My experience is the same. One Hobbytown recently moved to a new location, smaller, and out of the way.
The other Hobbytown is much larger, and it is usually busy. Its train supplies are very sparse, but it seems to do well with the board gaming people. Half of the store is set up with tables and chairs for gaming nights. They have found a way to survive in a difficult marketing time.
As Dave N. has mentioned, we are blessed in the SE WI and metro Milwaukee/Waukesha area.
There are 4 “steadies” that I can name. and I’m sure Dave knows of a few others.
Hiawatha Hobbies, South Side Trains, Walthers and Somerfeld Trains.
Mike.
Where I live, Northeast PA we are lucky to have had a new train shop open within the last few years, the shop is doing great with almost no internet business, he seems to do a good job stocking what customers want(as much as possible), has a decent discount on products and freindly service The store carries everything from bargain used items to the lastest pricey sound equipped locos and electronics, plus model kits It is nicely organized store and a fun place to browse and hang out. He also is very good with special ordering items, which winds up being a better deal than buying from the internet. Surprising how many under 30 people are shopping there. The hobby is definitely not dead yet. I think why his store is successful is that it is a smartly run business, that customers like returning to on a regular basis. The store actually expanded last year and is worth a visit if your in Wilkes-Barre/Kingston/Edwardsville, PA. Dave’s Train Corner.
James,I would give my eye teeth for such a shop close to me… The only shop that even comes close to your shop is the Train Station in Columbus(Oh) and that’s roughly 130 mile round trip.
As of now the closest shop to me is a bicycle shop in Sandusky that carries model trains a 100 mile round trip.
So,my hobby shop is on line.
Yeah that is the hobby shop I have very little surprise when it closes down. My guess is it makes enough income for the owner to run right until their retirement. However, because they don’t keep the stock fresh, keep the place clean; they don’t have any sort of strong customer base.
My guess is that shortly before retirement, that owner will try and drop it off onto somebody younger to run; telling them the joy about how “awesome” it is to run a hobby shop. However while it makes a small steady stream of income for an older family nearing retirement who have their home and cars fully paid off and social security around the corner… it would be a buisness death sentance to anyone in their 20’s-40’s who don’t have a home paid off yet, who are struggling to maintain their secondhand cars, and likely have a young family to feed; with the proposition that to make said shop succesful again they would need to 1) re-locate to a more vibrant location, 2) begin investing in more stock, and 3) begin setting up an online shopping component to help move things that are wasting away on shelves. Its a daunting task; but unfortunately when I am sure the younger generations would refuse the owner of such shop would brush away their disinterest as “kids these days don’t like the hobby anymore.” Sure they could give the shop to somebody who is older and more established in their 50-60’s; but would they be willing to sacrafice their established retirement plans at their 9-5 jobs to take the risk of investing in a small hobby
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“Friday Night Magic” is a certified cash cow. When it comes to shelf space used to profit generated, you cannot beat Magic The Gathering.
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-Kevin
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I’m very fortunate to live near Columbus, OH and go into town several times a week on other business. On the north side, there are four hobby shops within about a 15 minute walk of one another. One of them, The Train Station, is exclusively for model railroading. The Hobbyland used to be another great source but in the past year they have greatly reduced their model railroading merchandise. I’m wondering if they are going to get out of it all together when their current stock sells. Then there is Robbie’s Hobbies which has a decent selection and a lot of second hand train stuff as well. The fourth is fairly new and was mostly Lionel. I’ve only been in there once and their HO was very limited. Mostly second hand if I remember right.
Online has a much better selection, so goes the belief.
As long as the preorder business model hasn’t sold them all out too. Try buying something from MB Klein 4 weeks after they got their last container shipment.
The train business itself is keeping less inventory on hand than it used too. I know of several LHS that are out of stock because the runs are so limited they can’t keep the shelf stocked. Pretty tough to meet break even costs if the shelves are bare because the factory didn’t produce enough product.
Oh well.
The Train Station is a great model train store, it’s about 40 miles away from me so I make it there once or twice a month. I always forget about Robbie’s Hobbies.
i liked Hobbyland too, I was surprised to see its model train selection dwindle, thus I have not been there in quite some time.
