $279.99 with sound, yet I find close outs BLI for $220.00 with shipping down the Cheapest for $140.00.
I bought just one BLI from him, Class J number 611 for $320.00 plus tax. Next week I found J’s for $199.99 on buy it nows.[soapbox][banghead][#oops]
Rolling stock, rails and new DCC unit will be from K-10 trains and cheaper than the net as well. Call me cheap, but at this point I still buy off E-Bay sorry to say.
Cuda Ken