Decades back when I worked as a corporate pilot, my duties took me to just about every major city in most states. There was always the layover which gave me time to hop into town and visit the LHS…and there were many! But none of them really impressed me as unique or even good…just the same old plastic stuff and racks of paint, but there were more craftsman items and some had brass.
Here in Maryland and southern PA, the LHS is alive and doing well. We are privy to Moose Caboose, Main Line Hobby supply, Tommy Gilbert’s, and M.B. Klein…all excellent and would have been so decades back in the heyday. And there are others, and they ain’t bad. If you are planning a trip to the Baltimore area, bring your check book and credit cards. You will not be disapointed.
Ha! I worked at Heath for 5 years before they imploded, with 1.5 years at the factory. What a bunch of neat techies they had, and pouring over the parts dept was a dream back then (1985).
Maybe showing my age, but, I remember going to New York City with my Dad and shopping on Radio Row. It was an amazing. City blocks of electronic stores with everything and anything you ever wanted or needed.
I beleive they were all torn down for the World Trade Center.
Maryland - 12,406 sq miles, surrounded by other well-developed states with easy access.
California - 163,695 sq mi, surrounded by the Pacific ocean, a (questionably) friendly sovereign nation, miles and miles of desert and, in the extreme north (where no one lives,) a state that might have a few hobby shops not more than a six hour drive from the border.
As for me, I live in the heart of those miles and miles of desert, and the three shops within a day’s drive are nothing to celebrate…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with models bought there)
Possibly correct, but this would be difficult to confirm through publications and listings as some shops do not particiapte. Also many of these shops are in southern PA, which is well endowed with three rail aka, O gauge or Hi-rail.
I live in SE Pa. But I only buy from M.B. Klein. The reason is simple, great service, inventory that is on hand, fast shipping and a vast inventory of HO products.
All is true about Klein, but if you live in southern PA, Have you visited Main Line Hobby Supply in Blue Ridge Summit? As mentioned in previous post on this thread, I have visited hundreds of shops and I’d easily put this shop in the top three if not number one…mainly for excellent service, incredibly great organization, and beyond belief selection of detail parts. They do cater mostly to HO, but other scales are represented. Light on serious craftsman kits and zero brass…but hells bells what shop carries these today??
Also Tommy Gilbert’s in Gettysburg is possibly planning a complete re-do with something so radical, that it must be kept secret for now…More to come!!!
You better know, if you knew what I know about bugs and other malware, it is good to have a backup. Mark my words that a bank is going down and it won’t be an easy fix. Just a mater of time and we have alot of foes out there.
My “local” hobby shop is usually MB Klein. Sometimes it is Toy Train Heaven, sometimes Brooklyn Locomotive Works, sometimes Tony’s Train Exchange, and once in a while Trainworld.
Like Howard, my job takes me on the road (although not as often as his did), and I try to get to a hobby shop near where I am staying. The Train Shop in Santa Clara and Just Trains in Concord get a yearly visit when I am in the Bay Area. There are fewer and fewer places in my other normal destinations. I get to DC a couple of times a year, but usually do not rent a car and there is nothing short of driving to MB Klein north of Baltimore, which I have done when my destination is not DC proper. I used to enjoy Peach Creek Shops, but they are no longer a physical store.
Here in Hooterville we have nothing. Factory Direct Trains is a short drive away, but their N scale selection is almost zilch.&n
I’m very fortunate to live fairly close to Main Line Hobby Supply & can echo Howard’s words. When I was there yesterday there were two employees on duty. While I was there, one employee tended to counter sales while the other handled about three telephone/mail orders. So it’s not a terrible thing to live a bit farther away. You can still get your stuff with good service. Of course it’s nicer to be able to visi the store in person and actually see the merchandise.
We matter but,the majority of us entered the computer age of on line shopping because we found we could save money.Hobby shops that fought the the idea of having a on line presence died.
Although genuine model railroad LHS’S have virtually disappeared from Tampa with the exception of H&R Trains in St. Pete, I am fortunate to be only an hour’s comfortable drive from Gulf Coast Hobby in Sarasota, FL.
There is nothing more bracing (well , with the exception of a good after shave) than to walk into a real live model railroad hobby store. The shelves filled with rtr and kits, the interaction between the store personnel and customers, the simple pleasure of hands on shopping cannot be simulated by any present online shopping (at least until virtual reality shopping arrives). I do enjoy the online shopping experience from the standpoint of the detailed information and open-ended time factors which online shopping allows, yet that moment you walk into a real store- just can’t be beat!
Question for Howard: woud you advise anyone to try to open a full-service hobby shop today? If so, what would be the right things to do? What do the well-known full service shops who go under do wrong?
A better question to Howard might be would he invest money in someone opening a hobby shot today, and with what conditions.
Not to pick on Howard at all, but the answer often changes when the question goes from whether they would tell someone else to risk their money vs. risking their own money.