Back to the OP’s original point, I am often surprised how many larger cities lack a decent hobby shop, yet others thrive in smaller towns. All the reasons are already well discussed.
On another point someone mentioned record shops, there are many decent record shops in Columbus, OH. They are busy stores and always with patrons. In my view a lot of this stuff comes around full circle. But what do I know.
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In Florida:
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Good sized cities with decent Model Railroad hobby shops:
Miami (2)
Fort Lauderdale (1)
Daytona Beach (1, Port Orange)
Melbourne (1)
Saint Petersburg (2)
Sarasota (1)
Fort Myers (1, transitioning away from MR)
Naples (1)
Orlando (1)
Port Charlotte (1)
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Good sized cities without Model Railroad Hobby Shops:
West Palm Beach
Jacksonville
Tallahassee
Gainesville
Tampa
Ocala
Cape Coral
Bradenton
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Small towns with thriving shops:
Spring Hill
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What Florida looked like 10 years ago:
Miami (3)
Fort Lauderdale (1)
Daytona Beach (2)
Melbourne (1)
Saint Petersburg (2)
I may have to stop there the next time I make a pilgrimage to Buttonwood Bakery. Thanks!
Oh, brother, more about train stores dying…
I live in PA, and we still have fantastic train stores. They are not even located in the big cities, but in some cases small boroughs of only 10,000 people (English’s Model RR Supply, Montoursville, PA. People come from Canada and all over the world to shop there). We also still have Mainline Hobbies, Tommy Gilbert’s and several others…
Driving 90 miles to a train store is also no big deal to me. I drive for travel baseball, sometimes much farther for just a game, so 90 miles to a great train store is no big deal. Here in the Northeast, you can get used to driving distances for what you want. It’s all a question of priorities. If I want a new horn for my son, the best place is 200 miles away near NYC, but in NJ. I wouldn’t think twice about driving there to look at instruments, and I have made the trip.
The selection of items is worth the trip.
John
Don’t forget Nicholas Smith in Broomall is an amazing place also Trains N Lanes in Easton, has quite a bit. We are still lucky in PA to have some great shops. I agree.
Here in southern Delaware, we had two shops but one closed last year. The owner retired and the landlord wanted the property for something else. The other shop is only a few miles from me, but it’s an O-gauge shop. I’m hoping they will start carrying more HO, or at least let me order it.
I am still delaying setting up my layout, but really, all I will need is track and scenery stuff for quite some time.
I’m a little farther out, just beyond Utica. It’s about a 50 minute drive for me. Fall to early spring I bowl in Columbus twice a week and the Train Station is just five minutes away from the bowling alley so that makes it convenient. In the warm weather months I rarely come to Columbus but model railroading gives way to golf so I don’t often need anything related to model railroading.
My local HS has a row of shelves behind the register. It’s usually full of packages they have ordered from online type companies for customers. I have used this for pre-order Walther pass. car sets, a couple engines and some high end die-cast car models. HS price to me was a little better than my online price plus I get to eyeball items for damage before I take delivery. Prefer to support the local HS when I can.
Enjoy them while you can. Most LHS s seem to be single owner and they eventually retire. Then fun is over.
Even though I live in Pa. Where there is quite a few of hobby shops I rarely go to them. It is so much easier and the selection is so much better that I order online from many of them . I don’t like driving, waiting in traffic or dealing with morons who own most of the shops that if not for online shopping I may not be in the hobby.
I can sit on my couch with my tablet, order what I want and get what I ordered at my front door, no stress, no driving.
Dave
Kevin
I think this makes sense. Move marketing dollars from media-based into overhead for small retail outlets. Drive and create demand.
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If Walthers would follow the Games Workshop model and open one-man 500-600 foot stores, and opened one in Fort Myers… I would quit my job tomorrow and run that store.
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I would spend my pre-retirement years recruiting new people into the hobby and funneling all that future business into the Walthers online store.
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Walthers could easily market HO scale model railroading as “The Walthers Hobby”, and truly make it their own.
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Oh… to fully copy the Games Workshop model they would need to double, or maybe triple all their prices.
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-Kevin
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