Hi List
I Just got the message Trackside sales is closeing up the shop and keeping the internet and mailorder side going. There will be some shop in Waltham mass later but reduced hours.
Gary the owner and Joe are great people and I will keep doing buisness with them.
Pete
Sorry to hear, I have seen a few shops around this area come and go, others continue, a new one started in Mishawaka, Indiana surprisingly, run by one fellow I know was or is in the club I was in and worked at another hobbyshop. I hope we hobbyists help reverese these trends and build the hobby back.
I do the bulk of my shopping online these days, so the loss of a brick and mortar hobby shop is just a sign of the times.
It’s not really “gone”, it’s just “morphed” into something more profitable – and why not? Just like steam locos morphed into diesels because diesels were cheaper to operate and maintain.
For better or worse, it’s called “progress”.
Bummer. Anyone know when are they actually going to close the doors?
4/25/08 the door will lock for the last time.
Pete
I’ve said it before, I know online shopping is convenient for many but the closure of many actual hobby stores is a shame. I prefer to go in and see the product directly and buy it if I want. Plus it helps keep one more business going in an unstable economy.
I’m with you Podnah! I don’t want to buy something because I saw a picture of it.
The ability to actually see the product in person only applies to certain products and only to the first one. For example, I don’t care to see #11 xacto knife blades or Kadee couplers. In fact, I can’t even see the Kadee’s in person unless I want to buy the pack first. After I’ve seen one of the new Athearn SD40T-2’s, I don’t need to see any more of them and I have no problem ordering more online.
If the online business is more profitable (otherwise, they would keep the brick and mortar establishment) then that helps the economy more and increases the stability of the business. The whole reason they’re shutting down the brick and mortar is because it costs too much to keep it up.
While the brick and mortar establishment has certain nostolgic value, you can’t fault people for moving totally online if they make more money. Online is the wave of the future, and technology is rapidly advancing such that you can actually view a 3D virtual-reality image of a product from all angles by spinning it with your mouse.
This is way better than old-days mail order where all you got was some smudged up little B&W image to go by.
I dont mind online ordering. In fact most of my purchases from Trackside sales has been online orders. The shop was about an hour drive from me. I bought 99% of my decoders from this dealer. My local hobby establishment is just right around the corner from work and does not deal in DCC. Its realy conveinient for picking up things I cant wait for or dont want to pay $7.95 shipping for wheelsets. The biggest plus to a LHS is ordering things your going to need and not pay shipping. I show them the Walthers monthly sales flier and in a week its in with no shipping charges for the sales price. So please support the LHS.
Pete
Joe
[V]
It may be alright for an expert modeler to order on line but if your not sure what you need. It helps to touch and feel some products and ask the LHS for help. Three times I have ordered from Walthers (scenery) Etc. all three times one item in each batch was junk, pathetic junk. I ordered through my LHS and the last time I got my money back even though he is stuck with the product. Just my [2c].
Happy railroading.
Lee S.
Lee:
Sure, visiting a real store has certain advantages for new things you’ve never seen before. Just because I may have been in the hobby a little longer, that seldom helps when we’re talking products I’ve never seen. But if you know about the item already, online can be really handy – especially if you can batch up your items and save on shipping.
As to shipping charges, it depends on where you shop online. For example, Litchfield Station, a prominent online DCC supplier, offers free shipping on orders over $50.
I’m mainly saying online is the wave of the future so get used to it – and if it keeps the hobby retail outfit from folding completely then I’m all for it. As to some of the downsides (can’t touchy-feely the product first), virtual reality rich media technology over the internet is improving to the point that you’ll be able to get pretty darn close to really handling the product.
One thing you can get online that you can’t get in the store is product reviews. Look at Amazon. Imagine a hobby store online offering you virtual reality product images you can spin and zoom in on – AND product reviews from other modelers who bought the product!
You won’t get the reviews at your LHS … in the LHS, I’m likely to buy the product out of impulse, get it home and find out I’m sorry. With product reviews in the online store, I can read what other people thought of the product and then decide if I really want that product or not based on what some real people had to say. I could avoid a really dumb impulse buy that way.
As online stores mature over the next few years, you will find things like instant product reviews that will give online buying a power that you could never get in the brick and mortar shopping experience.
Hi Joe
Its hard to resist the impulse buy. Just imagine if all the LHS closed doors. Then where would you get the replacement crank pin screw you flung across the room from your tweezers or the brass rods to bend into grabs? I buy online and at the LHS. They each serve a purpose. If I want to save money on a new loco then online it is. But if I need something to keep a project from collecting dust then the LHS has the answer. How many times have you been in the middle of a decoder instal and ran out of shrink tube? Or you could have swore you had two LEDs but only to remember you put one in a loco last month? I have not gotten to the point in this hobby yet to bulk up purchases to save on shipping. If I have extra money then I buy the things I WANT, and thats usualy online. If its something I NEED than its the LHS.
Just my [2c]
Pete