A few months ago while attending a Model Railroad show i got in a conversation with a vendor. He said the the most and best MR hobby stores are in Pennsylvania. I had to ask why and he said a friend of his owns a shop in PA. and said business was great. I know Toy Train Heaven,Bachmann,Bowser are there and IHC used to be,could this be true?
I don’t know about the rest of the nation, but within a 30 minute drive of me (south central PA), there are at least 6 well stocked mom and pop model train shops. I usually only frequent one of them though…the one that treats me the best. With competition like that…he is the only one that gets it. You have to have service a cut above the rest.
I think we have like six in the whole state of Minnesota. Consider yourselves lucky.
We only have one that is within an hours drive. Met the owner at a small show a few years ago. His response to my asking about N scale was “Why on earth would anyone model in N scale?” Needless to say, lots of mail order for me!
There’s three I visit in Southeastern Pa.
On town has two good shops - one’s all MRR, the other is all kinds of models.
There are a few more nearby, but not close enough for a quick trip.
Eric