In the area around me two hobby shops have closed in the last 4 years.I asked the owner of one and i was told his customers were using the internet more often.It was hard for me sometimes to choose to pay more for a product and be loyal to the local guy or shop the web.Has anybody in other areas had this kind of situation with the local hobbyshop.?P S it seems with computer games now people dont want to be modelrailroaders as much anymore. Sad!
It’s certainly harder for the Local Hobby Shop to survive in this environment. Trains are now an adult hobby, not a child’s toy anymore. When I was a boy, most every kid had a set of trains somewhere, even if it only came out at Christmas. Now, well, you’ve said it. The Playstation or X-Box has replaced the train as the toy of choice. Like trains, you buy it once, and then constantly add to it with new accessories.
Still, a good hobby shop can compete if there are enough railroaders around. It’s tough in remote areas, but in the Boston Burbs where I live, I have my choice of good shops. The better ones will give discounts to the regulars (or to everyone) and they can order things for you. Sometimes, their prices will even beat what’s online, but they do have a higher percentage overhead per sale, so most of the time you will pay more for the option of having a shop. Many shops will also do specialty work, like decoder installations or custom painting, which puts them in a good position versus the online warehouses that simply exchange trains for dollars.
I still shop online sometimes, mostly for things that aren’t readily available. Mostly, though, I go to the shop. I’m fortunate to not be pinching pennies at this point, so I feel that I really “should” support the shop instead of the online e-tailer.
Thanx for the response MRbeasley
I buy both from the LHS(s) and the internet. One local shop discounts quite a bit of stuff and the other does little if any discounting. I would like to support both but my pocketbook can’t take the hit of no discounts all the time. It’s also tough to pay $100 for something locally and then find it for half (or less!) on the 'net. I recently bought an engine and then found the same on the 'net at about 35% of the LHS price. needless to say, I wasn’t happy. [:(]
Hey herb,didnt NW take ownership of all of NPL geeps and add a 2 to each number? Or they owned Detroit and Toledo Shoreline too?
I do both. I feel it is very important to support local business, but my age does pinch my wallet.
I mainly purchase locally, where my LHS does little discounting. There is another AWESOME LHS (Maine Trains in Chelmsford MA, I believe Mister Beasly is also mainly refering to this shop), but it is difficult for me to go there because it is 20 minutes away by car and I am too young to drive, so I must rely on parents and my sister.
I only purchase online if I cannot get the item anywhere else or it is >50% of the MSRP.
There can be little doubt that the internet has hurt a lot of local hobby shops. I guess in a lot of ways it’s a trade off. The internet route can save us quite a bit of money, but as one member noted, you’re trading cash for trains. There seems to be quite a few hobby shops that combine internet sales with a traditional, walk in hobby shop. A local dealer who can install DCC and more of the increasingly complex electrical components of the hobby, can probably do quite well. This same merchant/hobbyist also needs to gear his advertising to the generally adult market for model railroading.
With pretty much everything, sales have suffered due to Ebay, internet sites and shopping.
I mainly go to LHS. My favorite is the one on Merriman and 7 Mile in Livonia, MI. There are no shortage of hobby shops in this area, so it’s kind of hard not to go to them. The Riders franchise (most stores are garbage for train selection, best one in Madison Heights), Joe’s Hobby, Tony’s Trains, P&D Hobby, Nankin Hardware & Merri Seven are all within a 45 minute drive of me.
We recently lost 1 Riders in Canton, but the others seem to be going strong. Seem to be lots of people when I go in the one in Livonia & Madison Heights albeit not many looking at train items at the Livonia Riders but that could be because the Livonia Riders train supply keeps dwindling.
The LHS situation is talked about almost weekly in this forum but it is truely is a reality that many shops cannot make a normal living any longer in all but the largest cities. If you search for LHS, you will find many post of this subject in the last six months.
Most of us have been guilty of looking locally but buying the best prices on line or EBAY.